Lift of drug prohibition in Illinois a giant step in a long journey

When I first spoke with James E. Gierach some years ago, I thought he was a bit wacky.

The former prosecutor had been a vocal advocate for ending the War on Drugs for decades, and the powers that be were paying him about as much attention as they were reggae singer Peter Tosh.

During that time, a steady stream of black and brown people were locked up for supplying customers with marijuana, and the government seemed powerless to stop the flow of the drug.

But no matter how hopeless his cause seemed to be, Gierach kept beating that drum.

So after Illinois lawmakers lifted the prohibition on marijuana, making it the 11^th state to legalize recreational marijuana and the first to do so by legislation, I had to call Gierach and give him a slap on the back.

“Of course I’m thrilled. It is a blessing to have marijuana prohibition come to an end. It will be the end of the ‘K2’ and the ‘Spice’ and other synthetic substances that have nothing to do with marijuana,” he said.

“What is happening, the public is recognizing that drug prohibition doesn’t work for what it was intended. Now we have an opportunity to regulate [marijuana], to tax it and to protect people. I think there is no question it is going to cut into the international drug cartels,” he said.

But the biggest benefit from the groundbreaking legislation won’t have anything to do with chilling out with a joint.

If rolled out as promised, the cannabis legislation would create a new industry that will restore broken families and revitalize struggling communities.

Because the legislation legalizing marijuana is coupled with a language that would allow individuals with cannabis convictions involving up to 30 grams of pot to be pardoned by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, it could change the trajectory of hundreds of thousands of lives.

“Expungement removes barriers to licenses,” said state Sen. Toi Hutchinson, a co-sponsor of the legislation.

“I can’t correct 80 years of prohibition in one bill. This is the beginning and we need the community to be watching. We need to know what they are experiencing when they apply for a license,” she said.

Frankly, the biggest concern Gierach has is the same one I have: Will legalizing marijuana be just another pathway for wealthy people to get even wealthier?

“If I had my druthers, I wish we could have been allowed to grow five plants. The reason for that is we are inviting ‘Big Tobacco’ and ‘Big Pharma’ and ‘Big Money’ interests into the market. Instead of the drug cartel and street gangs, ‘Big Pharma’ and ‘Big Corporate Interests’ will be taking the money,” he said.

“It would have been better to say everybody can grow five plants so it would not just cut into the drug cartels, it would have cut into the commercialization,” Gierach pointed out.

But the architects of the landmark legislation appear to have given a lot of thought to the economic impact of opening up this market.

“If you are going to legalize an industry that has destroyed so many lives, how do you make sure folks have access to both ownership and self-determination as well as resources that will be going to the state?” Deputy Gov. Christian Mitchell asked rhetorically.

The state’s approach was creating a “social equity” classification that includes a $30 million low-interest loan fund, 50% fee waivers and 20% in points in the scoring system.

“If you are in a disproportionately impacted area, if you got a lot of people in poverty, unemployment rate twice the state average, a disproportionate arrest rate for cannabis, or a family member impacted by the War on Drugs, you would get a social equity application,” Mitchell explained.

He is confident these benefits will ensure that communities of color are not left behind.

“We have expungement on the front end, a chance at ownership and self-determination prioritizing owners from disproportionate areas on the War on Drugs, and investments made by the State of mental health, anti-violence, substance abuse [treatment] and economic development,” he said.

“After we release a couple of waves of dispensaries, we will drop a lid on the market and do a disparity study to see if we are doing it right. If not, we will strengthen the diversity benefit,” he said.

But as Hutchinson pointed out, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for people who risked life and freedom selling what was once an illicit drug to make use of their skills legitimately.

“This is a first step, and it is a helluva first step,” she said. Meanwhile, Gierach is pleased Illinois is finally moving toward something better.

“You are throwing a stone at the War on Drugs. It really is at the heart of many of our problems,” he said.