State should allow cannabis cafes that serve edible pot products, aldermen say

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s decision to call off a City Council showdown on her plan to create licensed places for on-site consumption of recreational marijuana will leave Chicagoans temporarily searching for places to smoke the weed they buy.

But, it also gave African-American aldermen an opening to recommend changes to make the ordinance more equitable.

Ald. Jason Ervin (28^th), chairman of the City Council’s Black Caucus, wants the Illinois legislature to let Chicago license smokeless cannabis cafes where small serving sizes of edible pot products can be sold and consumed on the premises.

That would allow cannabis cafes to open on the South and West Sides, where there are virtually no smoke shops and hookah lounges, and make money without having to install costly ventilation systems, Ervin said Tuesday.

It would also solve the problem created by the fact that the Chicago Housing Authority has threatened to “terminate all assistance” if residents or their guests are found using or possessing both recreational and medical cannabis, since marijuana is still illegal on the federal level.

“People should be able to consume infused products at a restaurant as long as they meet the qualifications to purchase it. I don’t think it needs to be a dispensary. If you want to have a chocolate bar or potato chips,” that should be permitted, Ervin said.

“If you have an edible, that’s different. There’s no second-hand smoke. It’s a personal thing.”

State lawmakers: It’s not a priority

However, state lawmakers who sponsored the legalization law have said that licensing such businesses is simply not a priority.

State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, who helped to craft and pass the legalization measure, said the issue around social consumption has always focused on where smoking pot could be allowed in light of the strict restrictions in the Smoke Free Illinois Act that requires businesses be smoke-free.

“This is the best we were able to accomplish, but the question of accessibility is really about smoke products, not edibles,” Cassidy said.

State law also allows cities to permit smoking at marijuana dispensaries, and Cassidy said new dispensaries being licensed around the state in the next few months could “in theory” seek a city license to offer consumption, too.

But aldermen have also raised concerns about pot use at the dispensaries, and Lightfoot’s now-shelved ordinance did not cover consumption at those businesses. It would have limited consumption licenses to retail tobacco stores that derive 80% of their revenue from the sale of tobacco-related products.

Smoke shops would have been required to purchase a two-year, $4,400 license, be the sole occupant of a free-standing building and prevent smoke from escaping into areas where smoking is prohibited. That includes patios and other enclosed outdoor areas not visible to the public.

“It’s not just the $4,400 that’s the problem. It’s the ventilation system. It’s the whole big capital expenditure that you have to make. And also with it being in a free-standing building with no other activity,” Ervin said.

“Those are hard to come by — especially along some of our business strips. Most of them have storefronts and mixed-use units that would totally take those out of play unless you made the whole building a place of consumption.”

Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6^th) agreed that the “real way to go” is to have the General Assembly loosen the reins and license consumption cafes that are authorized to sell edibles, so long as they’re eaten on-site.

“You can’t do consumption unless you allow the consumption places to offer something to consume … so they can make money. Otherwise, it makes no sense,” he said.

“You can’t … just have a space to smoke. It makes no sense.”

License Committee Chairman Emma Mitts (37^th) said Lightfoot did the right thing by pulling the consumption ordinance, even if it temporarily leaves tenants whose landlords prohibit smoking without a place to use the weed they buy.

Marijuana consumption is also prohibited in cars, on buses and trains, on sidewalks and in parks.

“It would have been a disparity for the South and West Side. It would have left them [with no place] to go and consume marijuana because we don’t have as many smoke shops,” she said.

“There were too many loopholes in terms of the way people feel about tobacco and marijuana use together. There was not enough revenue for what they’re spending for the license.”

Lightfoot has received steady pushback from African American aldermen demanding a seat on the gravy train of economic opportunity created by recreational marijuana and a level playing field for marijuana users most victimized by the war on drugs.

The decision to shelve the consumption ordinance indefinitely marks the third time in recent months that the mayor has either been forced to alter legislation tied to the Chicago rollout or beat back an attempt by the Black Caucus to delay it.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36^th), Lightfoot’s City Council floor leader, said the mayor plans to ask state lawmakers to make changes “related to the 80 percent requirement for selling tobacco”-related products and do it quickly to prevent evictions and another round of marijuana-related arrests. He said the mayor has the votes to approve a consumption ordinance, and wants to do so by February, but they don’t want to push “something aldermen are not comfortable with.”

Asked about the idea of relaxing the rules on tobacco sales at smoke shops, Cassidy said the wording of the state law was not ideal. However, any changes on consumption rules will have to pass both houses in the legislature, and nothing is guaranteed.

“This is not what we wanted. We wanted there to be a safe and accessible place for folks who don’t have them [to consume], and this is a good first step, and we couldn’t agree more that it’s imperfect,” Cassidy said.