Plan to license recreational marijuana consumption sites stalls

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to create licensed places for on-site consumption of recreational marijuana stalled in a City Council committee Wednesday after aldermen from across the city complained about rigid state rules that tied the city’s hands.

It was the second time in a month that Lightfoot had suffered a legislative embarrassment on the issue of recreational marijuana.

In December, the City Council’s Committee on Contract Oversight and Equity voted 10 to 9 to delay recreational marijuana sales until July 1 over concerns that there were no African American or Hispanic dispensary owners. The following day, however, Lightfoot was able to convince the council to kill the six-month delay by a vote of 29 to 19.

Although the mayor ultimately won, it was a tense test of her City Council muscle that uncomfortably pitted her against members of the Black Caucus.

This time, the License Committee recessed, sparing the rookie mayor more embarrassment.

Paul Stewart, the mayor’s point-person on recreational marijuana issues, was asked to explain the false start as he hustled out of the License Committee meeting chased by a crowd of reporters shouting questions.

“You can speak to the chair. I’m not certain” why the meeting was recessed, Stewart said.

“We anticipated a vote. I don’t know [why it didn’t happen]. I didn’t call for the adjournment.”

License Committee Vice-Chair Brian Hopkins (2^nd) said he recessed the meeting after the mayor’s City Council floor leader left early to attend a civics class at a school in his ward.

Asked if the mayor had the votes, Hopkins said, “I think so. But without the floor leader, it didn’t seem appropriate.”

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) insisted that he did have the votes, but it didn’t make sense to hustle back to City Hall to re-convene the meeting.

Villegas, the mayor’s floor leader, said the widespread disenchantment with the consumption ordinance is no surprise.

“The state pre-empted a lot of things. A lot of the concerns are related to the state. These will be things on the agenda for the state along with the casino” gambling fix when the new Illinois General Assembly is sworn in, Villegas said.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported earlier this week that the mayor’s consumption ordinance had run into a buzz-kill of opposition during closed-door aldermanic briefings.

African American aldermen were concerned it will pave the way for a new wave of drug arrests because there are no free-standing smoke shops on the South and West sides and, even if there were, cigar-smokers and recreational marijuana users don’t mix.

Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6^th) argued that Lightfoot’s plan to limit consumption-on-premises licenses to retail tobacco stores that derive 80% of their revenue from the sale of tobacco-related products is ill-conceived because there’s not enough money to make it worthwhile.

“My biggest fear is re-arresting those who just got expunged some weeks ago or days ago. Re-criminalizing activity that we are trying to get away from. And it’s gonna be primarily black people that get arrested and charged,” he said.

On Wednesday, downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42^nd) made a similar argument. Noting that smoke shops would be asked to invest in expensive, “high-tech ventilation systems,” he wondered aloud how they could possibly turn a profit.

Hopkins agreed that the state “seems to have handcuffed” the City Council by allowing consumption licenses and dispensaries in the same building. His constituents don’t want that.

“If we tell them we’re gonna allow this dispensary, but next year, they might come back and seek a consumption-on-premises license, people would not really trust us. It would sound like a shell game,” Hopkins said.

“People … look at it more as a pharmacy when you’re purchasing the product and you’re going elsewhere to use it. You’re using it in the privacy of your own home. It’s no one else’s business. That’s a different environment than using the product in a location. Then, it becomes a party magnet. Then, it spills out onto the street. Then it becomes a problem just like a problem liquor establishment would be.”

Under Lightfoot’s plan, smoke shops would be required to purchase a two-year, $4,400 license, be the sole occupant of a freestanding 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.

Smoke shops that don’t meet those standards could allow customers to consume cannabis products that don’t require smoking, like edibles. But those licensed smoke shops would not be allowed to sell marijuana products. The sale of cannabis is limited to dispensaries, which will be licensed to allow on-site consumption at a later date.

The mayor’s office later Wednesday blamed the setback on the absence of “key” committee members.

“Despite the lack of a vote based on today’s attendance, we are confident that we had and still do have the votes to pass this ordinance,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.

Nevertheless, the consumption ordinance will be held in committee for more fine-tuning.

“Based on what we heard today, we will continue working with City Council members to refine the ordinance by working within the confines of the state statute,” the statement said.