Connect with us

Illinois

Delta skate? Lawmakers leave Springfield without regulating delta-8, other hemp products

Published

on

Delta skate? Lawmakers leave Springfield without regulating delta-8, other hemp products


Sellers of delta-8 THC, CBD and other hemp-derived products breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday as state lawmakers left Springfield without passing legislation that would effectively banned most of their sales.

But advocates on both sides of a contentious debate pitting Illinois’ multibillion-dollar cannabis industry against its growing hemp sector said they were disappointed to enter another summer without any regulations on intoxicating substances that remain easily accessible to young customers.

“We don’t want pop-up smoke shops opening on every corner,” said state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago. “We need to make sure we have some licenses, and limit how many we have, so we don’t turn Chicago into ‘Delta and Marijuana City.’”

Ford was against the legislation that passed the Illinois Senate by a 54-1 vote over the weekend that would limit hemp-derived THC sales to state-licensed cannabis dispensaries, among other reforms.

Advertisement

Sales of pscychoactive products like delta-8 and delta-9 have boomed over the last few years at gas stations and convenience stores nationwide, thanks to a loophole in federal law that doesn’t restrict pot-like substances that can be extracted from hemp. High school students have been sickened in Chicago by such products, which don’t face stringent testing and labeling requirements.

The bill sponsored by state Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Hillside, would’ve cut out delta-8 sellers who haven’t gone through Illinois’ rigorous — and expensive — cannabis dispensary licensing process, but House members didn’t take up the bill by the end of a marathon spring budget session.

“After months of negotiations, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill that all sides agreed upon, further ensuring our common goal to have a fair, just and safe industry,” Lightford said in a statement. “The bill we put forth showed the dire need to regulate the hemp industry before we lose yet another young life to these pervasive products. It’s unfortunate the House could not meet the urgency.”

Lightford’s bill could be taken up by the House when members return to Springfield in the fall, though it would have a higher hurdle for approval. Bills passed after May 31 require a three-fifths majority.

Ford estimated support was well short of that threshold among his colleagues in the super-majority House Democratic caucus.

Advertisement

He’s pushing a separate bill that would limit sales to people 21 or older, require manufacturers to undergo product testing to obtain $500 licenses, impose a 10% tax rate on sellers and — most importantly, he said — allow current sellers to stay in the market.

“It’s not like we can get rid of it. You can’t ban something that’s grown like this,” Ford said. “Let’s not try to have an industry that directly competes with cannabis. Put this industry in its own lane, just like beer is in its own lane and rum and spirits are in their own lane.”

Jennifer Weiss, owner of the Roscoe Village wellness shop Cubbington’s Cabinet, said she was “extremely relieved” by the stalling of Lightford’s bill, which Weiss said also would have effectively outlawed the non-intoxicating CBD products she sells — and put her out of business.

“It would’ve benefited the big cannabis companies, but unfortunately not the hundreds, if not thousands, of small businesses that rely on hemp-based products,” Weiss said. “Now what we need are some good-faith negotiations with all the stakeholders at the table.”

Tiffany Chappell Ingram, executive director of the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois that pushed Lightford’s bill, said “we are disappointed the House failed to pass needed reforms to our state’s cannabis laws and will continue to allow synthetic hemp products that are sickening children and adults to be sold with no oversight.

Advertisement

“Despite overwhelming bipartisan support for these measures in the Senate, there is clearly more work to do to educate legislators about these important matters,” Chappell Ingram said in a statement.

Speaking at an end-of-session news conference, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he thinks regulations would be “proper” but didn’t say whether he’d be in favor of a ban on sales beyond dispensaries.

“It’s clear that it’s not for medicinal purposes. It’s not regulated the way that cannabis is, and yet it ends up on the market, and there’s no restriction on who gets it [or] how much they can get,” Pritzker said. “I really believe that we need to step back and ask what is in the best interest of the health of kids and adults across the state.”





Source link

Advertisement

Illinois

Produce Recall Issued In Parasite Outbreak Hitting IL

Published

on

Produce Recall Issued In Parasite Outbreak Hitting IL


A number of Taco Bell locations have posted signs announcing they are “currently unable to sell Lettuce, Cilantro Onion, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole due to a nationwide recall,” according to Detroit-area news radio outlet WWJ.

Taco Bell told the Post it would keep monitoring the situation and follow authorities’ guidance.

Taco Bell Lettuce Linked To Growing MI Parasite Outbreak: FDA

“Public health officials have not confirmed a link to Taco Bell or any specific ingredient, supplier, restaurant or retailer,” the company told the Post. “While authorities continue their broader review, Taco Bell has voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure.”

Advertisement

In Michigan, where cases have been concentrated, media reports said notices were posted at some Detroit-area Taco Bell restaurants last week telling customers the chain was “currently unable to sell Lettuce, Cilantro-Onion, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole due to a nationwide recall.”





Source link

Continue Reading

Illinois

Illinois GOP trails badly in midterm cash

Published

on

Illinois GOP trails badly in midterm cash


The Illinois Republican Party filed its quarterly campaign finance report on the July 15 deadline. The party reported having just $223K in the bank. The next day, the party sent a letter to the Illinois State Board of Elections saying they were “reconciling” their records after a leadership change, and then noted that their actual end balance was $101K higher than it had reported the day before.

But that bit of found money was basically the end of the “good news” for the GOP last week.

Republicans no longer have a pet billionaire. Bruce Rauner and Ken Griffin have fled the state. The legions of wealthy business titans who once contributed and raised money have either retired to sunnier climes or passed away. Several prominent party members have publicly shunned labor unions and their hefty political war chests, although the state GOP legislative leaders have at least tried to rebuild ties to trade unions and even the Illinois Education Association. But the heavily gerrymandered legislative map combined with the current political climate means they’ll mostly receive scraps.

And, yes, the House Democrats are struggling this month with scandals, including a state representative who resigned under pressure and another who was indicted. I’m not trying to downplay that at all. But Democrats have the national political environment, the local infrastructure and tons of cash behind them. The Republicans have little to none of that.

Advertisement

The GOP’s gubernatorial candidate, Darren Bailey, raised $1.3 million in the second quarter, which ended June 30. That sounds like a lot, but he spent almost all of that on direct mail fundraising costs. The huge expenditures do give him a prospect list for future fundraising, but he ended the quarter with a mere $128K in the bank. That was still a whole lot more than the rest of the statewide ticket.

Attorney General nominee Bob Fioretti, a perennial candidate, raised $31K, spent $39K and had $28K on hand at the end of the quarter along with almost $15K in recent debt. Secretary of State candidate Diane Harris raised $6K, spent a bit over $4K and had a paltry $1,816.42 in the bank. Treasurer candidate Max Solomon, who ran as a write-in during the primary because the party failed to recruit anyone, raised less than $3K, reported no spending and ended the quarter with less than $8K. Comptroller candidate Bryan Drew raised $30K and received $47K in in-kind contributions from a company owned, ironically, by independent gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett, spent less than $3K, ended with $54K and had $25K in debt from earlier this year.

Man, that’s just downright pathetic.

But I suppose it doesn’t really matter anyway unless we see a massive sea-change in national opinion in the coming months or the federal government finds a way to not certify certain election results. Regardless of where individual candidates are at this moment, they’ll have the money to compete. Unlike the Republicans, the Dems do have a pet billionaire (JB Pritzker) and, I assume eventually for most of them, organized labor.

The Republican legislative leaders have tried to scrape and claw as much as they can, but they’re vastly outgunned. Senate Republican Leader John Curran raised just $75K in the second quarter. He spent $71K and reported having a bit more than $3 million in the bank. His caucus committee reported having $160K in the bank.

Advertisement

Leader Curran has three Republican-held districts to defend in the Chicago media market that have all trended Democratic in the last three cycles. Depending how bad things get, he could be defending a couple, two or three more.

The Senate Democrats have a ton of money to do whatever they want. Senate President Don Harmon has about $20 million in his personal campaign account and $1.7 million in his caucus account.

Over in the House, Republican Leader Tony McCombie has at least four Democratic-trending or swingy districts to defend and just $1.3 million in her personal campaign account and another $363K in her caucus account so far.

In contrast, House Speaker Chris Welch had $11.4 million in his personal account and $1.2 million in his caucus account. Like Senate President Harmon, he has more than enough money already, but more is never enough when there’s so much out there, so those numbers will likely rise by November.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Illinois

Hillsboro grad, Springfield golfer Alex Eickhoff 2nd at state amateur

Published

on

Hillsboro grad, Springfield golfer Alex Eickhoff 2nd at state amateur


BLOOMINGTON — Springfield’s Alex Eickhoff nearly had a magical Thursday as he tied for second place in the 95th annual Illinois State Amateur Championship at Crestwicke Country Club.  

Eickhoff, a 2020 Hillsboro High School graduate and former standout on the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s men’s golf team, shot a 4-under-par 68 in Thursday’s third round and followed that with an even-par 71 to finish the three-day, four-round event 1-over 285. He tied for second with Bloomington’s Logan Stauffer.  

Eickhoff briefly took the lead through nine holes of his fourth round when he sat at 1-under par. Chicago’s Charlie Kulwin finished both of Thursday’s rounds under par and finished 2-under 282. He was the lone golfer to finish under par for the tournament.

Advertisement

Eickhoff was The State Journal-Register’s Small School Boys Golfer of the year twice in his high school career: once as a freshman in 2016-17 and again as a senior in 2019-20. After high school, he golfed for the University of Minnesota for two years before transferring to SIUE.  

He began the tournament with a 3-over 74 on Tuesday and shaved off a stroke Wednesday with a 2-over 73. He closed out the event with an even-par 71 in Thursday’s final round.

Other area golfers who made the cut were Springfield’s Charles Hoogland (7-over 291, tied for 20th) and Jacksonville’s Brady Kaufmann (8-over 292, 25th). 

Advertisement

The last golfer from The State Journal-Register’s coverage area to win the Illinois State Amateur was Jay Davis. Davis, a Jacksonville Routt graduate, won the 1991 and ‘92 tournaments. 

Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.





Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending