Limit on hemp sales in Chicago one step closer to becoming law

Limit on hemp sales in Chicago one step closer to becoming law

A Chicago City Council committee voted to advance a ban on some hemp sales in the city during a meeting on Wednesday.

CHICAGO - A Chicago City Council committee voted to advance a ban on some hemp sales in the city during a meeting on Wednesday.

If approved by the full council, the citywide ban would shut down the sale of hemp-derived products that contain chemical compounds found in cannabis, unless they're sold by licensed cannabis dispensaries.

The local ban would come before a federal ban goes into effect in November of next year — and is sparking plenty of buzz on both sides of the issue. 

What we know:

The Committee on License and Consumer Protection voted 10-6 on an ordinance to ban hemp sales, which will need approval from the full City Council to become law.

Ald. Marty Quinn (13th Ward) and Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd Ward) proposed the ordinance after banning hemp sales in their own wards earlier this year.

"My next step is working to get 26 votes on the ordinance," Ald. Quinn said. "I don't think it was a coincidence that once I put the ban down with Ald. Tabares, all of our suburbs also started putting the ban down. There is a shadiness to this industry."

If fully approved, the measure would ban the sale of cannabis-infused hemp products in the city — unless sold by licensed dispensaries. 

Those in support of the ban say it is about safety and feel that 'bad actors' are endangering customers and kids. 

"Passing that measure has resulted in a reduction in poisoned children and 911 calls," Tabares said. "There has been talk that the city can profit from these dangerous narcotics, but public health is not for sale."

However, community members and business owners opposed to the ban argue that their livelihoods are on the line. During Wednesday's committee meeting, they said an outright ban would crush mom and pop businesses across the city that sell hemp products. Furthermore, they explained that many of their customers rely on hemp products for medical conditions. 

Instead of a ban, they are calling for responsible regulations, like banning the products for anyone under 21.

"Prohibition does not erase the market, prohibition does not erase the customer, it's still there. Instead you put it all to the side, you encourage those bad actors you are trying to remove, you're enabling them when we need to regulate the beverages that we already have and the market that we already have," said Steven Bossu, co-founder, Hopewell Brewing Company. 

The Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association and the Illinois Black Hemp Association are also pushing back against the proposed ban and are urging elected officials to take a closer look at the ordinance and its sweeping implications. 

"That would create a further monopoly by the marijuana industry," said Craig Katz, board president, Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association. "Nobody in our industry can argue with the fact that we want to protect children and we want to protect consumers, but we need to do it the right way. Ald. Quinn has taken a position of basically throwing out the baby with the bath water."

"We test our products; we are industry leaders. And this is where we stand," added Tyrone Muhammad, co-founder, Illinois Black Hemp Association. "Here's an opportunity for us to create real economic wealth and taxes in the neighborhoods that's most affected by the war on drugs and poverty. Yet corporate billionaires, something that this mayor has talked about so often, are still able to monopolize this small space and put small — especially black businesses — out of business."

What's next:

A total of seven wards, with three others pending, have already banned the sale of hemp products.

Quinn told Fox 32 that the ban likely won't be brought up for a vote during the next full City Council meeting on Dec. 10. Instead, he said he will bring it to a vote when he is confident that he has the support to pass it.