Illinois’ newly legal cannabis sales outdid every other state in the nation, except for Nevada, during its first full month of sales, pulling in nearly $40 million.
While seasoned cannabis analysts are calling Illinois’ stellar financial cannabis rollout “typical” for first month of sales, the state’s tax offices are more than a little excited with the gush of green cash.
The Midwestern state and 11th to go legal, happens to have the lowest-credit rating of all 50 states in the union, so the revenue is sorely needed and warmly welcomed.
About one-quarter of the cannabis revenue is earmarked for community reinvestment, which like many of the legal states, will go to right some of the wrongs created by the harsh war on drugs that left an indelible mark on this state. Funding education is also on the budget.
As has been reported, Illinois has some of the highest cannabis taxes in the country. According to the Illinois Department of Revenue, taxes collections on legal weed are forecast to jump from $34 million in 2020 to $375.5 million in 2024.
Welcome neighboring pot lovers
When Governor J.B. Pritzker gave his “State of the State” speech, on Jan. 29, 2020, he noted that Illinois’s legalization will also benefit from taxes collected “from the residents of Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa and Indiana,” where recreational cannabis is illegal.
Nowhere to smoke? Jump on a Loopr Tour Bus
Founded in Denver, Colorado in 2016, Loopr Mobile Cannabis Lounges are now circulating in the Windy City. And they’re a godsend for tourists who have nowhere to enjoy their cannabis.
The transport limo buses are being used by seasoned weed consumers as well as the weed curious who can enjoy a ride through Chicago’s downtown area for a night of well-behaved partying.
Having just expanded from Colorado to Los Angeles, and now Chicago, Loopr bills itself as a unique bus tour that celebrates “flower, food, friends and fun.”
The tours will eventually include visits to pot shops (when the dispensary lines go down and they restock their product) and grow houses. At the moment, Illinois state regulators permit very limited access to cultivation centers.
Pot Tourism on Wheels
“It seemed like the one area where consumers really didn’t have much in the way of viable options,” said Brian Spatz, co-founder and president of Loopr. “We wanted to give people the ability to consume socially in a comfortable environment.”
In that weed consumption was, still is, prohibited in many public spaces, a mobile cannabis lounge is filling a need.
Naysayers
Opponents of legalization sorely complained about the spread of the sesh mobiles, fearing they’d cause problems similar to those that occasionally accompany booze buses.
But, ask yourself this: When has a bunch of stoned individuals or groups ever remotely behaved the way people do when they’re drunk?
I rest my case.
