Since recreational legalization in January 2020, only one Illinois cannabis-related bill, House Bill 1443 (HB1443), has been passed to reform either the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Program Act or the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. As with several previously legislative sessions, Illinois lawmakers again adjourned without passing one cannabis-reform item, including two closely followed bills Senate Bill 2090 and Senate Bill 0042.

Senate Bill 2090, a former public funds bill that had been amended as a “shell bill” for a new cannabis omnibus, received a late push in the House but eventually stalled in the Rules Committee. SB0090 contained cannabis amendments that have previously failed to pass in multiple past legislative sessions, including expanded access for medical patients, added support for social equity license holders’ relocations of an adult use dispensing organization, more flexibility for transporters, drive through pickup, and other items.

Illinois Senate Bill 0042, sponsored by Sen. Rachel Ventura, would have removed the requirement that cannabis within any area of a motor vehicle must be in an odor-proof container. This minor change of wording in the Vehicle Code could have bigger implications for future Illinois Supreme Court rulings on “raw” cannabis odor and probably cause for vehicle searches.

When asked today at a press conference why Illinois has not passed cannabis and other stalled bills this session, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said, “You don’t get everything done in one year…Sometimes they (the senate president and a lot of people in the general assembly) spend two years, four years, six years trying to get something big done. I think we’ve been hyper successful at getting things done in a shorter time than expected.”

All cannabis-related bills can still be passed during the fall veto session.

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