Illinois becomes 11th state to allow recreational marijuana

Illinois’ new governor delivered on a top campaign promise Tuesday by signing legislation legalizing small amounts of marijuana for recreational use, the 11th state to do so and the first to implement a comprehensive statewide cannabis marketplace designed by legislators.

21 Comments

  1. K P on October 13, 2019 at 11:14 pm

    The end of this news cast is total BS! And SAM is a scam non profit funded by the drug companies.



  2. K P on October 13, 2019 at 11:16 pm

    Way to go Illinois.



  3. Jt4kiss on October 13, 2019 at 11:17 pm

    It’s gonna be a lot of people fired from their job because weed stay in your system for 30 days and at the job they can drop you anytime they want too



  4. Madmartigan 82 on October 13, 2019 at 11:19 pm

    Wow wgn news sucks.



  5. Steve La Canne on October 13, 2019 at 11:23 pm

    P.S people have been smoking weed already lol they act like its gonna be something new! All its gonna do is make money and create less oportunity for drug dealers and gang violence over selling weed and having money which causes robbery and jealousy issues. Now it will actually become safer and for all the people against it now its your turn to be unhappy, We have been unhappy for our whole lives dealing with these ridiculous laws that take away our freedom.



  6. Szymon Madej on October 13, 2019 at 11:24 pm

    Yes 750,00 people with NONVIOLENT offenses will have their records expunged. WGN don’t worry the sun will rise on January 1st and life will continue as is. This is a good piece of legislation.



  7. Berhane Gebriel on October 13, 2019 at 11:27 pm

    The Plant That Incarcerated Millions People Especially The African Descendants Is Now Legal. Lottery, One Form Of Gambling, Has Been Legal For Decades.
    N.B. Anytime Elected Officials Have Shortcomings In Their Badget Likeness, They Come Up With Strange And Bizarre Including The Soda Tax. Big Harold Would Have Had Triple Heart Attack Compared To What He Experienced Had He Been Alive. Big Harold You Were, Are And Will Always Be The Love Of The People.



  8. Szymon Madej on October 13, 2019 at 11:30 pm

    WGN is owned by Tribune Media, they lean right (conservative/Republican).



  9. Rob on October 13, 2019 at 11:33 pm

    Surge in emergency room visits? Puuuulease! Give me a freaking break. Is this Sinclair Broadcasting? What a joke



  10. Steve La Canne on October 13, 2019 at 11:34 pm

    WooooHooooo!!!!! Finally guys 😀 Jeez Ive been waiting for 20 years for this. Just think of all those years lost of that social and relaxing times we couldve been enjoying. Now people can buy weed legally and safely. Lets all be responsible with it and not give it a bad wrap.



  11. Deadpool in the comments section on October 13, 2019 at 11:36 pm

    Its ashame Decatur illinois cant get a flipping clue they voted no against recreational marijuana which is stupid keeping marijuana illegal keeps the drug dealers happy no legal competition



  12. Benjamin Franklin on October 13, 2019 at 11:38 pm

    I smoked for 10 years but had to quit because of a good job opportunity that came up, wish I could smoke again ):



  13. StutteringCrisTop10 on October 13, 2019 at 11:41 pm

    Wooooh! Now I won’t he afraid to arrested amd having my life ruined buying weed!
    Now I’ll know where the weed will come from instead of risking any lacing.
    My stuttering is about to get better!



  14. Officer Orange cheetolini on October 13, 2019 at 11:42 pm

    Reparations 2020



  15. Foul Ratt on October 13, 2019 at 11:51 pm

    big fat turd



  16. J M on October 13, 2019 at 11:52 pm

    What’s next vaping breastmilk? Oh wait………🤔



  17. Tom Quimby on October 13, 2019 at 11:56 pm

    This will not make Illinois a better place.



  18. K P on October 13, 2019 at 11:58 pm

    SAM wants to keep you on heroin instead of a natural medicine.



  19. jon tomas on October 14, 2019 at 12:00 am

    SAM is a shill for the pharmaceutical companies and bogus "treatment" quacks. – They want to force ALL marijuana consumers into their fake treatment scams. – Treatment is for addiction. – Marijuana is not addictive and there is no such thing as "treatment" for it. — Everything they say about marijuana is an easily proven lie. — This really is FAKE NEWS.



  20. Joseph DuPont on October 14, 2019 at 12:06 am

    psychosis

    POSTED MARCH 07, 2011, 11:03 AM , UPDATED NOVEMBER 30, 2011, 2:28 PM

    Ann MacDonald
    Contributor, Harvard Health

    Teenagers and young adults who use marijuana may be messing with their heads in ways they don’t intend.
    Evidence is mounting that regular marijuana use increases the chance that a teenager will develop psychosis, a pattern of unusual thoughts or perceptions, such as believing the television is transmitting secret messages. It also increases the risk of developing schizophrenia, a disabling brain disorder that not only causes psychosis, but also problems concentrating and loss of emotional expression.
    In one recent study that followed nearly 2,000 teenagers as they became young adults, young people who smoked marijuana at least five times were twice as likely to have developed psychosis over the next 10 years as those who didn’t smoke pot.
    Another new paper concluded that early marijuana use could actually hasten the onset of psychosis by three years. Those most at risk are youths who already have a mother, father, or sibling with schizophrenia or some other psychotic disorder.
    Young people with a parent or sibling affected by psychosis have a roughly one in 10 chance of developing the condition themselves—even if they never smoke pot. Regular marijuana use, however, doubles their risk—to a one in five chance of becoming psychotic.
    In comparison, youths in families unaffected by psychosis have a 7 in 1,000 chance of developing it. If they smoke pot regularly, the risk doubles, to 14 in 1,000.
    For years, now, experts have been sounding the alarm about a possible link between marijuana use and psychosis. One of the best-known studies followed nearly 50,000 young Swedish soldiers for 15 years. Those who had smoked marijuana at least once were more than twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as those who had never smoked pot. The heaviest users (who said they used marijuana more than 50 times) were six times as likely to develop schizophrenia as the nonsmokers.
    So far, this research shows only an association between smoking pot and developing psychosis or schizophrenia later on. That’s not the same thing as saying that marijuana causes psychosis.
    This is how research works. Years ago, scientists first noted an association between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. Only later were they able to figure out exactly how cigarette smoke damaged the lungs and other parts of the body, causing cancer and other diseases.
    The research on marijuana and the brain is at a much earlier stage. We do know that THC, one of the active compounds in marijuana, stimulates the brain and triggers other chemical reactions that contribute to the drug’s psychological and physical effects.
    But it’s not clear how marijuana use might lead to psychosis. One theory is that marijuana may interfere with normal brain development during the teenage years and young adulthood.
    The teenage brain is still a work in progress. Between the teen years and the mid-20s, areas of the brain responsible for judgment and problem solving are still making connections with the emotional centers of the brain. Smoking marijuana may derail this process and so increase a young person’s vulnerability to psychotic thinking. (You can read more about how the adolescent brain develops in this article from the Harvard Mental Health Letter.)
    While the research on marijuana and the mind has not yet connected all the dots, these new studies provide one more reason to caution young people against using marijuana—especially if they have a family member affected by schizophrenia or some other psychotic disorder. Although it may be a tough concept to explain to a teenager, the reward of a short-time high isn’t worth the long-term risk of psychosis or a disabling disorder like schizophrenia.



  21. skylinez on October 14, 2019 at 12:08 am

    I see this as an absolute Win