While adult-use cannabis has been legal since the first of the year in Illinois, some are wondering if high dispensary prices are keeping people from moving to the legal market.
Governor J.B. Pritzker says he's confident the legal market will be more appealing than the illicit market.
Cannabis buyers in Illinois spent nearly $40 million in January. During a debate about limiting the number of cannabis stores in Springfield, where there’s already one adult-use store and another on the way, Alderman Joe McMenamin said the illicit market in California, where cannabis has been legal for years, has surpassed the legal market. He suspects the same is happening in Illinois.
An eighth of an ounce of marijuana that costs $60 on the street could cost more than $80 in a dispensary when state taxes are included.