Illinois would substantially expand its efforts to repair the harms of marijuana criminalization enforcement under a new bill that seeks to give cash payments directly to people impacted by prohibition laws.

The legislation, filed on Thursday by Rep. La Shawn K. Ford (D), would create a new Illinois Freedom Program “for the purpose of issuing direct cash payments to eligible individuals who have been disproportionately impacted by historical cannabis enforcement.”

The effort would supplement the state’s existing Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) program, which uses marijuana tax revenue to support community reinvestment in areas harmed by the war on drugs.

The cash payments would be administered through a new Illinois Freedom Fund, which the bill says would “consist of the incremental growth in cannabis tax revenue.”

The legislation specifies that the existence of the cash payments program “shall not reduce, reallocate, or otherwise diminish” the amount of cannabis revenue distributed to grantees under the existing R3 program.

“The Restore, Reinvest, and Renew Program Board shall ensure that the distribution of funds to R3 Area grantees is neither reduced below base year levels nor delayed as a result of the Illinois Freedom Program,” it says.

That board, in cooperation with the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, would be authorized to adopt rules to implement and administer the new cash payments program under the bill.

If HB 5815 is enacted into law, the program would take effect on July 1, 2027.

Ford, the legislation’s sponsor, is running for a seat in Congress in the November elections to replace the retiring Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL).

Meanwhile in Illinois, lawmakers and Gov. JB Pritzker (D) this year enacted omnibus cannabis reform legislation that doubles the amount of marijuana that adults can legally possess, allows drive-thrus and curbside pickups at dispensaries and lets them stay open for longer hours of operation, among other changes.

The new law also allows existing recreational marijuana dispensaries to get permission to begin selling medical cannabis, which is taxed at a much lower rate than adult-use products. Regulators granted 37 such new medical marijuana approvals this month.

Last month, Illinois officials separately added sickle cell disease and polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) with chronic pain as new medical cannabis qualifying conditions.

The governor held a signing ceremony for the cannabis expansion legislation at a marijuana dispensary, saying he is “proud that Illinois continues to lead the nation in showing what thoughtful, balanced cannabis policy can achieve.”

In 2019, Pritzker signed the state’s initial marijuana legalization policy into law.

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