A group of aldermen voted Dec. 17 to send an ordinance to the Chicago City Council that would delay adult-use cannabis sales in the city for six months, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Although adult-use cannabis sales are slated to start statewide Jan. 1, the City Council Committee on Contract Oversight and Equity voted 10-9 to narrowly approve an ordinance put forward in October by members of the Black Caucus to delay sales until July.
The 20 members of the council’s Black Caucus have expressed concerns about inadequate efforts to help minorities participate in the adult-use cannabis market and earn their fair share of the generated revenue, according to the news outlet.
Eleven of Chicago’s medical cannabis dispensaries have been approved to serve the adult-use market Jan. 1, according to the Chicago Tribune, although Chicago’s cannabis industry and city officials have been debating Chicago’s approach to social equity in the months leading up to Jan. 1.
The full city council is set to vote on the caucus’s ordinance Dec. 18, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been trying to persuade Ald. Jason Ervin to drop the proposal to delay sales, and any two aldermen can use a parliamentary maneuver to delay the vote until a mid-January City Council meeting, the Chicago Tribune reported. Lightfoot could also ultimately veto the ordinance, according to the news outlet.
