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Hundreds of businesses won the temporary ability to continue
selling the banned products in a court decision days before the
law took effect.
Craig Katz, president of the Illinois Healthy Alternatives
Association, said the ban won’t impact the roughly 300
businesses represented in the lawsuit until at least Nov. 19 –
the day the case will come before a federal judge.
“We have our hearing set in federal court and the temporary
restraining order on the 19th, so that's why that date was
chosen,” Katz said. “If she were to take it under advisement and
not rule at that time, we would certainly ask that the agreement
continue until she does rule.”
If the businesses lose or the temporary block isn't renewed, the
products could only be sold by licensed dispensaries in the
state which are more heavily taxed, making products more
expensive and harder to obtain.
Before the law took effect, intoxicating hemp products were
taxed at the typical 6.25% state sales tax, plus any local
taxes. Now the products would be taxed under the state’s
Cannabis Excise Tax, which ranges between 10% and 25%, depending
on the product.
When signing the law in June, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the
legislation would protect children from obtaining the products
while allowing more businesses to become licensed.
“Corporations profiting from this will no longer be able to
exploit loopholes to push products that endanger our kids. This
new law also cuts red tape and cuts costs for regulated
dispensaries by streamlining our licensing process,” Pritzker
said.
While the law will make it easier to enter the regulated
cannabis industry, many businesses not part of the lawsuit had
to close their doors as the law took effect, including Prairie
State Hemp – a store just blocks from the state capitol that
passed the law.
Some businesses selling hemp products before and after the ban
took effect ran steep sales on their remaining product,
according to Katz.
Katz also said he’s not against being regulated by the state, so
long as it doesn’t just shut out their businesses in favor of
major dispensaries.
“In a perfect world, the judge would rule in our favor and then
we would go back to the legislature and say ‘Hey look this is
what happened here now let's sit down and pass reasonable full,
robust regulations that creates protection for the industry,’
but also achieves the goals that most legislators say that they
want,” Katz said.
The ban and challenge comes ahead of a federal ban scheduled to
take effect in early December.
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