More than $3m worth of cannabis sold in Illinois on first day of legalisation

Illinois' new regulations have been widely praised for enshrining in law the fact that money made from sales will be pumped into job creation and improving left-behind neighbourhoods.
The Independent (UK)
Friday, January 3, 2020

It was a happy – and seemingly high – new year in Illinois after cannabis sales of more than $3m were made on the first day of the drug being legal for recreational use in the state. Some 37 dispensaries made 77,128 transactions as thousands of residents saw in the start of 2020 by lighting up. "The amazing thing about that is that there's a significant portion of these dollars that go directly into this community reinvestment fund, so we can continue to rebuild communities that have been hardest hit by the war on drugs," said Toi Hutchinson, senior adviser for cannabis control. Illinois is now the 11th US state to legalise the sale of cannabis to adults for recreational purposes.