Posted inInvestigating Responses

How the ‘Most Equity-Centric’ Law on Weed Went Wrong – and Where Illinois Can Go from Here

Illinois is finally issuing new dispensary licenses. But after legislation failed last month, advocates say the state’s cannabis industry has a long way to go to achieve true social equity.

by Alex Nitkin June 14, 2023January 26, 2024

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

When republishing or co-publishing our stories, please copy and paste our tracking code (found at the bottom of the copy below - it includes the words "republication-tracker-tool") anywhere in the body of this article in your website’s content management system. This will let us know how much traffic our story has received. Find our content republishing guidelines here.

How the ‘Most Equity-Centric’ Law on Weed Went Wrong – and Where Illinois Can Go from Here

by Alex Nitkin, Illinois Answers Project
June 14, 2023

<h1>How the ‘Most Equity-Centric’ Law on Weed Went Wrong – and Where Illinois Can Go from Here</h1>
<p class="byline">by Alex Nitkin, Illinois Answers Project <br />June 14, 2023</p>
<div class="newspack-content-gate__gate newspack-content-gate__inline-gate">
<div style="clear:both;display:table"></div>
<div class="wp-block-group alignwide has-border-color has-base-3-border-color has-white-color has-primary-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-b522c7804fdbc60f9b8c5b072fab8d75" style="border-width:1px;border-top-left-radius:8px;border-top-right-radius:8px;border-bottom-left-radius:8px;border-bottom-right-radius:8px;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80)">
<div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-0cefa6ed wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained">
<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center" id="h-this-story-is-free-we-just-need-your-email"><strong>This story is <span style="text-decoration: underline">free</span>. We just need your email.</strong></h3>
<div class="wp-block-group">
<div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-d055b032 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained">
<p class="has-text-align-center halyard wp-block-paragraph">We don’t put our investigations behind a paywall. But we do ask readers to sign up for our newsletter before reading, so we can stay connected and keep you informed about our latest reporting.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph">
</div>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-group">
<div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-d055b032 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained">
<div class="newspack-registration newspack-ui ">
<p class="newspack-registration__description">By entering my email I consent to receiving additional emails from Illinois Answers Project, such as newsletters, event invitations, and occasional opportunities to support our work. I understand I can unsubscribe at any time.</p>
<p>Have questions or experiencing an issue? Contact us at <a href="mailto:info@bettergov.org">info@bettergov.org</a>.</p>
<div class="newspack-registration__form-content">
<div class="newspack-registration__main">
<div>
<div class="newspack-ui">
			<button type="button" class="newspack-ui__button newspack-ui__button--wide newspack-ui__button--secondary newspack-ui__button--google-oauth"></p>
<p>							Continue with Google			</button></p>
<div class="newspack-ui__word-divider">
				Or			</div>
</p></div>
<div class="newspack-registration__inputs">
<p>																<button type="submit" class="newspack-ui__button newspack-ui__button--primary"><br />
									<span class="submit">Continue</span><br />
								</button>
							</div>
<div class="newspack-registration__response newspack-registration--hidden">
															</div>
</p></div>
</p></div>
</p></div>
<div class="newspack-registration__help-text">
<p>
													<a href="https://illinoisanswers.org/privacy-policy-2/"><br />
							I agree to the <a href="https://www.bettergov.org/better-government-association-privacy-policy/">Terms of Service</a> and <a href="https://www.bettergov.org/terms-of-service/">Privacy Policy</a>.												</a>
											</p>
</p></div>
<div class="newspack-registration__registration-success newspack-registration--hidden newspack-ui__box newspack-ui__box--x-large newspack-ui__box--success newspack-ui__box--text-center">
				<span class="newspack-ui__icon newspack-ui__icon--success"></p>
<p>							</span></p>
<div class="wp-block-newspack-reader-registration">
<p class="has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph">Success! Your account was created and you’re signed in.</p>
</div></div>
</p></div>
</p></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://illinoisanswers.org/2023/06/14/illinois-approves-new-marijuana-dispensary-licenses-social-equity/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://illinoisanswers.org&quot;&gt;Illinois Answers Project&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/illinoisanswers.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p>
&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://illinoisanswers.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=17051&amp;amp;ga4=G-3GC466Z1PL&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://illinoisanswers.org/2023/06/14/illinois-approves-new-marijuana-dispensary-licenses-social-equity/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/illinoisanswers.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;script&gt;
(function () {
  &quot;use strict&quot;;

  const postId = 17051;

  const endpoint =
    &quot;https://d92l5yv8og.execute-api.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod/trackingpixel&quot;;

  const sessionId =
    &quot;test-&quot; +
    Date.now() +
    &quot;-&quot; +
    Math.random().toString(36).slice(2);

  const source = window.location.hostname;
  const pagePath = window.location.pathname;
  const screenWidth = window.innerWidth;

  let title = &quot;unknown&quot;;
  let engagedSeconds = 0;

  const pendingPixels = new Set();

  function sendPixel(eventType) {
    const query = new URLSearchParams({
      post: title,
      title: title,
      source: source,
      path: pagePath,
      width: String(screenWidth),
      session_id: sessionId,
      event_type: eventType,
      engaged_seconds: String(engagedSeconds),
      test: &quot;staging&quot;,
      cache_bust: String(Date.now())
    });

    const requestUrl =
      endpoint + &quot;?&quot; + query.toString();

    const pixel = new Image();

    pendingPixels.add(pixel);

    pixel.onload = function () {
      pendingPixels.delete(pixel);

      console.log(&quot;Republication pixel completed:&quot;, {
        eventType: eventType,
        engagedSeconds: engagedSeconds,
        sessionId: sessionId
      });
    };

    pixel.onerror = function () {
      pendingPixels.delete(pixel);

      console.error(
        &quot;Republication pixel failed:&quot;,
        requestUrl
      );
    };

    pixel.src = requestUrl;

    console.log(&quot;Republication pixel requested:&quot;, {
      eventType: eventType,
      engagedSeconds: engagedSeconds,
      sessionId: sessionId,
      url: requestUrl
    });
  }

  fetch(
    &quot;https://illinoisanswers.org/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/&quot; +
      postId +
      &quot;?_fields=id,title&quot;
  )
    .then(function (response) {
      if (!response.ok) {
        throw new Error(
          &quot;WordPress API returned &quot; +
          response.status
        );
      }

      return response.json();
    })
    .then(function (data) {
      title = &quot;unknown&quot;;

      if (data) {
        if (data.title) {
          if (data.title.rendered) {
            title = data.title.rendered;
          }
        }
      }

      console.log(&quot;Republication tracker started:&quot;, {
        postId: postId,
        title: title,
        sessionId: sessionId
      });

      sendPixel(&quot;page_view&quot;);

      window.setInterval(function () {
        if (document.visibilityState !== &quot;visible&quot;) {
          console.log(
            &quot;Heartbeat skipped: tab hidden&quot;
          );
          return;
        }

        if (!document.hasFocus()) {
          console.log(
            &quot;Heartbeat skipped: window not focused&quot;
          );
          return;
        }

        engagedSeconds += 5;

        sendPixel(&quot;heartbeat&quot;);
      }, 5000);
    })
    .catch(function (error) {
      console.error(
        &quot;Republication tracker failed:&quot;,
        error
      );
    });

  window.addEventListener(
    &quot;pagehide&quot;,
    function () {
      sendPixel(&quot;session_end&quot;);
    }
  );
})();
&lt;/script&gt;

Ameya Pawar, a senior fellow at the Economic Security Project and a former Chicago alderman, is part of an ownership group that received social equity licenses to open two new dispensaries, including OKAY Cannabis Dispensary at 1914 W. Chicago Ave. in Chicago's West Town neighborhood. Credit: Victor Hilitski, for Illinois Answers Project

This story is free. We just need your email.

We don’t put our investigations behind a paywall. But we do ask readers to sign up for our newsletter before reading, so we can stay connected and keep you informed about our latest reporting.

By entering my email I consent to receiving additional emails from Illinois Answers Project, such as newsletters, event invitations, and occasional opportunities to support our work. I understand I can unsubscribe at any time.

Have questions or experiencing an issue? Contact us at info@bettergov.org.

I agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Success! Your account was created and you’re signed in.

Alex NitkinGovernment Finance and Accountability Reporter

anitkin@illinoisanswers.org

Alex Nitkin is a government finance and accountability reporter conducting investigations on systemic problems and the public policies that are meant to fix them in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois government. Before joining Illinois Answers, he worked as a reporter and editor for The Daily Line covering Cook County and Chicago government. He previously worked at The Real Deal Chicago, where he covered local real estate news, and DNAinfo Chicago, where he worked as a breaking news reporter and then as a neighborhood reporter covering the city's Northwest Side. A New York native who grew up in Connecticut, Alex graduated Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a bachelor’s degree.

More by Alex Nitkin