Posted inInvestigating Responses

5 Ways Lawmakers Could Boost Equity in Illinois’ Stalled Cannabis Industry

“If we don’t provide real, intentional help for these social equity dreamers, we’re going to let them down as a state. All of their money will be lost,” a key lawmaker said.

by Alex Nitkin October 24, 2023January 26, 2024

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5 Ways Lawmakers Could Boost Equity in Illinois’ Stalled Cannabis Industry

by Alex Nitkin, Illinois Answers Project
October 24, 2023

<h1>5 Ways Lawmakers Could Boost Equity in Illinois’ Stalled Cannabis Industry</h1>
<p class="byline">by Alex Nitkin, Illinois Answers Project <br />October 24, 2023</p>
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Helios Labs co-founders Ambrose Jackson, center, and Alex Al-Sabah stand inside their 40,000-square-foot "bloom room" where they plan to grow cannabis. But they say the state's 5,000-square-foot cap on canopy space has made it hard to attract investors. Credit: Victor Hilitski for Illinois Answers Project

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Tagged: Equity

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.

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