The State of Illinois has Legalized the Use of Marijuana

The state of Illinois has legalized the use of marijuana, with the governor pardoning thousands of people with past convictions for use of small amounts of cannabis, AFP reported.

The law will allow residents over the age of 21 to legally purchase marijuana and repeal thousands of convictions across the state.

"We are restoring rights to many tens of thousands of Illinoisans. We are bringing regulation and safety to a previously unsafe and illegal market. And we are creating a new industry that puts equity at its very core," Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said in a special statement.

On Tuesday evening, Pritzker ordered 11,017 pardons low-level cannabis convictions, the first round of a planned total of more than 700,000.

According to the statement, the new law will use 25 percent of the proceeds from cannabis sales in the state to help the "the communities hit hardest" by the earlier crackdown on marijuana, France 24 reported.

“Today we took another step toward justice, as we continue to address the failed war on drugs and the disproportionate impact it had on communities of color," Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx said.

Illinois residents which are 21 and older will now be legally entitled to possess 30 grams of cannabis, five grams of cannabis concentrate, or 500 milligrams of THC - the main active ingredient in cannabis - contained in a cannabis-infused product.

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