By Kulmeet (Bob) Galhotra (CCC’s Criminal Justice advisor) w J. Schickedanz
The Cannabis industry’s hodgepodge of regulations are at best confusing, and worst maddeningly frustrating. Currently, 47 states have rules outlining legal cannabis/CBD usage that differ from state to state. Our intrepid criminal justice advisor, Kulmeet (Bob) Galhotra has compiled this list to help you keep yourself, your family, and your cannabinoid-based therapies safe while living or traveling in the great state of Illinois.
Here are 10 things everyone in Illinois should know about using, transporting, and growing cannabis in Illinois – in no particular order.
- You must be 21 years old possess Cannabis legally.
- Adult residents of Illinois can possess up to 30 grams of flower.
- While dispensaries are not allowed to record when and how many times you purchase cannabis, you cannot possess more than 30 grams at any one time.
- Cannabis, if transported in an automobile, must be in an inaccessible, sealed or resealable, child-resistant, odor-proof container.
- The containers typically sold at dispensaries are not in odor-proof containers (police dogs can still smell cannabis still in dispensary packaging).
- A law enforcement officer can search your vehicle without a warrant if they smell cannabis.
- Use of cannabis within the passenger area of a motor vehicle on a highway is a Class A Misdemeanor.
- If you are arrested for illegal possession or transportation of cannabis, you will be searched and you can be charged for possession of anything else that turns up in that search if it is contraband.
- A police officer doesn’t have to “read you your rights” unless they are going to question you, usually at the police station.
- You can be charged with DUI if you are in physical control of a motor vehicle and have more than 5 nanograms of THC in your bloodstream, but only if you are a recreational user.
For more info contact the Consumer Cannabis Council at info@theconsumercannabiscouncil or call 877-942-0222
KULMEET S. (BOB) GALHOTRA
Is a criminal defense and civil rights attorney through his firm, Galhotra Law. His nearly three decades of service as an assistant Cook County public defender Bob has represented the indigent accused in criminal courts as well as former supervisor in the Homicide Task Force, a special office that exclusively handled homicide and capital cases. Mr. Galhotra is also an adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, and member of the ISBA Criminal Justice Section Council, the Cannabis Law Section.
