ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) – Erik Carlson holds a green postcard inside Mrs. Buckbee’s Wake-N-Bakery on Tuesday. In front of the sign’s Chicago skyline reads “Keep Hemp Legal.”
In recent months, Carlson and Buckbee Weed Co. sent more than 400 of these postcards to Illinois lawmakers. The hemp store’s co-owner says the effort was needed to protect his business and industry.
“The whole point is it needs to be kept legal and not just banned,” Carlson says of hemp.
Since spring of 2024, lawmakers in Springfield considered a crackdown on hemp and Delta 8 products; the Illinois senate passed the regulation bill 54-1. Governor JB Pritzker threw his support behind the effort in December.
On Monday, the proposed regulation went up in smoke – to Carlson’s relief.
“I’m happy to see the legislative process work the way that it’s supposed to,” says the Buckbee co-owner. “Not being just swayed by the special interest groups and the big money.”
Besides “overwhelming” opposition from hemp owners, Carlson credits Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for inspiring Democratic lawmakers to stop the bill last minute.
“Advocates are disappointed,” admits State Sen. Steve Stadelman (D-Rockford) – who voted for the regulation in the spring. “Opponents did a good job of stopping the bill in its tracks in the House. So, I’m disappointed.”
Stadelman supported the restrictions on psychoactive items. He points to consumer safety and protecting children as his motivation behind the effort. Yet, the lawmaker asserts the political winds against the bill weren’t new.
“This legislation has been opposed by strong factions for quite a while, so I think it’s a little more nuanced and more complicated,” he says.
The Democrat maintains regulation remains a priority for the industry – especially as a federal loophole allows these products to be on the market.
“You have interests that want to continue these retail sales of these local stores and continue to make money that kind of puts a profit over people, unfortunately,” concedes Stadelman.
As he greets customers, Carlson contends the primary party behind hemp regulation is “Big Cannabis.”
“What we don’t want to happen is for the hemp industry to be banned and for it to be sucked into Big Cannabis,” says the co-owner. If the restrictions went through, Carlson believes his business wouldn’t survive.
Still, he wishes for regulation to take “bad actors” out of his industry. Carlson’s preferred regulation would have hemp “only sold to people who are over 21, and to make sure that there are sensible labels – that people can be ensured that they’re getting the safe and reliable product every time.”
Across the political aisle, State Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Machesney Park) criticizes the Democrats’ lame duck push: the bill took up the last hours of the 103rd General Assembly.
“We just need to work together,” he says. “You’ve got people with vested financial interests; you’ve got products out there that are a concern.”
Sosnowski describes the process as a political juggling act. He asserts bipartisan regulation is possible, if Democrats open the process with public hearings and concerns.
The Republican claims there are “good common sense opportunities out there to regulate the industry.” Sosnowski says it “may not necessarily make those who have the cannabis licenses entirely happy, but again, as policymakers, we’ve got to kind of work between the two interest parties.”
Stadelman expects hemp regulation to return in the next General Assembly. Carlson agrees but prepares for what he calls Big Cannabis’s influence.
“We are going to continue the fight,” he says. “We still need to have regulations put into place at the end of the day.”
The 104th General Assembly is sworn in on Wednesday, January 8.
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Local hemp store owner calls out ‘Big Cannabis’ as Illinois regulation bill fails – WIFR
