Illinois has made a lot of money from recreational pot. How’s that money used?

Curious City

WBEZ Chicago

Society & Culture, Education, Public, Chicago, Arts, City, Radio, Curious, Investigation

4.8 • 642 Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The state has made about $500 million in marijuana tax revenue since the state legalized recreational use. Social programs have benefited from those funds, but experts say it won’t last forever.

Transcript

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0:31.4	It's Curious City, where we take your questions about Chicago and the region, and investigate.
0:37.4	Report. Explore. From W the region. And investigate. Report.
0:38.1	Explore.
0:38.9	From WBEZ.
0:41.6	What's up, Chicago?
0:42.9	I'm Erin Allen.
0:45.1	Five years ago, Illinois legalized recreational marijuana.
0:49.4	And with that came a lot of lofty promises.
0:52.1	Illinois is establishing itself as the first state in the nation
0:56.7	to legalize in a way that truly puts equity first. That got curious citizen Melissa Richardson
1:04.1	wondering, how much money has the state of Illinois made from cannabis sales? And what is the tax
1:10.6	revenue being spent on?
1:11.6	Mary Hall picks up this week's story.
1:13.6	The answer to that first question, in five years, Illinois has made a lot of money off of cannabis,
1:21.6	nearly half a billion in sales tax. As for where that money goes, there's basically four buckets. The first is
1:29.9	administrative expenses. The second is kind of a catch-off for social programs, like helping
	...

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