The Chicago Zoning Board gave initial approval to a handful of dispensaries and one large grow operation late last week, bringing patients one step closer to accessing medical cannabis in the Windy City.
Perry Mandera, a strip club owner, was granted approval for his grow operation and dispensary after the board questioned him on security measures, including how he would prevent workers from walking off with pot.
| Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. |
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel this week said he doesn’t want people caught with small amounts of pot facing felony charges anymore and is pushing for decriminalization across the state.
Just don’t ask him to back legalizing anything, yet.
Don’t light up your herb in a Chicago park or harbor, or you could be facing a $500 smoking ticket.
Well, you could also be facing a lot of other charges. Including a $500 civic charge for possession of up to 15 grams (or 30 days in jail for a little more than that), or a $750 fine and up to a year in jail for paraphernalia possession if the officer is a real dick. And they’ll bust you, oh they’ll bust you.
But now the Chicago Parks District wants you to know they mean business as well.
Officials at Chicago’s Swedish Covenant Hospital say they want to be the first legal medical marijuana dispensary in the state. Illinois approved a medical cannabis “pilot program” in 2013, allowing for hospitals in the state to act as legal pot dispensaries. So far, none have shown much interest and medical cannabis sales aren’t likely to begin until next year at the earliest.
“We have professionals who very much would like to prescribe those drugs, we have the system in place to manage it and we have the patient population that needs it,” Marcia Jimenez, director of intergovernmental affairs for Swedish, told the Sun-Times. “It just made a lot of sense.
| LOC.gov |
Starting in August 2012, police in Chicago have had the ability to cite those caught with 15 grams of pot or less with a $250-$500 ticket, take the herb and let that person on their way. The police haven’t been doing that, though.
According to a study by Roosevelt University’s Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy, 93 percent of the misdemeanor pot possession charges in the city involved an arrest.
| Emmanuael Ekaette. |
You know what doesn’t help the legalization cause? Being a complete jackass with your cannabis. Case and point: Chicagoland’s Emmanuael Ekaette, who was arrested and charged with purposefully feeding a 1-year-old a marijuana cake over the weekend.
A Chicago doctor could face a suspended or repealed medical license after the state regulatory board accused him of taking fees for “pre-approval” medical marijuana consultations with patients even before the state program is officially underway.
Dr. Brian Murray charged patients a $99 fee for an initial clinic visit needed to establish a “legitimate physician-patient relationship” as required under Illinois law. According to a Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation filed Monday, the fee is “misleading” and falls under state medical malpractice laws.
“Medical marijuana may be right for you.” That is all the sign out in front of doctor Brian Murray’s office said Wednesday afternoon, and there was a line out the door according to the Chicago Tribune.
Murray is the first physician to open up his doors in the city specifically for diagnosing patients who think they might benefit from medical cannabis. The only issue is: medical marijuana won’t be available legally for some time in the state.
| “Ay, no.” |
A housekeeper for a 23-year-old man in Chicago unknowingly ate a pot-filled brownie earlier this week.
That shouldn’t normally be a headline, but apparently this woman couldn’t handle her shit and freaked out. So bad, in fact, that the 23-year-old resident of the house called 911 for an ambulance – even though he clearly knew what she had consumed because he’s the one who made the brownie in the first place.
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