Quincy Reporter

Gov. J.B. Pritzker is pushing a bill that would pump a large part of the proceeds from cannabis into local communities impacted the hardest by the war on drugs, according to Crain's Chicago Business. 

The program, dubbed the Restore, Reinvest & Renew Program, or R3 as others are referring to it, will receive 25% of the cannabis tax revenues. State and law enforcement agencies would receive the other 75%.

In 2020, the estimated revenue amount is expected to be approximately $10 million, and next year it is estimated to be $25 million. The revenue is projected to reach a staggering $125 million once the marijuana sales market reaches maturity, reported Crain's.

Illinois cannabis czar, Toi Hutchinson, indicated the government wants large amounts of cash to spill back into the communities. 

"We wanted as much money as possible to go into those communities," Hutchinson told Crain's. "We were also coming off the end of a two-year budget impasse that hollowed out nonprofits. The ones hurt most were the small ones on the ground." 

However, taxpayers are wondering where this money will go to since the marijuana law was enacted last year. 

One group, the Illinois Justice Project, was part of a coalition that pushed for marijuana revenues to go toward reinvestment.

Sharone Mitchell, director of the Illinois Justice Project, indicated that the revenue is to undo the wrongs of over-incarceration over the past several decades.

"A dedicated investment to undo the wrongs of over-incarceration and underinvestment is a big deal from 50,000 feet," Mitchell told Crain's.

Mitchell said the goal is admirable and executing it may be challenging. 

"The goal is admirable; the execution could prove difficult," Mitchell said.  "It's not guaranteed that this thing is going to work," Mitchell told Crain's.