No Legal Weed Businesses In Bolingbrook: Board

BOLINGBROOK, IL — Recreational marijuana will be legal in Illinois in January, but you won't be able to get it in Bolingbrook. Trustees last week voted 5-1 against allowing cannabis businesses in the village, with Bob Jaskiewicz as the lone dissenter.

"I philosophically have a real problem with governments which have turned to drugs and gambling to balance their budgets," Mayor Roger Claar said, according to the Herald-News. "That’s what the state’s come to."

Public Safety Director Ken Teppel said Bolingbrook police are also opposed to allowing recreational cannabis sales in the village. Jaskiewicz, the only "no" vote, said the village should have had a public hearing on the issue before taking a vote, the Herald reported.

Under the law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, recreational cannabis can be sold to anyone over the age of 21 and consumed in private homes and business starting next year. Marijuana will be available over the counter to more than 12 million people in Illinois — more than the population of Washington and Oregon combined and twice as many people as Colorado — starting Jan. 1, 2020. It will be taxed at a sliding scale, depending on the level of the active psychoactive ingredient THC is in any given product.

Illinois Legal Weed: Who Can Buy, Sell, Use Marijuana Next Year?

Municipalities have had a mixed response to the new law, with some taking a firm stance against allowing its sale, others saying yes and some holding public hearings to let residents weigh in.

Here's what some towns are doing about recreational marijuana:

• Highland Park voted against having a public hearing and is taking a "wait and see" approach
• Frankfort will not allow cannabis sales
• Buffalo Grove will likely allow sales
• Arlington Heights - more than half of board members say they're open to it
• Grayslake is banning sales until 2021
• Libertyville is planning a public hearing