The sweeping ban on hemp products recently approved by the Chicago City Council threatens to destroy small local businesses, eliminate consumer choice and deliver a monopoly to dispensary insiders.
The Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association is committed to working alongside city leaders to protect our children while ensuring that adults have access to the healthy alternatives they deserve. We all share the goal of stopping bad actors in the hemp industry, but this ban is not the solution. Instead of outright prohibition, we should focus on regulation that ensures safety and accountability.
Hemp products are legal under federal law and are vital to thousands of Chicago families who rely on them for wellness. These products offer effective pain management without the harmful addictions we commonly associate with prescription pain medications. Moreover, they have been shown to assist individuals in overcoming alcohol addiction, providing a healthier alternative for those in need.
By enforcing this ban, we risk forcing hundreds of neighborhood retailers — whose proprietors are minorities who have been shut out of the dispensary licensing process — to close their doors, which ultimately would harm our local economy and limit consumer access. The ordinance mandates complete product removal by April 1.
If Mayor Brandon Johnson does not veto this ordinance by Feb. 13, it will jeopardize our small businesses and consumer rights.
This ban protects corporate dispensaries at the expense of everyday consumers. We can achieve a balance that safeguards minors while still allowing adults the freedom to make informed choices about their health. Regulation, not prohibition, is the path forward.
I urge Johnson to consider the impact this ordinance will have on our community and the families who depend on these products. Veto this ban and allow us to work together to create a reasonable regulatory framework that benefits everyone.
— Craig Katz, board president, Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association
Not balanced regulation
Mayor Brandon Johnson should veto the recently passed hemp ordinance because it creates significant public health and liability risks while failing to establish coherent regulation.
The ordinance is presented as a regulatory framework for intoxicating hemp products in Chicago. In practice, it bans the vast majority of hemp-derived products from retail sale, including many CBD items, while allowing 10 mg hemp THC beverages and “additives” to be sold at licensed alcohol-serving establishments. The policy would shut down the retailers that actually understand these products, while shifting the market to liquor stores, bars and restaurants that are not equipped to manage the unique safety risks of selling cannabinoid products alongside alcohol.
This is a major policy shift, yet it comes without corresponding changes in liquor control rules, staff training standards, licensing and operational structures or insurance requirements. A single 10 mg THC drink can be highly impairing for many people. The well-documented risks of combining THC and alcohol further increase impairment, yet the ordinance creates no clear system to keep those exposures separate.
Safe handling of THC beverages in environments where alcohol is served requires precise dosing controls, strict oversight and clear consumer education. Bartenders and servers are not trained in cannabinoid onset times, potency differences or the risks of mixing substances. Many establishments may also be unaware that their dram shop coverage does not cover on-premises THC consumption, creating significant liability exposure.
Meanwhile, responsible hemp retailers that already use age restrictions, third-party testing and labeling standards are pushed out of the market, even for many nonintoxicating products.
This is not balanced regulation. It expands risk in hospitality settings while restricting access to mainstream wellness products and harming compliant small businesses. The mayor should veto this ordinance and insist on expert-driven, evidence-based policy that addresses safety, training and liability before expanding THC service in bars and restaurants.
— Kylie Flick, Chicago
Refer madness redux?
I enjoyed reading the Wednesday editorial opposing the sale of THC-infused beverages at the United Center (“We’re not buzzing about THC beverages being sold at the United Center”). It was a real blast from the past, fearmongering and silly, biased talk on THC that would have made Ronald Reagan proud. Honestly, I expected to see such an editorial with the preface, “On this day 45 years ago …”
I thought we were past the harmful demonization of THC use, but apparently there are still some D.A.R.E. aficionados entrenched on the Tribune Editorial Board. So here is a balanced perspective.
As anyone knows who has attended music events, indoors or out, people already consume THC before and during those events. They can get all sorts of beverages or edibles at one of a dozen places close to the United Center. And yet, there haven’t been any reports of reefer madness outbreaks that the editorial seems to portend will result from beverages infused with a relatively small amount of THC being sold as an option at the United Center itself.
The editorial fails to mention the availability and widespread use of high-octane spirits at the United Center during shows. Instead, the board opts for the happy-go-lucky concert attendee kicking back a beer or two as its foil to scary THC use. Again, Reagan would have been proud.
The editorial board then throws in the new scare tactic for good measure at the end, claiming that there is some terrifying epidemic of puking, screaming and hospitalizations as the result of THC use (relying on spotty data, none of which has been linked to THC beverages). I must admit, this is a fair point. Concertgoers at the United Center should instead stick to sugary, spiked beverages loaded with hard liquor, because those are well known to settle the stomach, quiet the masses and minimize hospital visits.
Enough. Even Donald Trump was able to figure out that THC isn’t some hardcore, terrifying drug. Your turn, Tribune Editorial Board.
— Mike Belle, Cicero
Alcohol versus pot
I couldn’t believe it when I read that the United Center will start selling THC-infused drinks.
About 88,000 adults die annually in the U.S. from alcohol-related causes. How many died last year from pot?
— George Hovany, Gig Harbor, Washington
One big Pottersville
My favorite movie is “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Unfortunately, the recent articles about THC drinks being served at the United Center, and the pervasiveness of online and casino gambling, make me think that our society is turning into one big Pottersville. George Bailey is sorely missed.
— Phillip Seeberg, Naperville
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