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Illinois 11th state to legalize recreational marijuana

4 years 3 months 2 days ago Tuesday, June 25 2019 Jun 25, 2019 June 25, 2019 1:01 PM June 25, 2019 in News
Source: Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) - Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed legislation making Illinois the 11th state in the nation to legalize recreational marijuana.

The Democrat signed legislation Tuesday in Chicago allowing residents to purchase and possess up to one ounce of marijuana at a time. Non-residents could have up to 15 grams.

Illinois joins 10 other states and the District of Columbia in allowing recreational use. It's been essentially illegal for the past 80 years and since 1970 has been federally banned as a narcotic.

But Pritzker made legalization the main tenet of his campaign for governor last fall. Nearly two dozen states have pursued legalization in the past two years.

Efforts in New York and New Jersey fizzled this spring. Pennsylvania officials proposed it but it never got off the ground.

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