, a Forbes contributor that covers the policy and politics of marijuana, is delighted over Cook County's advisory passing in a 2 to 1 margin Tuesday.
The measure in Cook County — the nation's second-most-populous county, which has more residents than 27 states of the union — is not binding, but its passage sends a strong message to state lawmakers that ending cannabis prohibition is an issue that voters want the legislature to address.
The question, approved by voters with a greater than two-to-one margin, reads:
"Shall the State of Illinois legalize the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, testing, and sale of marijuana and marijuana products for recreational use by adults 21 and older subject to state regulation, taxation and local ordinance?"
Statewide, voters also went to the polls on Tuesday to select party nominees for governor and attorney general, contests in which the candidates' positions on marijuana legalization has been a key issue.
And here's what Democrat gubernatorial candidate JB Pritzker says about legalizing marijuana:
"We can begin by immediately removing one area of racial injustice in our criminal justice system," he said during a victory speech Tuesday night. "Let's legalize, tax and regulate marijuana."
Republican nominee Governor Bruce Rauner isn't so sure what he'll do if the legislature sends him a bill legalizing recreational marijuana. At one time he said he was opposed to it. But he's flip-flopped on other issues in the past, so we really won't know until he makes a move.
