Cannabis entrepreneurs urge state lawmakers to enact industry reform

RICHTON PARK, Ill. (WGN) — Cannabis owners and advocates are demanding a change to state laws and regulations that they said are holding them back from staying afloat and making a profit.

Several years ago, husband and wife combo Rick and Michelle Ringold got into the cannabis business after state lawmakers passed legislation making recreational cannabis legal.

Now, the Ringolds own Galaxy in south suburban Richton Park and hold Cannabis Social Equity Licenses to grow, distribute and transport cannabis, but said strict state regulations, high taxes, and limited capital are making it challenging to stay afloat.

“We really believed in this vision of truly creating economic growth and empowerment within our organizations,” Michelle Ringold said.

“[But] nobody sleeps at night when everything you own is tied up into uncertainty, and that’s where we are,” Rick Ringold said.

On Sunday morning, the Ringolds stood in unity with several other entrepreneurs who have the same cannabis licenses they hold, hoping to pressure state lawmakers into following through on promises those gathered said the state has yet to make good on.

Ted Parks, Chairman of the Independent Third Party Carriers Association, told WGN News the Cannabis Social Equity Program (CSEP), adopted by Illinois on Jan. 1, 2020, was meant to right some of the wrongs caused by decades of criminalization and systemic exclusion from the cannabis industry.

Ambrose Jackson, CEO of the 1937 Group, said businesses he’s worked with have had to throw out various financial projections based on assumptions made before opening due to discrepancies in the CSEP.

“To get into the market craft growing 10 million dollars, we’ve mortgaged our home. We liquidated our 401k. We have went to family and friends to get money,” Michelle Ringold said.

There are funding mechanisms available through the state, according to State Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-8th District), but those levers have yet to be set in motion. He said Illinois promised Social Equity Business Grants to help offset costs as a part of the CSEP, but the state has not awarded those grants to recreational cannabis businesses in Illinois.

“We want to make sure that we pass legislation to provide grants, not loans to these social equity companies,” Ford said. “We also want to pass legislation to allow these social equity dispensaries to allow medical patients to use their dispensaries at the same rate they are paid at medical dispensaries. That would help out a great deal.”

In the days to come, cannabis advocates are headed to Springfield to demand a series of actions they want from state lawmakers:

1. Impose a moratorium on licensing fees and provide a credit for fees paid before businesses were operating.
2. Allow equitable access to capital and grant funding.
3. Amend regulations and reduce taxes.
4. Allow medical patients to use medical cards at any licensed dispensary.

“A lot of things that we thought would happen from a legislative standpoint really didn’t happen, and we don’t know when it’s going to happen,” Rick Ringold said.