After four attempts at a second effort to craft an ordinance to prevent or regulate the sale of agricultural hemp at businesses selling tobacco products, the Waukegan City Council may have an ordinance to consider by March 18.
Initially discussing the effort to ban or regulate a product that can be synthesized into a substance with THC — the active ingredient in cannabis — the council’s Committee of the Whole may have legislation to consider by March 4.
The committee voted 5-4 against recommending an outright ban on agricultural hemp Monday at City Hall, and instead laid the foundation for a regulatory ordinance that would provide some revenue for the city.
Though she was not present when the committee first discussed a potential hemp ban on Jan. 16, Mayor Ann Taylor initiated the proposal as she learned other communities were doing the same to avoid the sale of the unregulated product.
“This has been very prevalent in other communities,” Taylor said at the committee meeting. “When it is heated, it changes it to a THC product.”
Stewart Weiss, an attorney with Waukegan corporation counsel Elrod Friedman, said products derived from agricultural hemp are not like the regulated cannabis sold in Waukegan’s two licensed dispensaries, “the way they are synthesized .”
“These forms of unregulated hemp are derived from agricultural hemp, and exist in a rather blatant loophole that avoids any sort of inspection, regulation or taxation,” he said.
Weiss said there are no regulations on the sale or purchasing of agricultural hemp. It can be sold anywhere and purchased by anyone. Current law has not caught up with the synthetic chemistry involved, he said.
“There is no regulation regarding the sale, the age at which someone can purchase these, where it can be sold, any distance limits from schools, any limitations on the type and content of advertising, any regulations about the packaging and labeling,” Weiss said.
Taylor wanted to keep the legislation simple, banning the sale in businesses with a license to sell tobacco because it would simplify enforcement and not add expense to the city budget. Ald. Jose A. Guzman, 2nd Ward, had other ideas, including a revenue source.
Guzman, who was told by Weiss at the Jan. 16 meeting the city does not have the authority to impose a tax on the sale of hemp, said Monday it was important to find a way to derive revenue. He suggested a special license with a $500 fee.
“It is a legal product. It shouldn’t be banned. It should be regulated,” Guzman said. “With a … separate license, we get the revenue that way. If we ban it here, we’re losing the revenue while other cities have not caught up to it.”
Ald. Thomas Hayes, 9th Ward, who voted for the ban, said the council should do what is best for the community as a whole, and not look for a way to add revenue at the expense of people who could buy it at any age.
“There’s no proof it’s good and, in all likelihood, it’s bad,” Hayes said. “We’re presented with this opportunity. I think we should seize the moment and do that. People don’t know what they’re buying, and that’s a terrifying prospect. There is not enough revenue to justify. It’s irresponsible. It’s really irresponsible.”
After the committee rejected the outright ban at Guzman’s urging, he suggested an ordinance requiring purchasers to be 21, a license with a $500 fee and not allowing the sale of products near schools.
“The whole purpose is to get some revenue out of this,” Guzman said.
After trying to explain the elements of his proposal four times as he hit a legal stumbling block with each suggestion, Guzman suggested waiting until a future meeting to craft an ordinance to send to the council.
“Put it on hold for another two weeks, come back with all the information, then come back and vote on it that way,” he said.
Taylor suggested moving the legislation to the March 4 committee meeting since the Feb. 17 agenda is already full. Guzman agreed.
Voting for the full ban were Taylor, Hayes, Ald. Sylvia Sims Bolton, 1st Ward, and Ald. Lynn Florian, 8th Ward.
Joining Guzman in voting against the full ban were Ald. Juan Martinez, 3rd Ward, Ald. Victor Felix, 4th Ward, Ald. Keith Turner, 6th Ward, and Ald. Michael Donnenwirth, 7th Ward. Ald. Edith Newsome, 5th Ward, was not present.
Since the Committee of the Whole cannot now act on a hemp-related ordinance before March 4, it cannot be sent to the council itself before its next meeting after March 4. It is scheduled to meet on March 18.
