Key Takeaways
- Any adult aged 21 or over can possess up to 30 grams of cannabis flower, 5 grams of concentrates, and 500 mg of THC in edible form, with limits halved for non-residents.
- Medical marijuana is also legal in Illinois, with a possession limit of 2.5 ounces for qualifying patients, with higher limits if your physician deems it necessary.
- Medical patients can legally grow up to 5 plants, but this is not legal under the adult use program. However, growing less than 5 plants is only punishable by a $100 to $200 fine.
Weed is legal in Illinois for both recreational and medical use. Adults over the age of 21 are legally able to buy up to 30 grams (g) of cannabis flower, 5 g of concentrates, and up to 500 mg of THC in cannabis-infused products or edibles.
The rules are slightly different for non-residents – the limits are all halved – but you can still legally buy cannabis in the state. The medical program is also pretty robust if you qualify.
Illinois Cannabis Laws
Illinois’ weed legalization means that any adult resident (over 21) can possess up to 30 g of flower, 5 g of concentrates, and 500 mg of THC in edible form.
Recreational Cannabis Laws
Illinois legalized recreational weed in 2019 through the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, which came into force on January 1st, 2020.
This allows any adult resident of the state to buy and possess up to 30 g of flower, 5 g of concentrates, and 500 mg of THC in infused or edible products, with a limit of 100 mg per individual product.
If you’re not an Illinois resident, these limits are halved, so you can have 15 g of flower, 2.5 g of concentrate, and 250 mg of THC in the form of edibles or infused products.
You can only buy cannabis at state-licensed dispensaries, although you can grow your own if you prefer.
Penalties for Possession
Now we know the answer to “is pot legal in Illinois?” the next step is finding out what happens if you exceed the pre-defined legal limits. This is detailed in the state law, but the key points are as follows:
- Between 30 and 100 g (first offense) is considered a class A misdemeanor, which carries a penalty of up to 1 year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
- For a subsequent offense with the same amounts, it’s a class 4 felony, which can be punished by between 1 to 3 years in jail and a maximum fine of $25,000.
- For a first offense of between 100 and 500 g, it’s a class 4 felony and carries the punishment listed above. For subsequent offenses, it’s a class 3 felony and the jail time is between 2 and 5 years, with the same fine.
- Between 500 g and 2,000 g (2 kg), it’s a class 3 felony, punishable by between 2 and 5 years in jail and up to a $25,000 fine.
- Between 2,000 g and 5,000 g (2 to 5 kg), it’s a class 2 felony and carries between 3 to 7 years in jail and a maximum $25,000 fine.
- For more than 5,000 g (5 kg), it’s a class 1 felony and carries 4 to 15 years in jail and the usual maximum $25,000 fine.
Medical Marijuana Laws
While medical marijuana has technically been legal in Illinois since the Cannabis Control Act of 1978, it wasn’t until 2013 that the first practical medical marijuana legalization bill was signed into law.
This is called the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Program Act, and it legalized the cultivation, sale, and use of marijuana for qualifying medical patients, as well as designating departments to create necessary regulations.
Sales to qualifying patients from medical dispensaries started in November 2015.
Medical Marijuana Patient Possession Limits
Medical marijuana patients in Illinois can buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of usable cannabis in a 14-day period unless his or her physician determines that this isn’t a sufficient supply to relieve symptoms.
If this is the case, exceptions can be made, but you have to have express permission to exceed the limit.
If you have edibles or an infused product, the 2.5 ounces counts as the raw flower that went into the product.
How to Get a Medical Marijuana Card in Illinois?
Getting a medical marijuana card in Illinois works in basically the same way as it does in most states, in that you have to be diagnosed with a qualifying condition and certified by a licensed doctor for the use of marijuana.
So the first step is to visit a registered physician, and get a diagnosis of one of the qualifying conditions:
- Autism
- Agitation of Alzheimer’s disease
- HIV/AIDS
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Anorexia nervosa
- Arnold-Chiari malformation
- Cancer
- Cachexia/wasting syndrome
- Causalgia
- Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
- Chronic pain
- Crohn’s disease
- CRPS (complex regional pain syndrome Type II)
- Dystonia
- Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
- Fibrous Dysplasia
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- Hydrocephalus
- Hydromyelia
- Interstitial cystitis
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Lupus
- Migraines
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Myasthenia Gravis
- Myoclonus
- Nail-patella syndrome
- Neuro-Bechet’s autoimmune disease
- Neurofibromatosis
- Neuropathy
- Osteoarthritis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Polycystic kidney disease (PKD)
- Post-Concussion Syndrome
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
- Residual limb pain
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Seizures (including those characteristic of Epilepsy)
- Severe fibromyalgia
- Sjogren’s syndrome
- Spinal cord disease (including but not limited to arachnoiditis)
- Spinal cord injury is damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity
- Spinocerebellar ataxia
- Superior canal dehiscence syndrome
- Syringomyelia
- Tarlov cysts
- Tourette syndrome
- Traumatic brain injury
- Ulcerative colitis
If your physician agrees that cannabis is an appropriate treatment, he or she will give you a written certification. From this point, you can fill out the application online (following these instructions), and the process varies a little bit if you’re an adult patient (over 18) or a youth (in which case you’ll need to designate a caregiver).
Then you’ll need to pay your application fee ($50 per year for regular patients, with a discount if you apply for three years), and provide some documentation:
- Passport-size photo with a plain white background
- Two documents to prove Illinois residency
- Copy of a valid government-issued photo ID
It’s important to note that veterans being treated by the VA can send 12 months of medical records from the VA in place of the doctor’s certification. When you’ve been through these steps, you’ll receive your card and can buy weed from a dispensary in the state.
Can You Consume Weed in Public in Illinois?
Although Illinois weed laws are pretty relaxed compared to some other places in the country, you’re still not allowed to smoke weed in public in the state.
You can’t smoke weed in any public place (meaning a place where you can be seen by others), in any motor vehicle, near anyone aged under 21, on school grounds or anywhere tobacco smoking is prohibited.
In short, you can smoke cannabis in your home if you own it, or with your landlord’s permission if you don’t. There are also some tobacco stores and dispensaries that allow indoor smoking.
Can You Drive Under the Influence?
As in all states with legal cannabis, it’s still considered a DUI to drive under the influence of weed in Illinois.
However, unlike many states, there is an allowable quantity of THC in the blood of up to 5 nanograms per milliliter. This means if you have less THC than this in your blood, it alone isn’t evidence of impairment or a DUI.
However, with larger amounts or other evidence of impairment, then driving after smoking weed will be treated as a DUI.
It’s important to note that Illinois has an implied consent law, which basically means that you’ve consented to tests of your blood, breath, or urine if the officer has a reason to administer one. If you refuse to give one, your license will be revoked and suspended.
For the actual DUI, the punishments are:
- For a first offense, you’ll lose your license for one year, you may be imprisoned for up to a year and you can be fined up to $2,500. You also have to attend a DUI victim impact panel.
- For a second offense (within 5 years), you’ll lose your license for a minimum of five years, you’ll have a mandatory minimum jail sentence of 5 days (or 30 days of community service), you’ll have a mandatory substance abuse evaluation and treatment if needed, you could be fined up to $2,500 and you could be jailed for up to a year.
- For a third offense, you’ll lose your license for 6 years, possibly be imprisoned for 3 years, be fined a maximum of $10,000 and you’ll have to attend drug and/or alcohol treatment.
Is Delta-8 THC Legal in Illinois?
Delta-8 THC is legal in Illinois, because state hemp law uses the same definition as the federal Farm Bill.
SB 2298 defines hemp as a weed plant with less than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight, which means that delta-8 is legal de-facto provided it meets with this requirement.
The Illinois Department of Agriculture has released a policy that using hemp to synthesize delta-8 is illegal, but this doesn’t appear in state statutes or laws.
While it’s likely that this will change, for now, delta-8 is legal in Illinois.
Is Weed Decriminalized in Illinois?
Weed was decriminalized in Illinois in 2016, which is why some people might ask “is weed decrimalized in Chicago?” for example, but this is now out of date. With full legalization in the state, the limited cases covered by this policy are now explicitly allowed.
Is Growing Weed Legal in Illinois?
Growing weed is legal in Illinois, but only for medical patients.
The Illinois recreational weed law doesn’t allow cultivation, but decriminalizes it for small amounts, with cultivation of no more than 5 plants being punishable only by a fine of between $100 and $200.
Higher amounts are punished as follows:
- More than 5 but less than 20: Class 4 felony (1 to 3 years in jail and a maximum fine of $25,000)
- More than 20 but less than 50: Class 3 felony (2 and 5 years in jail and up to a $25,000 fine)
- More than 50 but less than 200: Class 2 felony (between 3 to 7 years in jail and a maximum $100,000 fine)
- More than 200: Class 1 felony (4 to 15 years in jail and a maximum fine of $100,000)
For medical patients, growing up to five plants in your home is completely legal.
However, you can only have five plants more than 5 inches tall, it has to be in an enclosed, locked space and not visible to the public. Also, it should be in your home or with the consent of the homeowner.
Conclusion
With weed legalization in Illinois quickly going from a pipe-dream to a reality, a good medical program, and other options like delta-8 still available, it’s one of the best states in the country for stoners.
While you still have to be careful when it comes to things like smoking in public or growing, overall it’s really easy to get weed and if you have a legitimate reason, it’s easy to get a medical license to increase your allowances.