The first day of legal recreational marijuana proved to be lucrative for Illinois, raking in nearly $3.2 million in sales.
On January 1, 37 dispensaries in Illinois made 77,128 transactions totaling more than $3.17 million in sales, the state's senior adviser for cannabis control said at a news conference Thursday.
"The amazing thing about that is that there's a significant portion of these dollars that go directly into this community reinvestment fund, so we can continue to rebuild communities that have been hardest hit by the war on drugs," said Toi Hutchinson, Gov. J.B. Pritzker's senior adviser for cannabis control. "So sales are great, but let's never lose sight on the impact that we're having on families around this state."
Illinois became the 11th state to allow for the use and sale of recreational marijuana beginning January 1.
The state previously allowed medical marijuana, but a new law signed by Pritzker allows people 21 and older to possess up to 30 grams of cannabis flower, five grams of cannabis concentrate and cannabis-infused products containing no more than 500 milligrams of THC.
The same rules apply to out-of-state visitors, but they can only purchase half those amounts.
According to KTVI, thousands lined up at some marijuana dispensaries and waited for hours to get their hands on legal pot on the first day of legalization. The crowds were so large some people ended up being turned away, WBBM reports.
