Brandon Johnson often speaks of his concern for the well-being of Chicago's children, usually in the context of seeking more taxpayer money for Chicago Public Schools and supporting higher wages and increased employment for Chicago Teachers Union members.
So it was a bad look indeed when Chicago's mayor spent a healthy amount of what was left of his political capital to prevent state lawmakers from taking action against unregulated suppliers of potent cannabis products that sent several of the city's children to the hospital after what could accurately be described as an overdose.
Johnson notched a rare victory in Springfield on Monday, defeating his frequent opponent, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who had aggressively lobbied Illinois House members to approve a bill that the state Senate passed unanimously nearly months ago. At the beginning of the week, it appeared that there were enough votes in the House of Representatives to pass this measure in the lame-duck session before the new General Assembly took its seats. But an eleventh-hour pressure campaign by Johnson and his supporters in the Chicago delegation resulted in enough Democratic votes to overturn the legislation and force the governor and his supporters to start over in the new session.
And why? What is the reason behind the mayor's great concern? That certainly wasn't the luxury of Chicago kids, who still have easy access to gummies and the like, mixed with synthetic marijuana and sold at vape shops, gas stations, convenience stores and other locations, many near schools.
Instead, Johnson's progressive allies justified continuing to put Chicago's children at risk by parroting a familiar refrain: the need for more revenue to prop up a bloated city government as federal pandemic dollars are spent and the local economy remains moribund. Mayor sees intoxicating cannabis as a business ripe for new taxes; The state legislation Pritzker supported would have effectively banned powerful synthetic THC offerings like delta-8 to give lawmakers time to create a regulatory system that would keep these things away from minors and ensure we know what's actually in these products.
I give birth. William Hall, VI, a staunch mayoral ally whom Johnson has tasked with getting more tax revenue, told the Tribune he believed Pritzker was motivated to obstruct Johnson's progressive agenda rather than seeking to protect children, a scandalous accusation. In a statement on Tuesday, Johnson said he wanted to balance “concerns about simple consumption” with support for “business and municipalities” and that he supports regulation of some kind. recently.
Translating that, Johnson's seemingly neutral language really amounts to something along these lines: I have a city of Chicago budget to manage, and closing one of the few high-tax areas available to me takes precedence over everything else. Including the health and safety of children.
In 2023, five students at Uplift Community High School in Uptown were hospitalized after eating gum from a neighborhood smoke shop. More than a dozen states have banned delta-8 THC. What are you waiting for, Mr. Mayor? Teenager to die?
For this mayor, it seems, the growth in unregulated synthetic THC sales amounts to “economic development.”
Expressing the governor's disappointment with the failure of the legislation he made a top priority, a spokesman for Pritzker said that Pritzker “will always put people, especially children, before politics and profits.” The spokesman did not mention the mayor and his supporters by name, but the message was clear. Those children whom Johnson likes to embrace when he beats the drum for more tax and spend were an afterthought when it came to ensuring hard gum continued to be sold near schools with impunity.
In a press appearance on Tuesday, Pritzker sharply criticized House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, who declined to advocate for the bill because it apparently did not receive a strong enough majority within his Democratic caucus. “We know that the vast majority of Democrats were in favor of it, and the vast majority of Republicans were in favor of it,” Pritzker said. “So the fact that a bipartisan bill was not called for to protect the people of Illinois is a tragedy.”
This page expressed support for the bill that the mayor (and Welch) helped torpedo, with the full knowledge that the legal cannabis and unregulated hemp industries are asking policymakers to intervene in a trade battle. We believe there is likely a place for intoxicating cannabis products that are subject to the same type of stringent licensing as cannabis dispensaries and are subject to similar regulations.
We also believe that the best way to seriously bring cannabis interests to the table is to stop the illegal and dangerous business practices they are currently engaging in while negotiations take place.
The cannabis lobby flexed its muscles by getting enough House members to kill the bill, which passed the state Senate by a vote of 54-1. Fifty-four to one. What incentive would there be for an industry that has just seen how easily desperate politicians in Chicago can be manipulated to come to the negotiating table in good faith?
Johnson risks a Chicago child's future overdose death on his conscience. God forbid.
Is what the few millions in the city's coffers ultimately see from this maneuver worth it, Mr. Mayor?
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Originally published: January 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM CST
