Find out about the legal status of medical and recreational marijuana in the state of Illinois. Is marijuana illegal? Better safe than sorry!
MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN ILLINOIS
Medical marijuana is legal for patients with a prescription from a licensed physician in Illinois. Currently about 4,000 eligible patients are part of the medical marijuana program that is said to run through 2018.
The qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in Illinois include:
- AIDS/HIV
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Arnold-Chiari malformation and syringomyelia
- Cachexia/wasting syndrome
- Cancer
- Causalgia
- Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
- Crohn’s disease
- CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Type I)
- CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Type II)
- Dystonia
- Fibromyalgia (severe)
- Fibrous dysplasia
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- Hydrocephalus
- Hydromyelia
- Interstitial cystitis
- Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS)
- Lupus
- Multiple sclerosis
- Muscular dystrophy
- Myasthenia gravis
- Myoclonus
- Nail-patella syndrome
- Neurofibromatosis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Post-concussion syndrome
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
- Residual limb pain
- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
- Seizures (including those characteristic of epilepsy)
- Sjogren’s syndrome
- Spinal cord disease (including but not limited to arachnoiditis, Tarlov cysts, hydromyelia & syringomelia)
- Spinal cord injury with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity
- Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA)
- Syringomyelia
- Tarlov cysts
- Tourette syndrome
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA IN ILLINOIS
Although the attitude towards cannabis is quite lenient in Illinois and possession of small amounts of cannabis for personal use is partly decriminalized, the cultivation, sale, and possession of cannabis for recreational purposes is technically illegal.
Although it is technically illegal to possess any weed if you are not a registered medical marijuana patient, getting caught with up to 2,5 grams is seen as a Class-C misdemeanor and will most likely get you just a fine of up to $200.
More than that and up to 10 grams is already a Class-B misdemeanor and is gonna not get you off that easy. Although this is said to also only get you off with a fine, you might want to be a bit more careful.
Getting caught with 10-30 grams can lead to up to 1 year in jail and/or a fine up to $2,500. Carrying even more than that is considered a felony and get you a whopping jail sentence of 1 to 5 years.
We are not aware of any possible law changes in the (near) future in Illinois regarding medical and/or recreational cannabis.
