City council approves sale of recreational marijuana in Anna, Ill.

ANNA, Ill. (KFVS) - The city council approved the sale of recreational marijuana on Tuesday, October 1.

It passed unanimously and was filed for record on Wednesday, Oct. 2.

According to the approved resolution, adult-use recreational marijuana dispensaries will be permitted within the corporate limits in city limits starting January 1st, 2020.

“We are hopeful that this is a big benefit to the City of Anna,” said Dori Bigler, Anna’s City Administrator. “People coming to our community, maybe stopping at our gas stations, going to our grocery stores, seeing what we have to offer, we’re hoping that it will be a good thing for everybody.”

City Council also unanimously passed an ordinance that will impose a 3 percent sales tax on cannabis sales, and that money will go back to the city.

“It will go into our general fund, and we can spend that any way that we decide,” said Bigler.

Before voting, Bigler said the council heard two statements in favor of recreational marijuana dispensaries in Anna and two against them.

“People that were against it were talking to us as if we had the control to make it not be in this town, and we don’t have that control. Just like cigarettes and alcohol. You can’t say it can’t be in the town," she said.

“I don’t think there’s nothing wrong with it,” said Tanua Boster who lives in Anna. “Good thing. As long as it helps them.”

“So we took the approach of it’s going to be in our town, it’s going to be in our community, let’s make it positive and let’s benefit off of it basically," said Bigler.

One business, Thrive Anna Medical Cannabis Dispensary, was approved by the city to operate an adult-use dispensary, but their license to sell recreational marijuana must still be approved by the State of Illinois. Thrive currently sells only medical marijuana.

In June, Governor JB Pritzker signed the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, which legalized the adult recreational use of marijuana in Illinois. It goes into effect on January 1, 2020.

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