Chicago’s city council voted 32-16 last week to allow hemp beverages, topical products and additives, while banning edibles like gummies and infused baked goods — a council compromise that could set up a likely veto from Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The ordinance targets unregulated hemp products — particularly edibles marketed to look like candy — that have flooded Chicago since a 2018 federal loophole legalized hemp derivatives containing less than 0.3% THC.
Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) crafted the compromise after a blanket ban failed to gain council support and as a way to protect minors, he said.
“The ordinance that passed the committee was a blanket ban of all things hemp,” Quinn said. “That passed with a vote of 10-6. Recognizing full well it would be difficult to bring that to the full council and have it pass, I set out to have conversations with all 49 alders to hear what they had to say, how we could work together to protect kids and get over 26 alders to agree.”
The effective date of the new amendment is April 1. Effective immediately, only persons 21 and older can purchase hemp products, Quinn said.
The compromise does not override total bans on cannabinoid hemp sales already in place in the 13th and 23rd wards, Quinn said.
After a final agreement was reached, Quinn expressed gratitude.
“The art of compromise, of working with people, doesn’t exist today under the current mayor,” Quinn said. “Whether it’s [the new 8th] police district, Hubbard High School or flood relief, what transpired was an example of how you could get things done if you collaborate and listen to people.”
An upfront concern for the alders Quinn spoke to was the damage a blanket ban could do to the restaurant industry.
Quinn began conversations with Illinois Restaurant Association President, Sam Toia, to address his concerns, reaching an agreement for the association involving beverages, he said.
The ordinance requires hemp beverage sellers to hold one of three liquor licenses, Quinn said.
The three kinds of businesses allowed to sell hemp products include small restaurant bars, liquor stores and stores that sell packaged goods.
The ordinance also includes health, sanitation and inspection requirements.
Other concerns debated in committee were availability of an additive package, hemp for pet ailments and topical treatments for people, Quinn said.
“What we can’t carve out is the edibles. Some of this stuff is marketed like Skittles, Cheetos or Doritos — all tailored to market to kids,” he said
Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd), whose ward implemented a total ban a year ago, supported Quinn’s revised ordinance.
“I’ve heard from parents and families in my community and neighborhoods; they’re worried about unregulated, intoxicating hemp products like Delta-8 being sold to kids,” she said.
Untested and unregulated edibles, vapes and flower sold in the 23rd Ward are her focus, Tabares said.
‘What this ordinance does is stop the danger of those products targeting our kids; our public health is not for sale,” she said.
During the public comments portion of the city council meeting, hemp business owners and employees spoke.
Charles Wu, Executive Director of the Illinois Hemp Business Association and owner of Chi’ Tiva’s two retail hemp stores in Chicago, opposed the compromise.
Wu said as a small business owner, the ordinance was not about business equity and would force him to shut down with no way to comply.
“All this will disappear if the Quinn ordinance passes,” he said. “About us, we do not allow people under 21 onto our premises, we card and ID scan every customer, our products are tested, we pay taxes.”
His overriding concern is for Chi’ Tiva employees, he said.
Chi’ Tiva employee Esme’ Marcos characterized Quinn’s ordinance as power grab rather than a safety issue for minors.
Wu said Quinn is known, to some council members, for advocating hemp businesses pay more city taxes and to be regulated like cannabis dispensaries.
Council favoritism could open the city to “unnecessary” litigation, Wu said. He said hemp stores already do not sell to persons under 21 and test their products. He said small businesses lack “a seat at the table.”
Stores like Chi’Tiva are in compliance with the 2018 Illinois Industrial Hemp Act, which created a loophole, removing hemp/cannabis derivatives containing less than 3 percent THC from the legal definition of marijuana, legalizing the sale of unregulated hemp products in Illinois.
“The counter argument to what the gentleman talked about is that he built his whole business around a government loophole,” Quinn said.
A hemp ban that was added to the bill that ended the most recent government shutdown should be out in February, Quinn said.
Glen McElfresh, CEO and co-founder of Plift as well as a co-founder of Perfectly Dosed, a hemp beverage ingredient company, both based in Chicago, supported the compromise.
“I’m grateful for Alderman Quinn and the city council for creating a pathway for responsible hemp beverage businesses like Plift and Perfectly Dosed to operate in Chicago while putting an end to the unsafe hemp products found across the city,” he said.
Ald. Daniel LaSpata (1st) said everyone agreed hemp products should not be sold to minors and should be regulated for dosage limits, but he said he did not support the compromise.
LaSpata said he had problems with the measure after talking with small businesses in his ward who are selling infused baked goods.
LaSpata said the businesses want to be regulated but owners can’t understand why products that are imbibed through a straw are legal versus while products that are eaten are not.
“I couldn’t square why I would take responsible safe actors in my ward and put them out of business,” he said.
“My question is, if we’re going to talk specifically about eating, inside the edible space, who gets banned and who doesn’t?” Quinn said.“Then you get into the question of enforcement. It’s easy to enforce beverages; we have a vehicle to do that in the form of our liquor licenses.”
“What Alderman LaSpata was talking about is very risky,” he said. “You’re talking about the government making the choice. If the main motivation is to ban the products getting into the hands of kids, any edible the alderman was talking about, you can go to a state licensed dispensary and buy a regulated and tested product.”
Quinn also addressed Mayor Johnson’s concern that the compromise might drive small businesses to sell unregulated hemp edibles in illicit black markets.
Storefronts appearing overnight in the 13th and 23rd wards have been operating underground since 2018, he said.
Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) stood in support of the compromise but said he could not get an answer about what his ward’s businesses would agree to on the issue.
Recognizing bad and good actors, Lopez said the city’s Business Affairs and Consumer Protection reported zero enforcement actions on cannabis, he said.
Concerned about congressional pushback during negotiations, Lopez did not want to delay the vote.
He cited a new law, titled “Hemp Production,” that changed the total THC concentration for hemp products.
The new federal definitions take effect Nov. 12, 2026.
“You say we can regulate this and do things better?” Lopez said. “We can’t even do it right now. This measure, in my opinion, as I told my businesses, gives us a clean slate. In the absence of leadership and enforcement, we have to take measures into our own hands. That’s exactly what we’re doing today.”