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Recreational marijuana may be legal in Illinois, but Perry County Sheriff Gary Schaaf has a bit of advice for those who wish to take advantage.
“It’s not legal in Missouri,” Schaaf said. “And that goes for Illinois residents. You can’t come to Missouri with it, no matter where you live.”
Possession and consumption of recreational marijuana became legal in Illinois on Jan. 1. Five days in, the Illinois Department of Federal and Professional Regulation reported that statewide sales totaled $10,830,667.91 resulting from 271,169 transactions at dispensaries across the state.
Four of those Illinois dispensaries are located within two hours’ drive of Perry County — in Anna, Marion, Harrisburg and Sauget.
The Chester Bridge in northern Perry County is the only Mississippi River crossing between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau and is part of the easiest route to at least two of those cities.
“We don’t have any plans yet to set up roadblocks or any of that kind of stuff,” Schaaf said, “but we are in that area quite a bit. If we see you acting like you were impaired, then we’ll probably stop you and check to see if you’re too impaired to drive. And if you’re drunk, you’ll get a DWI. If you’re using something else, well, you will probably be charged with that.”
Schaaf said that he fully expects people to test the law, especially with dispensaries located so close.
“Just based on the general information that you can buy legally over there now, I would suspect that some probably will go over there and buy it and come back with it,” Schaaf said. “But you’re in Missouri now.”
Schaaf added that Missouri’s new medical marijuana law, which was approved by voters in 2018’s general election, may change things in the future.
“I haven’t really delved into that too deeply,” Schaaf said. “If you have a medical marijuana card, I don’t know that we could do much depending on how much you have. I’m not sure what the limits are on this.”
According to Associated Press reports, more than 22,000 Missourians have applied and been granted a qualifying patient ID card making it legal for them to possess and use marijuana as medicinal treatment, but no dispensaries are yet open.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced last month that medical marijuana dispensary licenses will be awarded to would-be owners later this month as they narrow the field of more than 2,200 applications for just 348 marijuana business licenses, of which 192 will go out to retail marijuana dispensaries, which are expected to be operating in mid-2020.
According to a news release issued by the Chester Police Department, Illinois residents over the age of 21 can possess up to 30 grams of marijuana, up to 500 milligrams of THC infused products and up to 5 grams of cannabis concentrate. Non-Illinois residents can possess half of those values.
Other rules include:
Marijuana must be purchased from a regulated marijuana dispensary.
Cannabis must be consumed in the privacy of a residence and can’t be used in public places or vehicles.
Legally purchased cannabis must remain in the package in which it was purchased and during transport, in a sealed; odor-proof; child resistant cannabis container, not easily accessible while in motion.
“We ask that everyone who chooses to consume marijuana do so legally and responsibly,” the release stated. “Never, under any circumstances consume marijuana and operate a motor vehicle.”
