The Cole Memo

In this episode of The Cole Memo, we examine the failed lame duck effort to ban federally-legal cannabis products in Illinois. Was there ever enough support for the controversial bill, or did political tensions and public opposition seal its fate? Tune in for a recap on this high-stakes legislative showdown.

• Watch the episode on Patreon here
• Watch the episode on Youtube here
• Stream the episode on Soundcloud here
• Stream the episode on Spotify here
• Stream the episode on Apple Podcast here
• Stream the episode on X here

Links mentioned during show

• IllinoisHGA.com
• Article that Rachel mentioned “Hemp Reform in Illinois: Fear Tactics and Political Games EXPOSED” can be read here
• The Pritzker press conference can be viewed here
• The video we watched with the response from Chris Welch can be found here
• The podcast episode that mentions Governor Pritzker’s efforts to persuade lawmakers can be found here
• An article that I read from the Tribe, headlined “Equity for Black businesses is at the center of the hemp debate” can be read here
• The podcast episode that I played an excerpt from was from the Block Club Chicago and can be found here
• I briefly referenced an article that mentioned campaign donations from people in the hemp space. You can read that article here.
• Who’s profiting off the millions that Illinois’ marijuana business is bringing in? State officials are keeping that secret.
• What’s in your weed? | Yeast and mold has been a national issue in cannabis, so we tested it
• What’s in Illinois legal weed? Sometimes contaminants (this is my episode with the Chicago Sun-Times journalists)
• The Capitol Fax article that has the transcript of questioning can be found here
• The article where I read “It harms not only the cannabis industry but, most importantly, it’s poisoning the people in the state of Illinois,” can be found here
• The article where I read “Kids don’t understand how lethal these ingredients are.” can be found here
• If you want to catch up on this topic, below are links to episodes where we’ve covered this topic
  • Episode 152 – Breaking Down Illinois’ Hemp Crackdown
  • Episode 141 – Addressing Illinois Hemp Panic + New Hemp Legislation Explained
  • Episode 96 – IllinoisHGA respond to calls for ban on hemp
  • Episode 81 – Recapping the hemp press conference with Chris Berry
  • Episode 62 – Chris Berry – Illinois Hemp Growers Association