Mayor Brandon Johnson's veto of Chicago hemp ban stands after override vote in City Council fails

The City Council on Wednesday failed to override Mayor Brandon Johnson's veto of an ordinance that would have banned the sale of most intoxicating hemp-derived products in Chicago.

Alders passed the ban by a 32-16 vote last month, but Johnson vetoed it last week. Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) moved to override the veto on Wednesday, but the vote came up well short of the 34 votes needed, with the City Council voting 26-20 on Beale's motion.

Four alders who had supported the ban – Michele Harris (8th), Jason Ervin (28th), Scott Waguespack (32nd), and Nicholas Sposato (38th) – backed the mayor's veto. Three other alders who had supported the ban did not vote on Wednesday, while one of the ban's opponents, Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) voted to override the mayor's veto.

The ordinance would have immediately banned the sale of intoxicating hemp products to those younger than 21, and would ban the sale of most intoxicating hemp-based products starting April 1.

The ban would have included exemptions for beverages, additives, topical creams, and pet products. While licensed bars and restaurants would be able to sell hemp-based beverages and additives, only licensed cannabis dispensaries would be allowed to sell other hemp-based products not outright banned by the ordinance.

The failure to override the mayor's veto leaves intoxicating hemp products in Chicago unregulated for now, but even the mayor's supporters have said the city should impose regulations and taxes on the hemp industry.

The vote followed a brief debate over the impact of the mayor's veto, which his critics have said would put children at risk from products which are often packaged to look like popular candy or other junk food products.

"We're trying to protect children. This particular ordinance was passed to protect children who are being fed and misled with packaging and fanfare that this is candy, and kids are being harmed by this particular product," Beale said.

However, opponents of the ban have said it goes to far and punishes small businesses that sell hemp products that meet current federal regulations for intoxicating hemp products.

Under federal law, intoxicating hemp products must contain 0.3% or less of THC, the chemical in cannabis that causes psychoactive effects in hemp and marijuana.

Critics of the proposed hemp ban have said it goes to far in banning many hemp products that meet with federal regulations, and argued the City Council should instead focus on banning hemp and CBD products containing synthetic compounds that mimic THC rather than products containing only naturally derived THC regulated under federal law.

"What we banned in this council wasn't just the bad products that I think most of us are trying to get rid of or regulate. What we banned were some of the good products," said Ald. Maria Hadden (48th). "We've kind of thrown out the baby with the bathwater. What we passed was too restrictive."

Waguespack, who was among the handful of original supporters of the ban who voted not to override the mayor's veto, said Johnson must now commit to coming up with sufficient regulations for the hemp industry in Chicago.

"The burden is on you now to come up with something else to get these synthetics off the street and to protect our kids. The burden is on you," Waguespack.

The mayor has said he had "significant concerns" about the proposed hemp ban.

"The ordinance protects some establishments at the expense of many of our small businesses who have been following the law and deserve to have a seat at the table," Johnson said in a statement on his veto last week. "Many of these businesses are Black- and brown-owned. Many are operated by entrepreneurs who were shut out of the expensive cannabis licensing process and turned to federally legal hemp as a pathway into the marketplace. We cannot claim to support equitable economic development while advancing policies that concentrate the market in the hands of a few large entities."

In his formal veto message, Johnson called the ban approved by the City Council "premature," and said, "the most responsible path forward for the City's hemp regulation is to align with the forthcoming federal guidance, rather than acting prematurely in a rapidly shifting regulatory landscape."

"With preliminary federal rules forthcoming, it is essential that the City position itself to respond coherently once national standards are clarified," he added.

Johnson argued that the ordinance also does not create sufficient regulations for legal hemp sales from licensed dispensaries and other businesses that would be exempt from the ban approved by the City Council.

Efforts to regulate hemp products have been a hot potato in the city, state and in Washington, D.C., particularly with a federal ban on intoxicating hemp products set to go into effect in November.  New legislation recently introduced in Congress could delay that federal ban until 2028.