Around the United States, there has been a concerted movement toward decriminalizing and legalizing marijuana. In Illinois, a bill was passed in which decriminalizes small amounts of the drug, meaning that any offense resulting from getting caught with marijuana will be civil in nature. However, there are many different aspects of the change that can come across as unclear to the average person.

The Facts

SB 2228 eliminates the criminal penalties for anyone caught with 10 grams or less of marijuana and imposes a fine of between $100 and $200, in most cases. It also establishes a precedent for any charges to be expunged after six months, if the offender does not get in any other legal trouble. This law also includes language that regulates the threshold over which a driver is ruled to be impaired. Previously, this was one of the main roadblocks that prevented the passage of a similar bill in 2015 that Governor Rauner pushed to include such a qualifier.