![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_4706-1024x768.jpg\")
Hemp-infused beverages promoted at Revolution Brewing, 3340 N. Kedzie Ave., Dec. 2, 2025. Credit: Charles Thrush\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\nCITY HALL \u2014 A citywide ban on hemp products will advance to a final vote in front of the City Council, setting up a day that could make or break hundreds of local businesses selling the legally hazy highs.<\/p>\n
Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) was met with jeers in a packed room of hemp business owners Wednesday afternoon as his proposed ordinance \u2014 which would put a sweeping ban on their products \u2014 passed 10-6 through the City Council\u2019s Committee on License and Consumer Protection.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are shady operations,\u201d Quinn said as the heckles rose to a roar. <\/p>\n
The vote came after a heated public comment period where small business owners pleaded for City Council members to snuff out Quinn\u2019s ban, with one going as far to say it would \u201cput me out of business overnight.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHemp isn\u2019t the enemy,\u201d said Rehaan Mirza, owner of Kizmah CBD, a smoke shop in Ukrainian Village. \u201cIt\u2019s a lifeline for thousands of Chicagoans dealing with anxiety, chronic pain, insomnia and stress. It\u2019s a growing economic sector that supports local jobs.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hemp-infused beverages promoted at Revolution Brewing, 3340 N. Kedzie Ave., Dec. 2, 2025. Credit: Charles Thrush\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n
Quinn\u2019s proposed city ban would get out in front of<\/a> a new federal ban<\/a> set to take effect in November 2026. As currently written, the federal ban includes all products that concentrate hemp\u2019s small traces of psychoactive THC. But hemp advocates are holding out hope that there\u2019s time to instead regulate their industry. Marijuana has long been federally illegal.<\/p>\n \u201cRestaurant and bar staff are already well-trained at carding patrons. \u2026 We welcome orders that would require the same for hemp beverages,\u201d said Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association. \u201cHowever, an outright ban will cause serious distress to an already struggling hospitality industry.\u201d<\/p>\n The hospitality industry is an emerging hemp ally, with lobbyists warning Wednesday a fast-acting \u201cblunt-force ban\u201d would leave restaurants, bars and breweries stuck with piles of unsold THC drinks. Many establishments have gotten into the hemp beverage business as alcohol sales plunge.<\/a><\/p>\n Quinn banned hemp in his ward in January<\/a> and has helped six alderman pass their own bans while Mayor Brandon Johnson\u2019s efforts to regulate and tax hemp products have stalled<\/a>. Ald. William Hall (6th), Johnson\u2019s top ally on hemp, is now co-sponsoring Quinn\u2019s ban.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, officials with the city\u2019s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, managed by Johnson, tried again to convince alderpeople of an alternative that would age-gate hemp products to people 21 and older instead of banning them.<\/p>\n \u201cA full ban of this magnitude is unprecedented to Chicago. The way it is presented right now is going to take a lot of manpower,\u201d said Ivan\u00a0Capifali, commissioner of the city\u2019s business department. \u201cWe\u2019ll have to test everything to see if it\u2019s hemp or not.\u201d<\/p>\n Quinn, who has said he\u2019s never been personally interested in cannabis, has found unlikely support from the state\u2019s legal cannabis industry, which has been at odds with hemp businesses.<\/p>\n Edie Moore, owner of SWAY Dispensary in Northalsted, said intoxicating hemp products have \u201cundercut the regulated market.\u201d<\/p>\n But Moore said Quinn\u2019s ban is too broad as written and could incidentally include products like CBD creams and oils.<\/p>\n Quinn would not commit to when he\u2019d bring the ordinance before the full City Council, which next meets Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to put something up that\u2019s not going up to pass,\u201d Quinn told Block Club after the meeting. <\/p>\n There were early signs of a challenge ahead for Quinn. Ald. Brendan Reilly\u00a0(42nd) said his \u201cprimary concern\u201d are hemp products that look like \u201cNerds and Doritos and Sour Patch Kids,\u201d which he and other frequent hemp critics have said target children.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand the demand for hemp-based beverages,\u201d said Reilly, whose Downtown ward includes many bars and restaurants. <\/p>\n Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th), one of the more conservative members of the City Council, said Wednesday\u2019s meeting was a \u201crare time I came to a meeting not knowing what I was going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t dispute there\u2019s bad actors out there. \u2026 But certainly, some people need this product,\u201d Sposato said. \u201cI\u2019m probably one of them. I\u2019m a guy in chronic pain. I never tried it. Maybe I should try it.\u201d<\/p>\n Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CITY HALL \u2014 A citywide ban on hemp products will advance to a final vote in front of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":424272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[64,960,13239,5386,1818,197818],"class_list":{"0":"post-424271","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-city-hall","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-illinois","13":"tag-marty-quinn"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115661809550261583","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_4153-1024x768.jpg\")
Hemp supporters packed the room on Dec. 3, 2025 as a City Council comittee advanced a measure that would ban their products. Credit: Mack Liederman\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n