Pot Topics is a weekly collection of cannabis-related news curated by the Chicago Sun-Times. Here’s this week’s top stories:

  • Gov. Rauner signs bill giving opioid patients access to medical pot
  • Chicago-based pot company reports huge growth after public offering
  • More job opportunities, higher salaries reported in the cannabis industry
  • Debate rages in California over legal pot deliveries
  • Nevada weed sales exceed expectations by 40 percent
  • Oregon marijuana cultivators will now report harvests to officials

Illinois’ new “Alternatives to Opioids Act” now law

Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a bill in late August that gives people who have been prescribed opioids the option to use cannabis as an alternative treatment option, a move that could significantly expand the state’s medical cannabis pilot program.

“Opioid abuse disorder is taking the lives of Illinoisans, thousands of lives. Opioid abuse disorder is disrupting and destroying families across our state and across the country,” Rauner said at the bill signing at the Chicago Recovery Alliance on the West Side. “We’ve got to do everything we can to stop this vicious epidemic, and today, I’m proud to sign a bill that helps us stop this epidemic.”

“Medical cannabis creates an opportunity to treat pain in a less intrusive, less obstructive way than opioids,” Rauner said.

 

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