New Appointee Has Direct Ties to Marijuana Industry

(CHICAGO) – Public health and safety groups are calling on Governor-elect Pritzker to sever ties with the marijuana industry and rescind the Restorative Justice and Safe Communities Committee appointment of marijuana industry lackey Chris Lindsey. Lindsey serves as the Senior Legislative Council for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), a group directly financed by the marijuana industry, and whose chair is Joby Pritzker, the Governor-elect’s cousin.

MPP invests in and lobbies for the legalization and commercialization of marijuana. Marijuana legalization is now directly funded by the alcohol and tobacco industries, and Joby Pritzker is also heavily invested in MJ Freeway, a marijuana company.

“Would we ever appoint Philip Morris to a tobacco control board” asked Rev Gregory Seal Livingston, president and CEO of the Coalition For A New Chicago, part of Healthy and Productive Illinois. “The pot industry is lining their pockets while communities suffer. Governor-elect Pritzker ought to be fair, impartial, and transparent, and rescind his appointment.”

“Public health officials and community stakeholders across Illinois pledged to make our communities trauma free zones,” said Lavon Pettis, State Director for Healthy and Productive Illinois. “Despite these promises, the most socially vulnerable populations impacted by marijuana legalization are the youth, disadvantaged communities, poor people, and minorities. We implore Governor-elect J.B. Pritzker to seek influence from the people who elected him into office and not from his family’s myriad investments.”

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