A surprising plea for more government oversight is coming from Illinois hemp business proprietors, who are advocating for state legislation to license hemp sales and impose new taxes and regulations on their products. This move diverges sharply from the usual business aversion to increased taxation and regulation. The legislative proposal they're backing calls for a dual 10% tax—for both wholesale and retail sales—and the issue of an unlimited number of $500 licenses, as reported by The Chicago Tribune.

The call for this regulation has emerged against the backdrop of a competing bill endorsed by the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois, which pushes for a prohibition of hemp-derived intoxicating products, Tiffany Chappell Ingram, executive director of the association, is pushing for a "pause" on the sales of such products until more research is conducted, stating "We look forward to working with legislators to find a path forward that empowers consumers, protects minors and ensures the state’s adult-use cannabis law lives up to its full promise," Ingram said, as per The Chicago Tribune.

Illinois lawmakers appear divided on the issue, with State Rep. La Shawn Ford, the major proponent of hemp regulation, insisting on the economic folly of hamstringing a multi-billion dollar industry with a prohibition, suggesting that such a move would only spawn an illegal market; "Prohibition doesn’t work, and Illinois should reject going backward," Ford told The Chicago Tribune.

Meanwhile, within the state’s business community, voices like that of Jennifer Weiss, founder and CEO of Cubbington’s Cabinet, are warning of the devastating impact tough restrictions could have on non-intoxicating hemp products, such as CBD; "We would have to shut our doors, as well as hundreds of other Illinois companies, let’s not go backward with out-of-touch prohibitions," Weiss said, echoing a sentiment of unfounded hindrance rather than reasoned regulation.