CHICAGO – With federal legalization efforts moving forward, pot entrepreneurs might want to focus on the recreational side of the business rather than the medical side, as major pharmaceutical companies are poised to jump in there. That's the future, according to Adam Bierman, managing partner of MedMen, a marijuana consulting firm headquartered in Los Angeles. Bierman spoke at this week's Marijuana Business Conference and Expo in Chicago.

The Illinois legislature is moving forward with a much-anticipated bill to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, but it still has a few steps to clear before arriving on the governor's desk.

The bill cleared the House last month, and the Senate voted 37-19 to approve the legislation Tuesday afternoon. But Sen Michael Noland, D-Elgin, one of the bill's sponsors, say they're still tweaking the language of it.

The possession of a small amount of pot—up to 15 grams, or about 25 joints—would go from a crime with a $2,500 fine and the potential for a year in jail to a penalty similar to a traffic ticket. That means offenders would face no court time and be fined closer to $125.

The Illinois legislature joined the movement to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of pot, passing a measure Thursday that would bar arrest for the offense.

Carrying small amounts of marijuana would result in a fine instead of an arrest under a measure approved Thursday by the Illinois Senate.

Low-level cannabis possession would go from a crime with fines up to $2,500 and up to a year in a jail to penalties likened to a traffic ticket: no court time and a fine of up to $125 for those caught with 15 grams or less, which is the equivalent of about 25 cigarette-size joints.

Cannabis lemonade. Cannabis honey. Even cannabis krispie treats -- bottled, packaged and labeled like any other products.

A few years ago, they could have landed you in prison.  But in Illinois, they’re about to become big business.

“When we first started in Colorado, there was no blueprint for this business,” said consultant Greg Gamet, walking the exhibit floor at Chicago’s Marijuana Business Conference and Expo. “We’ve seen real estate prices go from $50 a square foot, to $250 a square foot in three years.”

The conference is in Chicago for a reason. The state’s first medical marijuana licensees were confirmed in January, and product is expected to start flowing by year’s end.

11 Health Conditions Recommended By Illinois Marijuana Board

Oils and extracts, vaporizers, grow lights and joint rollers filled a marijuana convention in Chicago on Wednesday — without a puff of pot in the air or a single leaf of the drug yet sold legally in Illinois.

More than 2,000 people attended the Marijuana Business Conference & Expo, hoping to cash in on a business that is forecast by one industry-backed market research group to grow to $11 billion in annual sales nationwide by 2019,.

A proposed bill currently in the Illinois Senate would amend the state’s Cannabis Control Act, reducing penalties for small amounts of cannabis. And the act just might be the change Illinois needs to address racial disparities in arrests and incarceration.

In Illinois, black people make up 15 percent of the population, but account for approximately 58 percent of the state’s marijuana possession arrests, according to a June 2013 report by the American Civil Liberties Union. The report also noted that black people are over 7.5 times more likely to be arrested than white people for marijuana possession.

CHICAGO — A colorful Denver businessman and city council candidate schemed to monopolize the new medical marijuana industry in Illinois, according to a lawsuit that has joined a parade of legal challenges from competing marijuana business applicants in the state.

Medponics Illinois filed the lawsuit Monday in Lake County. It claims Kayvan Khalatbari (KAY’-vohn Kahl-aht-BAR’-ee) and his Denver companies have controlling interests in more than three Illinois cultivation centers.

A Chicago company announced Monday it has withdrawn the first lawsuit against the state challenging the way officials dispensed medical marijuana business licenses.

PM Rx LLC said in a statement it has agreed to dismiss all its claims against the state and a rival company, Cresco Labs. Cresco had won a permit to grow medical marijuana in a state police district that covers Ford, Iroquois and Kankakee counties, but PM Rx challenged the way the Department of Agriculture issued permits.

The legalization of marijuana is gaining momentum nationwide. According to newly released data, the industry is expected to create $10B+ in economic impact this year, and $30B+ by 2019; America’s oldest and largest Cannabis Trade Show has added a second annual expo to meet demand.

The national Spring Marijuana Business Conference & Expo begins today at the Hilton Chicago and runs until May 21.

The legalization of marijuana is gaining momentum nationwide. According to newly released data, the industry is expected to create $10B+ in economic impact this year, and $30B+ by 2019; America’s oldest and largest Cannabis Trade Show has added a second annual expo to meet demand.

CHICAGO (AP) _ A proposal to extend the Illinois medical marijuana pilot program beyond 2017 may soon gain passage in Springfield. That would mean the industry’s prospects could come to rest with Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Rauner has said the program should not be extended until it has been fully evaluated. It’s not clear, however, whether the governor would veto a bill to lengthen the program, or if he could be persuaded.

Marijuana entrepreneurs say they will try to convince Rauner that extra time would translate into a stronger industry and more capital investment. The bill could add almost two years to the program.