Rich Whitney, the Illinois Green Party’s 2010 candidate for governor who earned over 10% of the vote in 2006, has called for legalization of cannabis in his comprehensive plan to solve Illinois’ budget crisis. Whitney’s plan for fixing Illinois’ structural budget deficit includes a proposal to “raise additional revenue by ending the socially destructive ‘war on drugs’ and specifically by legalizing and taxing the sale of marijuana”.

Other aspects of Whitney’s comprehensive economic plan include establishing a state-owned bank, taxing financial speculation, modernizing energy and transportation infrastructure, establishing single-payer health care and tuition-free higher education for state residents, raising the minimum wage to a living wage, and much more. Whitney’s decision to broach the topic of marijuana legalization has attracted attention from the Bloomington Pantagraph, Chicago Daily Herald, and WJBD radio, among others.