Underground 420 marijuana expo shows wide gulf between illicit dealers and corporate cannabis
To celebrate 420, Unkle Mike gave free dab hits last Wednesday to anyone who wanted one. He used a small blow torch-like lighter to heat a pipe, and held out a small glass circle containing a waxy cannabis concentrate for people to smoke.
The imbiber took a hit, thanked him with a smile, and went about their business at the Freedom Festival in Bensenville, Illinois, an “underground” expo to mark April 20, the informal holiday for weed.
For years, Mike Hoseman fought to legalize marijuana. As he spoke of trying to legitimize what he considers a beneficial plant, and recalled doing prison time for it, he wiped away tears. He had to leave Illinois for Michigan to help grow the plant as a caregiver for multiple patients, which Illinois doesn’t allow.
Like others at the fest, Hoseman believes the plant should be legal for anyone to buy or sell. “I shouldn’t have to feel like a criminal for a legal plant,” he said. “We shouldn’t have to ask permission.”
Since Illinois legalized sales of the plant in 2020, this was the first 420 with few COVID restrictions, resulting in a long list of 420 events in the Chicago area. Under state law, marijuana may not be sold at cannabis expos and 420 festivals, and people may not consume it in public. Only licensed dispensaries may sell it, and even then, they can’t let people see, touch, or smell the product, lending a sometimes antiseptic air to the proceedings.
But at this and other underground events, vendors cover tables with small buckets of fuzzy green and aromatic buds for people to inspect, buy, consume and share in a casual, friendly atmosphere.
The striking difference in operations reflects the ongoing tension between the legal, corporate, mostly wealthy white male-owned billion-dollar industry, and the illicit, informal market, featuring a mix of white, Black, Latino and other participants. With new Illinois licenses held up in court, some said they felt cheated by a system that limits and criminalizes them while letting others make fortunes.
Still, illegal sales in Illinois totaled more than $2 billion in Illinois in 2021, market analyst New Frontier Data estimated, exceeding the less than $2 billion for high-priced and highly-taxed, but lab-tested, legal sales.
The Freedom Festival, whose location at a restaurant was revealed only to ticket buyers, featured a dozen or so vendors selling pot, bongs, mushrooms and other products.
Event organizer Larry Goone, of Exposure International, said he previously helped produce Chicago Sexcon, but has focused recently on cannabis as a huge subculture that he wants to help normalize — even if it means breaking the rules
“This (expo) is meant to allow the underground and legal companies to blend and find new opportunities,” he said.
One of the vendors, Mark Kunicki, who owns Mr. CBD Chicago, sells legal hemp products at mainstream grocery stores, gyms and other locations. His brands include beverages, edibles and vapes containing non-psychoactive CBD for people and pets, as well as psychoactive Delta-8 THC and other cannabinoids.
Common products containing cannabis are the way to introduce a wider audience to the medical and relaxing benefits of the plants, Kunicki said. He said he doesn’t drink alcohol and is trying to break stoner stereotypes by being a productive ambassador for the plant.
If the underground can’t find a way to expand their market to legal customers, he said, they’re going to get “stomped” by corporations.
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