The Governor’s Cannabis/Hemp Double Standard: When “Protecting Kids” Isn’t About The Kids

The Governor’s Cannabis/Hemp Double Standard: When “Protecting Kids” Isn’t About The Kids

By Joe Phelan – F’nAround Media | October 2025

So, for F’nAround, we do more than watchdog work.

We hit street fairs, expos, block parties, and random events where there’s food, music, and a decent beer tent. We’re not just out here digging into corruption, we’re normal, functional human beings who like fun. We are expanding constantly with more coming as well.

I even filmed myself getting my flu shot right in the middle of State Street like a responsible adult. Felt noble. Maybe a little sore. Then I decided to enjoy the Sundays on State festival, free, family-friendly, all good vibes.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Sqx4PN-1yDA?si=XOkcU4f6f8zGEIS9

Metadata timestamp 11:22 am.

And then… I saw it.

A Prairie Cannabis tent.

Now, I figured that’s fine… legal, licensed, nothing wild there. But then something made my “journalist brain” twitch: nuEra-branded product packaging sitting right on their table.

That’s a problem.

Displaying cannabis packaging in a public, all-ages setting, especially within 1,000 feet of schools, libraries, and other child-heavy areas appears to violate multiple Illinois advertising and distance restrictions.

So, naturally, I took a picture to double-check the distance later.

Metadata timestamp 11:39 am.

After all, I’m being sued by nuEra for defamation and slander, for saying they “break laws” and “lack ethics.” So yeah, I thought: “This’ll be fun to revisit.”

Later, I showed the photo to a friend.

They stared for a second and said, “Dude… did you even look at the picture?”

“Yeah,” I said. “They’ve got packaging out.”

“No, you idiot,” they said. “Look at the people.”

I zoomed in. “Oh. They’re short.”

“They’re not short,” they said. “They’re kids.”

And that’s when it hit me:

I had just captured a state-licensed cannabis company interacting with minors, displaying packaging, at a city-sponsored family event the same scenario Governor Pritzker publicly said his policies are meant to prevent.

Just a week earlier, Governor Pritzker had gone on record saying he’d take “executive action to protect children from intoxicating hemp products.” Illinois Governor Says ‘We Will Take Executive Action’ on Intoxicating Hemp Products | Cannabis Business Times

He called out hemp companies for “marketing to minors.”

He said unregulated hemp was dangerous while Illinois’ regulated cannabis market was safe, responsible, and ethical.

But apparently, if you have a state license and the right lobbyist, “marketing to minors” becomes “community engagement.”

When hemp shows up in a gas station? It’s an emergency.

When weed shows up at a city sponsored event with kids? It’s a photo op.

Funny how that works.

So I did what any investigative journalist-slash-professional smartass would do:

I filed a formal complaint with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) attaching the photos showing kids at the Prairie Cannabis tent with packaging in view and a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to see if they approved marketing to minors and a violation of regulatory rules.

Then, I filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to Governor Pritzker’s office asking for every memo, email, or SOP explaining how the state distinguishes between “hemp marketing to minors” (bad) and “cannabis marketing to minors” (apparently fine).

If the Governor’s office approved or ignored this, the public deserves to see it.

If IDFPR did, same thing.

Let’s just say, that inbox is going to be interesting when it drops.

Governor Pritzker says he’s protecting kids from hemp while his own licensees are out here showcasing products in a manner that appears inconsistent with state advertising restrictions within view of the Harold Washington Library and DePaul among other things.

If a hemp label behind a counter is a “public health risk,” but cannabis packaging in front of children is “economic inclusion,” Illinois’ moral math is officially broken.

This isn’t about product safety.

It’s about political optics and who writes the checks.

Illinois sold legalization as a “moral upgrade” transparency, oversight, accountability. But when the same regulators who scream about gas stations turn a blind eye to their own licensees breaking the law in broad daylight, the narrative falls apart.

You can’t preach child protection on Monday and let your campaign donors violate it on Sunday.

That’s not reform. That’s hypocrisy with a price tag.

This isn’t about hemp vs. cannabis.

It’s about truth vs. spin.

Governor Pritzker told the public he’s protecting children.

The photo says otherwise.

Unless his office and IDFPR can show they either approved marketing(hypocrisy) to children or started an investigation into this marketing exposure to children, the appearance of hypocrisy remains unavoidable to benefit his cannabis program and hurt the hemp industry or investigate what happened at Sundays on State and revoke those licenses for marketing to children, Illinois’ regulatory system isn’t protecting anyone it’s protecting itself. Remember community engagement and swag is good as long they can’t see the bag….

The FOIA clock is ticking. Don’t worry I’m sure they’ll ask for delays or deny it, that’s what systemic corruption does.

All Assholes. No Excuses.

F’nAround Media

www.fnaround.com