Akele Parnell is among the many Black owners of cannabis dispensaries who are frustrated by the lack of hemp regulation in Chicago and Illinois. He says he wants to see regulation that not only ends the marketing of intoxicating hemp products as cannabis, but also completely stops the sale of those products in smoke shops. Parnell says these shops undercut social equity weed dispensary owners, like himself, who face numerous hurdles to open dispensaries.
Over the last six years, Parnell says he's faced several challenges while trying to open his Chicago-based weed dispensary Ümi in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Some of those hurdles, he said, include high real estate costs, community opposition and legal battles with anti-weed organizations that opposed the dispensary; the latter resulted in high legal fees.
As an example of undercuts to the legal cannabis business, Parnell pointed to the Chicago Cannabis Company, a hemp-derived cannabinoid company that opened its first brick-and-mortar in Lincoln Park at 2501 N. Halsted St. in 2022. The smoke shop is around the corner from Parnell's upcoming weed dispensary, which is scheduled to open next month.
Parnell says the unregulated hemp market allows smoke shops to promote intoxicating hemp products such as delta-8 and delta-9 — both can give a weed-like high — while his licensed cannabis shop is forced to comply with restrictive guidelines such as having their products tested, not permitting anyone under 21 years of age into the store, and participating in community meetings.
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