SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — When lawmakers crafted the law legalizing marijuana in Illinois, they tried to make sure it would right what many see as past wrongs linked to the drug.

In addition to expunging hundreds of thousands of criminal records for marijuana arrests and convictions, the law’s architects added provisions meant to benefit communities that have been the most adversely affected by law enforcement’s efforts to combat the drug.

The so-called social equity provisions are expected to help black applicants, in particular, as blacks are nearly four times as likely as whites to be arrested for marijuana, the American Civil Liberties Union found. The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, also established ways for qualified applicants to pay lower licensing fees and get business loans and technical assistance. And it earmarked part of marijuana sales revenue for neighborhood development grants.

Companies that apply for a license to sell marijuana will be judged on a 250-point scale, and those that qualify as social equity applicants will get a 50-point bump.

There are three ways to qualify. First, the organization applying must be majority-owned by a person who has lived at least five of the past 10 years in an impoverished area where there have been higher-than-average numbers of marijuana arrests. Second, the majority owner or an immediate family member must have an arrest or conviction of a marijuana offense eligible for expungement. Finally, for a company with at least 10 employees, more than half must qualify in one of the first two ways.

Illinois is the 11th state to legalize recreational marijuana. Cannabis sales could generate $250 million for the state by 2022 and $375 million in 2024, according to the state Revenue Department. Campaigning on legalization last year, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker predicted the industry could eventually bring in up to $1 billion in annual revenue.

The legalization ballot question that Michigan voters approved last fall requires the state to “positively impact” damage done by anti-marijuana law enforcement, but such vague parameters leave a lot to bureaucratic interpretation, though officials announced in July that dispensary-operator licenses would cost up to 60% less for qualified equity applicants.

No one knows how many Illinois applicants will pursue social equity licenses. There was no intention to set a quota, said state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, one of two Chicago Democrats who led efforts to write Illinois’ law. But after May 1, when licenses from the first pool of equity applicants will be awarded, licensing will pause to allow for an independent review of social equity participation.

Anton Seals Jr. plans to be a social equity applicant. The co-founder of the nonprofit Grow Greater Englewood attempts to turn the Chicago neighborhood’s abandoned lots into urban farms. He plans to apply for his company OURS, for Organic Urban Revitalization Solutions.

“It makes total sense for those of us, in particular, who have been doing work in the community to transform and to revive and restore spaces that have been impacted by poor public policy,” Seals said. “Groups like mine … should have a really fair shot to get into this industry, to compete.”

Critical are low-interest loans from what proponents estimate will be a $30 million fund to jump-start social equity operations. What held back underserved applicants in other states is that they “didn’t have the capital and they didn’t have the acumen,” said Khalatbari, of the Minority Cannabis Business Association.

The money will come from medical cannabis operators, which, because they’re established, get the first crack at the recreational licenses being awarded this fall. It’s not cheap. A dispensing-outlet license requires a contribution of up to $100,000 to the loan fund, based on recent sales. A cultivator pays up to $750,000.

Some are skeptical it will be enough. Willie “J.R.” Fleming, director of the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign and a hopeful social-equity applicant, helped organize the nonprofit Hemp in the Hood to ask established marijuana companies “to share their wealth.”

“Not always in cash, but in resources,” Fleming said, suggesting they share lawyers, accountants, security consultants and more with equity applicants because they got a jump on the market — and because, Fleming adds, they don’t want to be on the wrong side of minority empowerment.

The Rev. Ira Acree, who ministers in Chicago’s large west-side neighborhood of Austin, is unconvinced about the social equity provision, calling it a way “to give cover to the government.”

“It’s not workable. People’s lives have been destroyed. Financial records are non-existent,” Acree said. “People who have the ability or the interest from our community can’t compete with the big boys who have accountants and attorneys and A-1 credit. They don’t have the resources or the credit or the connections.”

___

AP researcher Jennifer Farrar in New York contributed.

___

Follow AP’s complete marijuana coverage: https://apnews.com/Marijuana

CHICAGO (AP) — The Latest on Chicago Public Schools teachers’ strike (all times local):

3:15 p.m.

Teachers say they’re pleased and relieved to be going back to work after their union and the city reached an agreement to settle an 11-day strike.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday announced a contract agreement that will re-open schools Friday.

Teachers say they are satisfied with mayor’s decision to allow five days to make up for time lost to the strike.

Fifty-year-old high school physical education teacher Lloyd Jimenez says he thinks the city made a greater concession than he expected.

He says the settlement comes as a huge relief. He had feared he might lose his health benefits and jeopardize a kidney transplant his wife needs.

Elementary school science teacher Hillary Remis says she believes both sides compromised but the deal can only benefit students.

___

2:35 p.m.

Families across Chicago are breathing a sigh of relief after learning a two-week teachers’ strike is over and classes are set to resume.

Parent Dominique Dukes has two children who are Chicago Public Schools students. They’re ages 7 and 14. She says she printed worksheets for them at the library to keep them occupied during the 11 days that they missed school but she fears they missed out on their education.

She’s happy they can go back to class on Friday and hopes there isn’t ever another strike.

Officials with the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools announced that they reached an agreement Thursday afternoon and that classes would resume Friday. The last sticking point had been whether the district would make up days lost to the strike. They agreed to make up five lost days.

___

1:50 p.m.

The Chicago Teachers Union says it has reached agreement with the nation’s third-largest school district to make up five of 11 school days lost during the teachers strike.

The union and city officials announced Thursday that the strike has ended and that classes will resume Friday.

CTU tweeted that members have agreed to “make up five days of student instruction.” The city has provided no further detail.

The union’s delegates voted Wednesday night to accept a tentative agreement that includes pay raises over a five-year contract. But they said they wouldn’t end the strike unless the mayor committed to making up some of the lost days.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she would not respond to a “unilateral demand” but was open to negotiations.

___

1:40 p.m.

The Chicago mayor and the city’s teachers union say a strike that has cancelled classes for 11 days has been suspended and that classes will resume Friday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Friday that the Chicago Teachers Union has agreed to the terms of a tentative deal.

The strike began Oct. 17.

___

11:10 a.m.

The president of Chicago’s teachers union says he’s open to a compromise on making up two weeks of lost class time because of a strike.

Jesse Sharkey said Thursday that restoring all 11 days of canceled classes may not be feasible. He says union leaders want to have a conversation with Mayor Lori Lightfoot but that the amount of makeup time “can’t be zero.”

Chicago Teachers Union delegates voted Wednesday night to accept a tentative agreement that includes pay raises over a five-year contract. But they say they won’t end a strike unless the mayor commits to making up class days.

Lightfoot says adding two weeks is a “nonstarter” but has suggested she’s open to a compromise.

The impasse has led to more than 300,000 students missing 11 days of school.

___

10:15 a.m.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the teachers union’s demand to make up two weeks of lost class time because of their strike is a “nonstarter.”

Lightfoot said Thursday that the Chicago Teachers Union presented a “unilateral demand” as they accepted a tentative agreement late Wednesday with the nation’s third-largest district.

Lightfoot says she’s only open to continuing discussions that are in the “spirit of compromise.” She has maintained throughout the strike that she won’t extend the school year.

Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson says there isn’t a way to do it without further disrupting families’ lives.

CTU delegates voted Wednesday night to accept a tentative agreement that includes pay raises over a five-year contract.

The impasse has led to more than 300,000 students missing 11 days of school.

___

8 a.m.

Striking Chicago teachers say they will return to their classrooms but only if the city agrees to make up two weeks of lost class time.

Elected delegates for the Chicago Teachers Union voted Wednesday night to accept a tentative agreement with the nation’s third-largest school district but say they won’t come back without Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s commitment.

The union is encouraging members to fill the streets outside City Hall on Thursday, hoping to pressure Lightfoot into accepting its terms. The impasse cancelled classes for an 11th day for more than 300,000 students.

Lightfoot says she won’t accept the union’s demand. She’s said throughout the strike that she would not extend the school year

CTU President Jesse Sharkey says Lightfoot’s refusal feels like punishment for teachers and will hurt students.