High sign for legal pot — Pritzker inks bill making Illinois 11th state to allow recreational reefer

Recreational marijuana is now roughly six months away from being legal across Illinois.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the bill into law Tuesday.

That means residents 21 and over will be able to buy marijuana at dispensaries as soon as Jan. 1.

Illinois now joins 10 other states that have legalized recreational marijuana.

In Vermont and Washington, D.C., cannabis possession and cultivation is legal but sales are not regulated. Illinois and Vermont both legalized the drug through the legislative process, and not via a ballot initiative.