A new report suggests Illinois state and local governments would take in a combined $525 million in new tax revenue if the state legalizes recreational marijuana.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan says he expects to work “very well” with Governor-elect J.B. Pritzker and will support two of Pritzker’s major proposals.

Across the country, states desperate to prevent opioid addiction are considering medical cannabis as a solution. In Illinois, where opioids have claimed nearly 11,000 lives over the past decade, the legislature may soon consider a measure that would allow patients with an opioid prescription get access to marijuana instead.

Might pot and ditch weed help ease the state's financial crisis and boost its farm economy? Sponsors of legislation to legalize recreational marijuana and to clear the way for large-scale production of industrial hemp are hoping to convince their colleagues that's the case.