Update on Illinois Recreational Cannabis: November 2020
Facing lawsuits from angry applicants and public outcry on the apparent unfairness of the licensing process, the Department of Agriculture has provided additional clarification as to the requirements for State of Illinois cannabis applications. Last month, the Department of Agriculture posted changes and updates to the application process for craft...
Social Equity Applicants are Demanding Justice
On September 3, 2020, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation announced the tied applicants who are in the running to receive an adult-use dispensary license. The licenses are awarded based on a merit-based system that is broken up by regions, with ties going to a lottery. However, the...
Missed Wave 1? How to Still Get Into the Illinois Adult Use Cannabis Market
You want to enter the Illinois cannabis industry, but you missed Wave 1 of licenses, now what? There are two main options available for Illinois cannabis investors and aspiring licensees—buy your way in or wait it out. Buying an Interest in Existing Business One type of cannabis facility you can...
Illinois Cannabis Transporter License
An Illinois cannabis transport license is one of the few licenses that does not directly involve manufacturing, producing, or selling marijuana products. However, that does not mean it is any less profitable. Transporter licenses allow Illinois cannabis business to transport cannabis and cannabis-infused products on behalf of other Illinois cannabis...
COVID-19 and Illinois Dispensaries: Update on Employment and Dispensing License Determinations
The latest executive order from Governor JB Pritzker has mixed things up a bit for Illinois cannabis businesses, but in a good way. Medical and recreational cannabis facilities have been considered an essential function since COVID-19 stay at home orders first came into effect. However, the regulations which all cannabis...
What is an Illinois Social Equity Applicant?
A resident of Illinois, you may qualify as a social equity applicant under the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act if they can meet one of the following requirements: The individual(s) with at least 51% ownership and control over the entity applicant have resided in a disproportionately impacted area for 5...
Illinois Craft Grower Licensing Explained
An Illinois craft grower license allows the holder to cultivate, dry, cure and package cannabis. To apply for this license, one must submit a completed application to the Department of Agriculture. The amount of cannabis a license holder can grow is limited by square footage. A craft grower may have...
Social Equity Status is All or Nothing, IDFPR Clarifies
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), the arm of the government in charge of licensing cannabis dispensaries, recently compiled and published their answers to the questions they have received about the application process. The law leaves many issues unresolved, and this resource clarifies a lot of them....
Mayor Lightfoot Distributes Dispensaries with Proposed Zoning Regulations
With legal recreational marijuana on the horizon and dispensary applications recently released, business owners are scrambling to find an appropriate location. During September’s City Council meeting, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot put forth a proposal that restricts where recreational cannabis dispensaries could operate in the city of Chicago: 500 feet from...
Illinois Recreational Cannabis Shortages: How to Position Your Cannabis Company for Success
When Gov. Pritzker signed Illinois’s “Adult Use” recreational cannabis licensing law, many of us already in the industry were impressed by how quickly the state planned on enacting its program and accepting licenses. It was rolled out so quickly, as a matter of fact, that I found a typo in...