The need for a statewide medical-marijuana program won’t go away if the Illinois General Assembly and Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker approve recreational use of cannabis in 2019, advocates of marijuana legalization say. Those crafting legislation to allow production and sales of recreational marijuana plan to include provisions ensuring that patients in the medical pilot program have […]
Illinois medical marijuana
The Big Boys bring the A-Team and Game to Illinois and Beyond: Cresco Labs
By Rob Meagher CRESCOlabs™ arrived on the scene with a bang, winning three of the 21 Producer/Processor licenses issued in the great state of Illinois in 2015 with the highest scores of 158 applicants. And like the way three (3) of the founding partners succeeded at their previous company, Guaranteed Rate, a mortgage bank that grew from the ashes of the […]
Illinois Medical Marijuana Sales Continue to Rise, Reaching $2.9 Million in July
Illinois officials posted new forms this week for doctors and patients in the state’s medical marijuana program to reflect changes in the law, and announced Wednesday that July retail sales reached a new high at $2.9 million. Sales of medical marijuana in Illinois have climbed steadily since purchasing began Nov. 9. June sales had been […]
Illinois Medical Marijuana Director Resigns After 1 Year
An attorney appointed last year to lead the Illinois medical marijuana program by Gov. Bruce Rauner has resigned to pursue work in the private sector. Joseph Wright, 32, who was in the position for just over one year, told The Associated Press on Monday he felt the time was right to seek other opportunities, possibly in the […]
PTSD Added to Illinois Medical Marijuana List
CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois must add post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of diseases eligible for medical marijuana treatment, a Cook County judge ordered Tuesday in a sternly worded ruling that also said the state’s public health director engaged in a “private investigation” that was “constitutionally inappropriate.” In a lawsuit filed by an Iraq war […]
Illinois Opts to Not Expand List of Conditions For Medical Marijuana
Ilinois will not expand the list of conditions that qualifies people to get medical marijuana, Gov. Bruce Rauner‘s administration announced Friday. The announcement came despite pleas from patient advocates and medical marijuana business owners who say they need more patients to make the industry viable in the state. So far, only about 4,000 people have […]
Medical Marijuana Advocates Push For Illinois Governor to Expand Program
Medical marijuana advocates are mounting a petition drive and social media campaign to convince Gov. Bruce Rauner to greatly expand the program in Illinois — but the governor hasn’t yet given any indication he would do so. The campaign is driven in part by industry officials who fear their businesses won’t survive without more than […]
Illinois Medical Marijuana Sales Top $1.7 Million
Officials say Illinois patients legally purchased nearly $1.7 million worth of medical marijuana during November and December. Program director Joseph Wright on Monday announced sales figures since Nov. 9, when Illinois launched regulated sales with the opening of the state’s first licensed cannabis dispensaries. Wholesale sales — what growers sold to dispensaries — totaled more […]
Medical Marijuana Lures Former Law Enforcement to Illinois
With fewer than 4,000 approved patients, the nascent medical marijuana business in Illinois is off to a slow start. Yet it hasn’t kept away a cadre of cannabis entrepreneurs who once relied on guns, badges, tough drug laws and lengthy prison sentences to fight the drug. While neither state regulators nor the medical marijuana industry track the number of employees who […]
Illinois Patients Get Medical Marijuana Edibles
Edible medical marijuana made its Illinois debut Saturday, ending a wait for patients who prefer eating to inhaling. To some, cannabis-infused foods seem milder than smoke or vapor, but the products carry their own risks. It takes longer to feel the effects when marijuana is eaten, so it’s easy to eat too much with unpleasant […]