The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) recently detailed the next steps toward issuing 185 Conditional Adult Use Cannabis Dispensing Organization Licenses.
The process applies to applicants selected in three lotteries last year. Courts have lifted stays previously, preventing license releases.
“We recognize this is a long-awaited day by many seeking to join the most diverse and inclusive adult-use cannabis industry of any state, and IDFPR is prepared to take the next steps forward together,” Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation Secretary Mario Treto, Jr. said. “Our agency is ready to work with applicants throughout the next stage so they may obtain their licenses and join Illinois’ robust adult-use cannabis industry.”
The next steps include principal officers submitting a Principal Officer Affirmation form to the IDFPR no later than July 1, 2022; IDFPR collaborating with the Illinois Department of Revenue to verify all principal officers are not delinquent in taxes or owe money to the State of Illinois; IDFPR verifying no principal officers have a financial interest in more than 10 Adult Use Cannabis Dispensary licenses; and IDFPR conducting background checks of principal officers.
Gov. JB Pritzker said Illinois has the nation’s most equitable adult-use cannabis program.
“After signing the most equity-centered program in the country into law, expunging thousands of low-level cannabis convictions, and investing tens of millions of dollars in cannabis proceeds in communities failed by the war on drugs, we are about to more than double the number of adult-use cannabis dispensaries in Illinois,” he said. “This means countless more opportunities for communities that have suffered from historic disinvestment to join this growing industry and ensure its makeup reflects the diversity of our state.”