* A mask mandate wasn’t the only JCAR agenda item yesterday. Press release…
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) announced today that permanent rules have been adopted for adult use cannabis dispensary licensees to be selected when there are two or more applicants in the same Bureau of Labor Statistics Regions with tied high scores. The rules, which were filed in June, may be found here.
The approval of these rules allows IDFPR to move forward in awarding the 75 conditional adult use cannabis dispensary licenses that were authorized by the 2019 Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. Consistent with the new rules, IDFPR will provide a public notice announcing the applicants with tied high scores who, if they meet the requirements in the rules, may participate in the selection process for a conditional license.
“We are pleased that these rules have been adopted, and we remain unwavering in our commitment to ensuring these licenses are issued in a fair and objective way that implements Illinois’ equity-centric law,” said Toi Hutchinson, Senior Advisor for Cannabis Control to Gov. Pritzker. “Additional licenses will be made available in the coming years and these rules will help ensure a strong foundation is established for the licensing process in the future.”
Once IDFPR awards a conditional license, the licensee will have 180 days to find a location within its BLS Region to operate. A license to operate cannot be issued if the location is within 1,500 feet of an existing licensed dispensing organization. More about the awarding of the conditional adult use dispensing organization licenses may be found under 410 ILCS 705/15-25 and 15-30 of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act.
In addition, application scoring for craft grower, infuser and transporter licenses is being finalized, and the Illinois Department of Agriculture will announce award dates in the near future.
- CubsFan16 - Wednesday, Aug 12, 20 @ 11:56 am:
Hopefully more dispensaries will finally lead to cheaper prices? Would be interested to see a study showing percent of cannabis market in the legal vs. black market in IL. My guess is - black market is extremely high. Would also be interesting to see those numbers in comparison with states like CO who have been around for a few years.
- Dotnonymous - Wednesday, Aug 12, 20 @ 12:13 pm:
The future always seems near?
Artificially inflated prices reflect the lack of competition…as monopolies invariably do.
- 33rd ward - Wednesday, Aug 12, 20 @ 1:26 pm:
Currently, industry standard production cost is .25 a gram if you have everything dialed in.
Illinois dispensaries are getting $20+ a gram. That’s some nice mnark-up if you can get it.
- Grandson of Man - Wednesday, Aug 12, 20 @ 1:31 pm:
Glad to see progress and looking forward to more dispensaries. As far as taxes, they don’t seem to be hurting sales, as we set a new sales record in July, in this fledgling industry. One customer was interviewed on TV last week when Schaumburg opened a dispensary, and he said he didn’t mind paying taxes because they help his local government during the pandemic revenue crisis.
- Candy Dogood - Wednesday, Aug 12, 20 @ 1:59 pm:
===Artificially inflated prices reflect the lack of competition===
The absence of home grow rules were very silly and the approach the State has taken hasn’t really eliminated black market demand due to the pricing.
I hope that the business models for these companies aren’t dependent on those factors for the long run.
- Soccermom - Wednesday, Aug 12, 20 @ 2:21 pm:
CubsFan16 — Actually, legal weed is priced above the prevailing cost on the illegal market as a matter of policy. Otherwise it would create incentives for people to buy legal and re-sell on the street.
And in re your nickname: They remain dead to me.
- TwoFeetThick - Wednesday, Aug 12, 20 @ 3:22 pm:
To those complaining about the price, my question is: what the heck kind of ditch weed were you smoking? If you were going for the top notch stuff, I’ve found the legal stuff to be only a bit more expensive, and of even better quality. Maybe that’s just our dispensary here in Springfield, that’s the only one I’ve purchased from. I think the price is just fine for the quality product you get.