Illinois Medical Marijuana Applications Skyrocket

ACROSS ILLINOIS — The Illinois Department of Public Health recently announced more than 20,000 people have applied for a medical marijuana card since September 2017, bringing the total to 44,000 applications since 2014, WJOL reported.

This news of the recent application increase comes less than two months after Governor Bruce Rauner signed a measure Aug. 28 aimed at strengthening the state's fight in the ongoing opioid crisis, allowing doctors to prescribe medical marijuana instead of opioids to help patients with chronic pain, stemming from cancer, or other medical issues.

RELATED: Rauner Approves Medical Marijuana As 'Weapon' In Opioid Epidemic

Patch reported in August the governor announced on social media the measure will also ease the cannabis card application process by including a temporary card to decrease the amount of time it takes for a patient to receive their prescription.

More: dph.illinois.gov

Image via Shutterstock