Illinois Marijuana Dispensary License Applications Unveiled

SPRINGFIELD, IL — State regulators on Tuesday released the first applications for licenses to sell recreational marijuana in Illinois that are open to organizations that do not already operate medical cannabis dispensaries.

Applications are due between Dec. 10 and Jan. 2, and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation will award the "conditional adult use dispensing organization licenses" by May 1, 2020.

The latest round of licenses will be the first to be issued based on a points-based scoring system. Applicants will be evaluated on a 250-point scale consisting of 10 factors — labor, diversity and environmental plans, security, business plans, experience, employee training, the owners' status as a veteran, an Illinois resident or a social equity applicant.

The IDFPR will rank them against each other to determine who gets the first 75 licenses. In case of a tie, the applicant with the best community engagement plan will get the license.

"As Illinois enters the next phase of its adult use cannabis program, we are committed to a process that is efficient, timely and most critically, continues to place equity at the forefront," said Governor JB Pritzker in a release. "From ensuring social equity applicants receive points on their application to providing grants and technical assistance, this is a process that does more than any other state in the nation to make equity a priority."

Under the marijuana legalization law Pritzker signed in June, the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, established medical cannabis dispensaries get a head start. They are assumed to be in compliance with the law and not subjected to the scoring system by regulators.

Owners of each of the 55 medical dispensaries in place has the opportunity to apply for "same-site" and "second-site" licenses, which would allow for the sale of cannabis products to anyone aged 21 or over.

"We're committed to ensuring that this process is transparent, fair and accessible to people from all communities in Illinois," the release quoted IDFPR Secretary Deborah Hagan as saying. "Our Department understands the important role it plays in ensuring all applicants have an opportunity to become involved in this industry, and we will continue to work with our partner agencies to ensure applicants have the information they need."

The application released Oct. 1 requires aspiring cannabis businesses to submit records of ownership and management structure, plans for training, education, environment, businesses, security, operation, recall, record-keeping, community engagement and diversity. They must also submit a floor plan, although no extra points will be given to applicants that have already secured a location.

With three months to go before marijuana becomes legal to possess and consume in Illinois, the IDFPR has issued only five licenses for retail cannabis operations to be open Jan. 1.

All are "same-site" licenses at existing medical dispensaries. All are operated by the same firm. But at least one of them will not be able to open. The Naperville City Council voted 6-3 to block any adult use cannabis businesses from opening in town, which prohibits Green Thumb Industries' 3C Compassionate Care Center from taking advantage of the state license.

The next 75 licenses will be divided up by Bureau of Labor Statistics Regions. The only other location restriction included in the law: they must be at least 1,500 feet from another licensed dispensary. It is up to local governments whether to impose additional limitations, like buffer zones from residential areas, parks or schools.

On Monday, the Pritzker administration released a map showing the areas determined to be "Disproportionately Impacted Areas," those hardest hit by decades of cannabis prohibition. (See a map of qualifying areas.)

The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity found 683 census tracts with a population of more than 2 million qualified under criteria laid out in the legalization law. Such areas have high rates of cannabis arrests, as well as above-average unemployment, poverty or food stamp use.

To qualify as social equity applicants, organizations must have a majority owner who has lived in such an area for at least five of the last 10 years, has been arrested for a minor cannabis-related offense or is a "member of an impacted family." If applicants have 10 or more employees, at least half of them must either have been charged with a cannabis offense or live in one of the impacted areas.

In addition to an extra 50 points on the 250-point scale, social equity applicants will get a discount on application fees. The non-refundable application fee for non-social equity applicants is $5,000. If IDFPR awards them a license, the fee is $60,000 for the first two years. Social equity applicants pay only $2,500 up front and $30,000 if awarded the license.

The state commerce department is also due to launch a program to provide low-interest loans to qualified social equity applicants, but it has not yet begun.

Last week, Pritzker announced state Sen. Toi Hutchinson, an Olympia Fields Democrat and one of the co-sponsors of the legalization law, had resigned her seat to join his administration as "cannabis regulation oversight officer."

Hutchinson will oversee the implementation of the law she co-wrote by five state agencies — IDFPR, commerce, agriculture, public health and revenue, Capital Fax reported. She will also have input on the Illinois State Police's cannabis policies. The former 40th District state senator told the Chicago Sun-Times the goal of the legalization bill was to reduce barriers for people entering the cannabis industry.

"It's going to be fascinating to see where the applications come from, how strong the applications are, and we're going to have an eye towards making sure the intentions and the spirit of the law are carried out," Hutchinson said.