Cannabis in Illinois

Recreational marijuana sales are underway in one of Chicago’s biggest suburbs. NBC 5’s Chris Coffey reports

After weeks of protests and claims that Illinois’ process for recreational marijuana licenses is unfair, Gov. JB Pritzker announced the process is changing. NBC 5’s Mary Ann Ahern reports.

Illinois tweaked how business owners seeking recreational marijuana licenses can apply following complaints that the process favored politically connected and rich applicants over minorities and veterans who were supposed to benefit.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is set to discuss Tuesday how the state plans to ensure fairness when it comes to who gets adult-use cannabis dispensary licenses in the state.

As Gov. J.B. Pritzker appeared at a news conference Friday to announce investments to expand job opportunities in Chicago, a group of protesters showed up, demanding changes to the state’s cannabis lottery process. “The lottery is a game of chance,” said Rickey Hendon, a former Illinois State Senator who led the protest. “We ain’t playing no games, and we...

As Gov. J.B. Pritzker appeared at a news conference Friday to announce investments to expand job opportunities in Chicago, a group of protesters showed up, demanding changes to the state’s cannabis lottery process. NBC 5’s Mary Ann Ahern reports.

Two companies that were rejected for Illinois marijuana licenses have filed a lawsuit to delay the state from awarding licenses to the winning applicants. The state announced that only 21 of 700 applicants would proceed to a lottery for 75 licenses. Southshore Restore and Heartland Greens did not make the cut and are suing the state’s Department of Financial and…

The Greenhouse marijuana dispensary in Skokie, currently the largest pot store in Illinois, opened Thursday in a redesigned bank. NBC 5’s Kye Martin reports.

Perhaps it is a testimonial to the now-mainstream nature of cannabis in Illinois, that the latest dispensary in Chicago is just a stone’s throw from the Ohio street exit ramp into downtown. Oh, and there’s free parking. “You get off at Ohio street and there’s this big dispensary saying, ‘now open,’” said MOCA’s principal officer Doug Marks. “That shows...

A second cannabis dispensary has opened in downtown Chicago and is just a stone’s throw from the Ohio street exit ramp into downtown. NBC 5’s Phil Rogers reports

After more than a year of debate, the Naperville City Council has voted to allow recreational marijuana sales in Illinois’ third-largest city. The vote, which came down as six council members for and three against, finally puts an end to a debate that has been going on ever since the state approved recreational marijuana sales in 2019. “Everyone who is…

After more than a year of debate, the Naperville City Council has voted to allow recreational marijuana sales in Illinois’ third-largest city. NBC 5’s Alex Maragos has the story.

State figures show that recreational marijuana sales in Illinois total more than $300 million since the start of the year

With the legalization of the recreational cannabis industry in Illinois, the cannabis accessory industry has seen an uptick in Carbondale.

Just days after opening the city of Chicago’s second cannabis dispensary in the River North neighborhood, Modern Cannabis, known as MOCA, has already been shut down. “On July 16, 2020, DOB issued a stop work order at 216 W. Ohio St., a pending cannabis dispensary, due to work being completed without the proper permits,” the Chicago Department of Buildings told NBC…

The state of Illinois set another new record for tax collections on cannabis sales in the month of June, raking in nearly $12 million, according to state officials. The $11,954,246 that Illinois collected in taxes on legalized cannabis in the month of June set a new record for the state, breaking the previous record by nearly half-a-million dollars, according to…

Illinois smashed yet another record in the month of June, with more than $47 million in cannabis sales reported by the state’s Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. According to state officials, cannabis sales in June topped $47.6 million, setting a new single-month record in the state. The previous high of $44.3 million was set in the month of May,…

Business is booming for the state’s budding marijuana industry, but plans to help those impacted by the war on drugs have been hampered by the pandemic. NBC 5’s Phil Rogers reports

It was one year ago that Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the law legalizing recreational cannabis in Illinois. “We want to make sure that we’re building this market the right way,” Pritzker told his audience that day. “And that there’s ownership spread across communities that have historically not had the opportunity.” When sales began on a very cold New Year’s...