Medical cannabis patients can now purchase cannabis grown by small businesses as part of their allotment, Illinois' top cannabis regulator said, but smaller, newly licensed cannabis growers are still seeking greater access to the state's medical cannabis customers.
Illinois legalized medicinal cannabis beginning in 2014, then legalized it for recreational use in 2020. While the 2020 law legalized cannabis use for any adult age 21 or older, it did not expand licensing for medical dispensaries.
Patients can purchase cannabis as part of the medical cannabis program at dual-purpose dispensaries, which are licensed to serve both medical and recreational customers. But dual-purpose dispensaries are greatly outnumbered by dispensaries only licensed to sell recreationally, and there are no medical-only dispensaries in the state.
As another part of the adult-use legalization law, lawmakers created a "craft grow" license category that was designed to give more opportunities to Illinoisans hoping to legally grow and sell cannabis. The smaller-scale grow operations were part of the 2020 law's efforts to diversify the cannabis industry in Illinois.
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