IDFPR Announces Next Round of Adult Use Cannabis License Applications
Applications for up to 75 Adult Use Dispensing Organization Licenses Now Available

 

[October 02, 2019] 

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation announced Tuesday that applications for adult use cannabis licenses for new dispensing organizations are now available. Applications for new dispensing organizations can be found on the Department’s website.

The applications will be accepted by the department starting on December 10, 2019 and must be submitted by 12:00 p.m. on January 2, 2020. Applications will start being reviewed following the January 2nd deadline, with seventy-five conditional adult use dispensing organization licenses awarded by May 1, 2020.

“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. “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.”

“We’re committed to ensuring that this process is transparent, fair and accessible to people from all communities in Illinois,” said Deborah Hagan, Secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. “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.”

Social equity applicants will receive points on their application and are eligible to receive technical assistance, grants, low-interest loans and fee reductions and waivers. To qualify as a social equity applicant, the statute requires the applicant to be an Illinois resident and meet one of the following criteria:

A. At least 51% ownership and control by one or more individuals who have resided at least 5 of the preceding 10 years in a disproportionately impacted area;

B. At least 51% ownership and control by one or more individuals [or family member of an individual] who have been arrested for, convicted of, or adjudicated delinquent for an offense that is eligible for cannabis expungement; or

C. Applicants with minimum of 10 full-time employees, at least 51% of employees who:

• Currently reside in a disproportionately impacted area; or

• Have been arrested for, convicted of, or adjudicated delinquent for an offense that is eligible for cannabis expungement, or is a member of an impacted family.

The Department of Commerce and Economic Development announced Monday which areas meet the definition of disproportionately impacted area.

View the map here.

Once IDFPR awards a conditional license, the applicant has 180 days to find a location within its Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Region to operate. That location cannot be within 1,500 feet of another licensed dispensing organization.

[Illinois Office of Communication and Information]