Tag: Marijuana

New Marijuana Licensing Bill Heads To House Floor

SPRINGFIELD – A bill aimed at allowing more people from distressed communities to get into the lucrative recreational marijuana business is on its way to the House floor as lawmakers head into the final days of the spring 2021 session. “The bill will correct a flawed license lottery system that has prevented minorities from ownership […]

Mitigations Scaled Back In All Regions Of State; HS Sports Allowed

SPRINGFIELD – All regions of the state had moved out of Tier 3 mitigations as of Friday, Jan. 22, as the COVID-19 health metrics continue to show improvement statewide. “With all regions of Illinois now out of Tier 3, we can now see that the entire state is headed down the right path,”said Illinois Department of […]

Illinois Collects $62M In Cannabis Revenue For Minority Neighborhoods

CHICAGO — Illinois has collected $62 million from legalized marijuana sales that’s earmarked for helping minority businesses and neighborhood development, but the money hasn’t been spent yet, according to a published report. The reasons include problems with the state’s system to hand out new cannabis business licenses and numerous requests for help, according to The Chicago […]

News Around Illinois — Sept. 10, 2020

2 Applicants Rejected For Marijuana Licenses Sues Illinois CHICAGO (AP) — 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 […]

Data: Illinois Sees Record Cannabis Sales Amid Pandemic

CHICAGO  — State figures show that recreational marijuana sales in Illinois total more than $300 million since the start of the year. The Illinois Department of Finance and Professional Regulation and New Frontier Data reported that July cannabis sales were the highest of the year at $61 million. That number is up from 47.6 million […]

Recreational Weed Sales Net $10M In Tax Revenue In First Month

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Department of Revenue is reporting the sale of recreational marijuana in Illinois generated $7.3 million in cannabis tax revenue last month. In addition, the department says an additional $3.1 million was generated in retail sales tax revenue. Dispensaries across the state sold nearly $40 million in recreational pot last month. In […]

Western Illinois University To Offer Cannabis-Growing Minor

MACOMB — The art of growing cannabis will become a minor subject at Western Illinois University in the fall. The university’s school of agriculture in Macomb is acting on interest officials expressed in such a class before adult-use marijuana became legal in January. The minor in cannabis production will require 18 to 19 credit hours […]

Driving, Growing And Pets: Your Answers To Questions About Cannabis

We’re now in the third week of legal cannabis sales in Illinois. Here are some answers to questions sent into our site Ask The Newsroom.com during the week of January 13, 2020. WILL News Director Reginald Hardwick looked for answers for some of the questions. — What legal provisions are there for controlling driving high? […]

What Legalization Means For People With Cannabis Convictions In Illinois

When he was in his early 20s, Matt purchased a pound of weed to split with his friends. The drug dealer dropped it off at his apartment in central Illinois. Moments later, he said, cops stormed in, and arrested Matt and his friends. He spent a night in jail, two-and-half years on probation, and for […]