A long-awaited plan to create 110 new recreational cannabis retail licenses and expand minority ownership in Illinois is expected to be introduced in Springfield this week.
The new licenses would be in addition to 75 pending licenses that are to be awarded in a lottery for businesses with perfect application scores. A second lottery for 75 new licenses would be held for those scoring 85% or better, followed by a third lottery for 35 new licenses intended primarily for Black and Latino entrepreneurs.
The legislation, which is supported by the governor’s office, is meant to address complaints about the long-stalled licensing process from minority investors who have been almost entirely shut out of the industry.
“We’re making sure that we get cannabis right in Illinois … to end the monopoly of the cannabis industry in Illinois,” said the primary sponsor of the measure, state Rep. La Shawn Ford, a Chicago Democrat.
The final 35 “social equity” licenses would go only to applicants who have majority ownership by people who live in an area that the state has designated as disproportionately affected by the war on drugs, or by those who have been arrested for or convicted of a minor cannabis offense, or who have an immediate family member with such a history.
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