ILLINOIS: Gov. Pat Quinn today signed a bill legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes in Illinois that supporters say is the strictest in the nation. [Read more…]
Search Results for: Gov. Pat Quinn
Clock Ticking On Quinn's Medical Marijuana Decision
ILLINOIS: The clock is ticking for Gov. Pat Quinn to make a decision about proposed medical marijuana legislation in Illinois, and supporters are hoping for a signature before the August deadline. [Read more…]
Suburbs brace for medical pot sales, patients wait for state to approve it
ILLINOIS: Local leaders in far northwest suburban Huntley were taken aback when a man showed up at a Village Board meeting last month and announced he wants to open a warehouse in town to grow marijuana. [Read more…]
Suburbs brace for medical pot sales, patients wait for state to approve it
ILLINOIS: Local leaders in far northwest suburban Huntley were taken aback when a man showed up at a Village Board meeting last month and announced he wants to open a warehouse in town to grow marijuana. [Read more…]
Key Dates On Road To Legal Medical Marijuana In Illinois
ILLINOIS: The road to legal medical marijuana in Illinois began more than a decade ago, when proponents first began pushing legislation in Springfield. After many defeats, a law establishing a pilot program was approved in 2013.
Here are key dates since the law was passed:
- Aug. 1, 2013: Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, signs the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Act, making Illinois the 21st state allowing marijuana for medical use. The law authorizes a four-year pilot program that expires at the end of 2017.
- July 15, 2014: A legislative committee approves the program’s rules for patients, growers and retailers. Public comments from patients, entrepreneurs and city officials helped shape the rules.
- Jan. 1, 2015: A law takes effect expanding the pilot program to allow children to be prescribed non-smokable forms of marijuana.
Costs Adding Up For Illinois Medical Marijuana Entrepreneurs
ILLINOIS: In the world of medical marijuana entrepreneurs in Illinois, there’s plenty of green behind the grass.
Hundreds of would-be medical marijuana growers and sellers have put millions of dollars on the line hoping for coveted state permits that were supposed to issued by former Gov. Pat Quinn by the end of last year.
To snag those valuable permits, the entrepreneurs hired consultants, lawyers and lobbyists.
They’re already paying rent, in some cases, or have money tied up in options to buy property.
And now, they wait. And with millions of dollars on the line, waiting can get expensive.
Illinois Govenor Passes On Medical Marijuana
ILLINOIS: In the wake of Gov. Pat Quinn’s exit from office Monday, Sneed has learned he will NOT give a green light to Illinois license applications to cultivate and distribute medical marijuana — and will toss a safety wrench into the marijuana mix.
Sneed has also learned Gov. Quinn, who had been urging caution in the state’s medical marijuana process, will sign legislation Monday to further tighten the new medical marijuana laws.
Under the changes Quinn is signing into law, the Department of Agriculture will have the power not only to revoke marijuana growers’ licenses, but also to suspend them.
Quinn will also announce the first dozen appointments to the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board, which will ultimately have 16 members, including patients and doctors.
Medical Marijuana Applicants Come With Baggage
ILLINOIS: As Illinois prepares to authorize its first medical marijuana businesses, applicants seeking the potentially lucrative licenses include people with political connections and blemished backgrounds.
A lobbyist for one applicant is the former chief of staff for Gov. Pat Quinn. Owners of two other proposed companies have criminal convictions. Another applicant is tied to a corporate shell known for hiding assets and owners.
And that’s only a sampling discovered by the Tribune.
Under the new state law that legalized medical marijuana, the process for obtaining the right to sell the drug in Illinois has been cloaked in secrecy. The state has not revealed the names of businesses that have applied for licenses — let alone the people behind those businesses. Officials said that, to protect the process from clout influence, the panel scoring the applications won’t know who’s behind them. But the state has also not revealed the names of the panelists and won’t say whether it will disclose the scores of those who win licenses.
Tarter: Value Of Hemp Grows In Illinois
ILLINOIS: Medical marijuana has made plenty of headlines across Illinois this year as various interests scurry to serve as production and distribution facilities.
Lost in the shuffle is an update on industrial hemp in this state.
That’s the non-sexy little brother in the cannabis family that won’t get you high or comfort the afflicted. All industrial hemp does is produce seeds and fiber that can be used in making clothing, food, beverages, paper, plastics, building supplies and fuel.
Eric Pollitt, the Peoria owner of the Global Hemp online store, reports that this summer, without any fanfare, Gov. Pat Quinn signed a bill making industrial hemp legal for research purposes.
Illinois Investors Jump Into Marijuana Business
ILLINOIS: Investors around Illinois are jockeying for positions in the marijuana business as they wait for the state’s new medical marijuana law to kick in. And some of them are politically connected.
According to the Springfield bureau of Lee Enterprises, Sam Borek has reserved at least three-dozen marijuana-related business names. Borek was a college roommate of the legislator who sponsored the law, Democratic state Rep. Lou Lang of Skokie.
Those companies have names like Illinois Medical Marijuana Sales Inc., Illinois Cannabis Realty Inc. and Cannabis Medical Centers of Illinois Inc.
And then there’s David Rosen of Chicago. He was Gov. Pat Quinn’s chief fundraiser in 2010 and also raised money for Hillary Rodham Clinton and Al Gore.