When Will Illinois Dispensaries Open For Business?

Crohnie

Crohn's Warrior
On July 10th, the first medical marijuana FINALLY started growing in Illinois. Dispensaries expect to have product available for purchase sometime in October/November. It certainly has been a long process for Illinois medical patients. The MMJ bill was originally signed into law August 2, 2013 and it officially took effect on January 1, 2014. Since this is a 4 year pilot program, the law expires December 31, 2017.
 

Crohnie

Crohn's Warrior
More bad news for Illinois patients. Estimates of when dispensaries will open has been pushed forward to February 2016. Because of all foot dragging, the "4 year pilot program" will last 20 months. Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner (R) has hinted he probably won't sign the a renewal bill when it expires on December 31, 2017. :rant:
 
Crohnie,

cybrguy

Putin is a War Criminal
What are they gonna do with the pot that is harvesting now, save it until February? Destroy it? What?
 
cybrguy,

Crohnie

Crohn's Warrior
What are they gonna do with the pot that is harvesting now, save it until February? Destroy it? What?
The reports of growing starting in July were wrong. The Governor of Illinois is trying to slow down things as much as possible.
 
Crohnie,

cybrguy

Putin is a War Criminal
I seem to have some conflicting info...

AP Exclusive: Legal marijuana stirs hope in Illinois town

By CARLA K. JOHNSON 42 minutes ago


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ALBION, Ill. (AP) — A skunky aroma fills the room in which hundreds of lush marijuana plants grow, some nearly ready for harvest. Grower Ashley Thompson, a former high school agriculture teacher in this rural part of southeastern Illinois, takes the scent of weed home with her.


She doesn't mind. It's the fragrance of money and jobs.

"My family says I smell," said Thompson, who quit the classroom to work for Ataraxia, one of a handful of cultivation centers in Illinois, which is one of 23 states with medical marijuana. "I can't tell though."

The Associated Press recently gained an exclusive look at Illinois' first legal marijuana crop, and the new farmland ritual beginning amid surrounding cornfields in the historic town of Albion: the harvest of medical marijuana that will soon be sold in dispensaries around the state.

Ataraxia is the first center to make it to the finish line after running a gantlet of state requirements. For the company to find a home in Albion — where grain trucks rumble past the sleepy central square, cicadas drone in the trees shading a century-old courthouse and a breeze touches an empty bandstand — is paradoxical. Stores can't sell package liquor, but marijuana has been welcomed as a badly needed source of employment.

A comical T-shirt for sale says the town is "High and Dry."



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In this Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015 photo, shops on the town square open for business in Albion, Ill. In …
Cheryl Taylor, who sells the shirts at her shop on the square, said the marijuana facility has everyone curious: "It's brought our little town to life."

Down a country road, tucked behind the New Holland tractor dealer and the Pioneer seed plant, the history-making cannabis crop is being cut and dried behind the locked doors of a giant warehouse. By mid-October, strains with names like Blue Dream, OG Kush, Death Star and White Poison will be turned into medicine in many forms: oils, creams, buds for smoking, edible chocolates and gummies.

It's been a twisting path to harvest, marked by delays and a secretive, highly restrictive program meant to avoid the creation of easy-access pot shops seen in other states. Until Illinois gave approval in late September for the AP's tour, only company workers and government inspectors had been inside the warehouse.

Thousands of cannabis plants — some in full bud, coated with cannabinoid-rich fibers — filled two large rooms at the facility on the day of the AP's tour. Mother plants and young plants started from cuttings had their own, smaller rooms.

The 1,900-person community of Albion, which is closer to Louisville, Kentucky, than Chicago, has embraced all this, sight unseen.



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In this Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015 photo, Ataraxia's inventory manager Anthony Marsico inspects the …
"It's a good thing for the local economy," said Doug Raber, who sells insurance. "This is a pretty conservative area. Any kind of revenue we can have here is good."

Local developers sold a cornfield to Ataraxia for $5,000 an acre, which real estate agent Randy Hallam said is a 50 percent discount. The city also paid to build a road and extend water and sewer lines. The company hired locals to build and outfit the warehouse.

But only seven people, aside from managers, have been hired permanently. With only 3,000 approved medical marijuana patients, the company can't expand yet. CEO George Archos said he wants to hire 50 to 60, and meeting that goal will go a long way to keeping the community's support.

"Albion needs to diversify its employment," said Duane Crays, editor of The Navigator, Albion's newspaper. Chief employers regionally are agriculture, oil and gas production, and an auto filter plant.

Albion might seem an unlikely place for pioneering a marijuana crop, but it is no stranger to controversies, large and small. A few years ago, residents were at odds over whether to restore the historic brick streets or pave them over. The current debate is whether to sell alcohol in stores or keep the city dry, as it has been for decades, except for clubs.



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In this Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015 photo, marijuana clones are monitored inside the "Vegetative Ro …
A love triangle was the city's first rift. Albion was founded in 1818 by an Englishman, George Flower; a former rival for the affections of Flower's wife founded his own settlement two miles away. The two men did agree on abolition, and the rival, Morris Birkbeck, penned essays credited with keeping Illinois free of slavery.

Traces of that settler spirit remain today, alderman Arrol Stewart said. "As the sign says when you come into town: 'Progressively Independent since 1818,'" Stewart said.

Residents' excitement over the health benefits of marijuana — from stimulating appetite in cancer patients to easing stiffness for people with multiple sclerosis — may also have historic roots. The bandstand marks the spot where a mineral spring once drew patients suffering from a host of ailments; it was said the water could cure.

"My wife has MS," Hallam said. She doesn't have her patient card yet, he said, "but she has a doctor's appointment coming up."
 

Crohnie

Crohn's Warrior
There has indeed been a lot of conflicting information about when dispensaries will finally open in Illinois. After a lot of checking, it appears that growing did indeed start in Illinois sometime this summer (July?) and that numerous dispensaries are announcing their openings in mid to late November. Whether they actually will or not is another question. Illinois (particularly the Republican Governor) has been dragging its feet on implementing this program ever since the new governor was sworn into office.
 

mikeben

Well-Known Member
They will finally be coming next month for sure. The situation in Illinois is bad because we have for years have a corrupt government and our current governor Rauner is doing everything he can to lose money for our state. They aren't even paying lottery winners here. If you are on Facebook, and want to keep up on the Illinois medical cannabis movement, please join https://www.facebook.com/groups/Illinoisdispensaries/
We really need your support. I and countless others would have a card in most states that have legalized cannabis and it is so important to change the law here and federally. My story is a few posts below if you want more details.

If you do want change in Illinois this Dr Shah is the one who denied (in collusion with the Gov.) 11 important conditions from being approved for medical cannabis. 8 of them are back up for review and have been recommended, including my condition of IBS and important things like PTSD. Please use this link to email him and encourage him to pass the conditions this time. https://secure2.convio.net/mpp/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3603
The message is already written but you can personalize it. This is a great site that you can use to write all the presidential candidates, all your local senators etc. all about cannabis reform. I feel so strongly about this I will make a sincere promise. If you email Shah off this site, I promise to use the site to email anyone who you need me to in your locale. Just PM the link to me. It only takes a minute.
 
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CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
  • November 9th is when they will start selling at the dispensaries.
    CHICAGO — More than 3,000 patients with Illinois-issued ID cards will be able to buy medical marijuana legally for the first time Monday, according to the state official overseeing the pilot program.

    Eight licensed dispensaries are authorized to start selling cannabis on that day, program director Joseph Wright told The Associated Press. The number will grow to a dozen dispensaries by the end of the month and up to 25 by the end of the year, Wright said.

    3,000 patients and only 8 dispensaries. There will be some long lines.
 
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