Illinois officials have paused the licensing process for new adult-use marijuana stores in an effort to give social equity businesses a better chance to succeed, according to State Representative La Shawn Ford (D).
(Photo credit: AP Photo/Jenny Kane).
State law currently allows up to 500 licensed marijuana retailers, and 260 are already in operation. Another 103 conditional licenses have been awarded to social equity applicants, but many of those licensees have struggled to secure the funding needed to open. To help address this, the state is holding off on issuing the final 137 licenses allowed under the current cap.
Representative Ford says the pause is intended “to help social equity get their footing and to bring in principal investors.”
Rep. Ford is backing legislation that would further support social equity businesses. Proposals in the bill include waiving or reducing licensing fees for applicants who qualify for a hardship waiver, expanding the canopy size for craft growers from 5,000 to 14,000 square feet, and allowing social equity businesses to add owners purely for investment purposes.
