Sales of highly taxed marijuana that have topped $1 billion are popular in a state with a $3.9 billion budget deficit. But other states are watching Illinois’ experiment that promised to ensure people of color could reap revenue in a rapidly growing, multi-billion dollar industry.”
That’s not happening.
In the first round of applications, only 21 entrants were selected for a lottery for 75 licenses. According to the state, each met the social equity requirements and at least six are identified as being minority-owned. Until those licenses are awarded, however, there are still no minority-owned cannabis shops in the state.
During the first round of licensing, each applicant could seek up to 10 of the 75 initial dispensary slots. The original plan was for all of those licenses to be allocated through a lottery.
But the state’s plan was thrown into disarray when only 21 applicants secured all the lottery slots. Now state officials are considering holding a second lottery, though that would need to be approved by the Legislature. A move to make that happen failed in the legislation that ended Jan. 13. Ultimately, the state could license as many as 500 dispensaries.
“Are we going to meet our diversity goals? Yes we are, but we’re going to have to fight for it every step of the way,” Toi Hutchinson, an architect of the Illinois law who now serves as an adviser to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, said in an interview. “This is an ongoing, amazingly big task. I know we’re going in the right direction because people are demanding it.”