Illinois Can Fix Its Cannabis Dispensary Licensing Process With A Second Lottery

The social equity provisions of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, which provided business opportunities for those most harmed by the by the criminalization of marijuana, w ere rightfully heralded as industry-leading.

The urgency with which the new social equity licenses needed to be awarded was baked in to the law, which recognized that current license ownership did not reflect social equity standards and set an aggressive timetable to get social equity dispensaries up and running.

But, as recent lawsuits have shown, this carefully designed process is still very much a work in progress, and delay has become the order of the day.

After the state announced that 21 applicants had received perfect scores and would move on to a lottery where licenses would be awarded, other applicants alleged inconsistent scoring and handling of their applications. Governor Pritzker then announced new procedures to give all applicants a chance to correct any deficiencies.