Illinois officials have published guidance for marijuana businesses about a new law that doubles the amount of marijuana that adults can legally possess, allows drive-thrus and curbside pickups at dispensaries and lets them stay open for longer hours of operation, among other changes.
The reforms are part of a large-scale cannabis omnibus bill that Gov. JB Pritzker (D) signed into law last month.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), which regulates adult-use and medical cannabis dispensaries, published the five-page explanation of some of the key changes included in the legislation that dispensaries need to know about.
“Dispensaries may begin offering curbside pick-up and drive-through services. However, prior to offering drive-through or curbside, licensees need to have their systems reviewed and approved by IDFPR,” it says. “Dispensaries may expand their hours of operations to 2am with local municipal approval.”
As enacted into law, SB 3222 allows residents of the state who are over 21 years of age to possess up to 60 grams of marijuana flower—double the amount in prior law. They are also able to have up to 10 grams of cannabis concentrates and infused products with up to 1,000 mg of THC—also double the earlier limit. Possession amounts for adult non-residents are also doubled under the bill and are generally set at half of what residents can carry..
“Additionally, registered medical patients in Illinois are authorized to purchase seeds from licensed dispensaries,” IDFPR said.
Among other changes that IDFPR flagged are that:
- The specific dispensary name is no longer required to be included on cannabis products prior to sale.
- Dispensaries are no longer required to contract with third party security companies, and instead may hire their own security guards.
- Dispensaries may begin storing sixty (60) days of security footage rather than ninety (90) days.
- Agents, agents-in-charge, and principal officers who previously were barred from holding a medical cannabis license solely due to a criminal conviction referred to as an “excluded offense” are no longer barred from holding such license. This is also true of future applicants.
Most of the changes in the legislation took effect immediately, but the IDFPR guidance notes that a provision allowing all licensed dispensaries to opt-in for medical licenses will go into force on September 10.
“Any adult use dispensary holding an active license in good standing may opt-in for a medical dispensary license,” it said. “This medical dispensary license will allow the dispensary to sell cannabis to medical cannabis patients at the medical tax rate up to the medical patient’s allotment.”
Also as of September 10, “all cannabis products sold to medical cannabis patients must contain a federally mandated warning label,” IDFPR said. “This label must be applied prior to the sale to the patient and dispensaries are responsible for ensuring the label is properly affixed to the product.”
The agency also noted the loosening of requirements for dispensary employee badges and on marijuana business ownership limits.
“This fact sheet is informational only, non-exhaustive, and should not be construed as legal advice, administrative rulemaking, or making binding statements of law,” the guidance, which was first reported by Illinois New Joint, says. “The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation recommends all licensees coordinate with their own legal counsel and comprehensively review all relevant laws and regulations to ensure continued compliance.”
IDFPR noted that many of the new changes may require updates to the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system, adding that it is considering hosting a potential town hall meeting on the changes and is “reviewing its existing administrative rules and anticipates proposing any rules needed because of SB 3222 through the formal rulemaking process in the coming months.”
The new law also contains a number of cannabis policy updates that don’t directly impact dispensary operations and weren’t noted in the IDFPR guidance.
For example, people with past convictions for possession of up to 60 grams of marijuana will now be able to have those records expunged—double the previous cutoff allowing only those with convictions for up to 30 grams to be eligible.
The legislation also recriminalizes hemp THC products with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container, in line with a federal ban that is set to take effect in November.
The state’s list of medical marijuana qualifying conditions is also being expanded to add female orgasmic disorder, endometriosis, ovarian cysts and uterine fibroids.
The governor held a signing ceremony for the legislation at a marijuana dispensary, saying he is “proud that Illinois continues to lead the nation in showing what thoughtful, balanced cannabis policy can achieve.”
In 2019, Pritzker signed the state’s initial marijuana legalization policy into law.
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