The Illinois Department of Agriculture posted the first of two anticipated frequently asked questions bulletins regarding the current process for the cannabis licensing process it is currently running for the Illinois craft grower, infuser, and transporter licenses available in the current round of cannabis licensing.
You can find the full first FAQ on the licensing process for Illinois’s craft growers, infusers, and transporters here.
You can find the link to the Department’s adult use cannabis craft grower, infuser and transporter applications and other materials hosted by the Illinois Department of Agriculture on their adult use cannabis site here.
The FAQ contains some important questions and answers that those applying for the cannabis craft grower, infusers, and transporter licenses in Illinois or cannabis attorneys looking to help guide clients through the process will want to familiarize themselves with, such as:
- Are any of the exhibits scored on a binary basis (all or nothing)? The exhibits related to the applicant’s status as a Social Equity Applicant, Veteran Controlled or Owned, and Illinois Resident Controlled or Owned, will be scored on a binary basis.
- Is there a license requirement to engage in cannabis digital marketing? No. The Act and the Department’s emergency rules do not address a licensing requirement for digital marketing.
- If a craft grower wants to grow cannabis, extract cannabis concentrate and product cannabis-infused products, must an infusion plan be included in the cultivation plan as part of the application? A craft grower may process cannabis concentrates and cannabis infused products. [410 ILCS 705/30-30(p)]. A craft grower applicant that intends to conduct such activities should describe them in their operations plan.
- What tasks are an infuser permitted to perform? Can an infuser purchase cannabis concentrate from a cultivation center and create a purified distillate and sell the purified distillate to cultivation centers? Please see the Act for the definition of infuser, as well as the infuser organization requirements and prohibitions. Under the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, an infuser license does not authorize the licensee to extract cannabis concentrate from cannabis flower.
Questions for the second FAQ on the Illinois cannabis craft grower, infuser, and transporter license applications will be accepted through January 28th and the second FAQ on these marijuana manufacturing and transporting license applications will be posted on February 4. Questions may be submitted to AGR.AdultUse@Illinois.gov