It’s been over a year and half since Illinois signed its medical marijuana bill into law. As of this post, not one medical marijuana patient has made a legal purchase of medicine. Medical marijuana business licenses were issued, but the number of lawsuits challenging the process have been piling up. The first medical marijuana lawsuit filed in Illinois came in February of this year. This last week saw two more lawsuits filed. Per Marijuana Business Daily:
Madison County Labs, which didn’t win a license to grow cannabis in the state, has sued Progressive Treatment Solutions, an East St. Louis company that was awarded a permit, claiming the latter didn’t properly secure zoning approval prior to being issued a license.
Medponics Illinois has sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Bedford Grow, a Chicago company that won a cultivation license.
It was pretty obvious that due to the flaws in the licensing process, there would be lawsuits filed. So far there have been four filed in total, and I’d imagine more will be on the way. All the while patients are left without a safe, legal way to purchase medical marijuana. Illinois does not allow home cultivation. So far there have been roughly 1,600 patients approved for the Illinois medical marijuana program.
