Department expands medical sales hours; emphasizes need to prioritize patient access
CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation granted medical cannabis dispensing organizations the ability to remain open until 10 p.m. to make medical cannabis sales. The Department provided additional guidance to dispensaries that have both a medical and adult use license to ensure they prioritize serving medical cannabis patients as required by state law.
Since the beginning of the medical cannabis program, medical cannabis sales have been limited to between the hours of 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., while adult use sales are permitted by law until 10 p.m. To address this, the Division of Professional Regulation has issued a variance to the medical cannabis administrative rules, effective immediately, to expand the hours during which medical patients and their caregivers can purchase cannabis.
The Division has also issued guidance to dispensaries on measures they can take to prioritize serving medical cannabis users as required by Section 15-15(i) of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. A copy of the guidance, which has been distributed to all dispensing organizations, can be found here.
“Serving medical cannabis patients continues to be at the heart of our cannabis regulation,” said Deborah Hagan, Secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. “Our Department will continue working to ensure patients receive the level of service they have come to expect from our medical cannabis program.”
