Lobbyist says Illinois’ medical marijuana program needs improvement

Posted on November 15, 2015

Illinois dispensaries have sold nearly $211,000 worth of medical marijuana in the first week of sales. (Photo courtesy Flickr/BrettLevin)

By Joe Ragusa

BLOOMINGTON – Illinois’ medical marijuana program has generated nearly $211,000 worth of sales since the first dispensaries opened on Monday. That’s with only a quarter of the eligible patients actually purchasing pot.

Chris Lindsey, legislative analyst with the Marijuana Policy Project, said there’s still room for improvement with Illinois’ medical marijuana law.

“We want to see the program improved. We want to see the test period extended so that legislators actually do get to see its performance over the amount of time they anticipated when they passed the law,” Lindsey said. “We want to see more conditions (added) so that we don’t see seriously ill patients in Illinois left behind.”

The nearest dispensaries to the Twin Cities are in Canton and Ottawa.

Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].

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