Illinois marijuana licensees seek ownership rule changes

About 200 marijuana operators have signed a petition asking Illinois regulators to change a policy that provides a ban on adult-use owners with conditionally licensed marijuana licenses from selling equity in their businesses until they are eligible to begin retail sales. The business owners who signed the petition complained that the state's policy prohibits them from selling shares of their businesses to investors to raise money, according to the Chicago Tribune. The petition was started by NORML Chicago. Edie Moore, co-founder of Chicago NORML and a conditional license holder, told the Tribune that cannabis business owners need the money most when they are in the conditional licensing stage and trying to get their businesses open. The state of Illinois issued more than 180 conditional retail licenses to social equity applicants this summer. Social equity applicants are those who have had minor marijuana convictions in the past or come from poverty or have been arrested for marijuana.

Information source: mjbizdaily.com/