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CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - Illinois' medical marijuana program is proving to be a success, but will it last?
The pilot program started selling cannabis to approved patients in November, and the state reports they have collected nearly $107,000 in taxes so far. The communities where the dispensaries are located are getting tax dollars, but the money for the state isn’t helping in the state’s budget crisis, and instead is supporting the program.
Since November 9th, 2800 patients bought medical cannabis in Illinois and spent almost $1.7 million. Wholesale sales from grower to dispensaries made the state $107,000 in taxes, but those aren't revenue dollars.
The former state cannabis director says Illinois' pilot program is self-sustaining.
“It was not intended to bring a windfall of money to the state coffers the way other recreational use states, for example in Colorado and Washington state. We don't have that kind of program at this point and it wasn't designed for that,” said Bob Morgan, the former coordinator for the Illinois Medical Cannabis program.
In order to make more money, the patient pool has to increase. And for the patient pool to increase, the list of approved conditions has to grow.
“We think Illinois would be about a 1 percent patient penetration rate that's about 130,000 patients, and right now we have 3,600 patients,” said Ben Kovler of The Clinic Mundelein and Green Thumb Industries.
He said the biggest moment for the program this year may come next month when Governor Bruce Rauner looks at adding conditions.
“He has 8 new conditions on his desk. The date for the decision comes on February 1,” said Kovler.
Those conditions include chronic pain syndrome, PRSD and autism. Governor Rauner turned down 11 conditions last year.
“There are tens of thousands of people who are waiting for that approved condition list to increase,” said Zachary Zises, who owns Chicago’s first dispensary to open, Dispensary 33, located in the Uptown neighborhood.
He said in less than a month they made about $90,00 dollars, which may change as another dozen dispensaries are expected to open by March.
“Even if there are more stores selling the product, we still have a finite number of patients who can buy it,” said Morgan.
The pilot program ends in 2017, unless the legislature and governor act. They will act based on the success of the program, but we don't know how they are going to measure success: Tax dollars in local communities? Number of patients? That is still to be determined.
The retail price per gram on average was roughly $14 to $15.
Illinois is among 23 states that allow at least medical use of marijuana.