Illinois e-News Release

For Immediate Release:

April 27, 2023

Contact: Chris Slaby

CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation ("IDFPR") announced today it received 2,693 applications for the upcoming Social Equity Criteria Lottery ("SECL"). This lottery will distribute the next round of 55 conditional adult use cannabis dispensary licenses across the 17 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Regions. The list of applicants participating in the SECL may be found on IDFPR’s website here. Applicants are encouraged to review the list and confirm that they have been properly listed for any BLS Region in which they applied. The SECL will be conducted by IDFPR with the Illinois Lottery in early- to mid-May. The date will be announced by IDFPR as soon as possible.

“Our simplified online application process increased the accessibility for individuals of all backgrounds and from all over Illinois to have the opportunity to write the next chapter of the most equitable cannabis industry in the country,” said IDFPR Secretary Mario Treto, Jr. “As part of the Pritzker Administration, we are committed to ensuring Illinois’ cannabis industry continues to set the gold standard for social equity and that it continues to flourish to create additional resources for communities and individuals across the state.”

Any applicant who wishes to contest the participant list (available here) may do so through May 5, 2023 by completing this Contestation Form and emailing it to [email protected]. If necessary, the Department will post an updated list of applicants participating in the SECL.

Following the lottery, each applicant selected will have 45 calendar days to prove certain social equity eligibility criteria in order to receive a conditional license. That criteria may be found here, along with a helpful guide of acceptable documents.

IDFPR will have at least 60 calendar days after the lottery to ensure the 55 applicants selected in the lottery meet the criteria detailed above. Applicants selected in the lottery will be provided an opportunity to provide supplemental information to satisfy these criteria if needed. If an applicant selected in the lottery does not provide the supplemental information, the conditional license will be offered to the next applicant drawn in that BLS Region, who must then meet the social equity eligibility criteria.

All updates and additional information about the SECL will be found on IDFPR’s Adult Use Cannabis Program webpage.