Illinois Governor Awards Medical Marijuana Licenses Following Review

SPRINGFIELD, IL — Medical marijuana will soon be grown in Illinois, after the office of Governor Bruce Rauner (R) began awarding permits for medical marijuana growers and dispensaries on Monday.

The surprise move to award the permits came following concern from medical marijuana patients and activists, who had been fearing that the new governor would stall the program indefinitely after the outgoing Quinn administration failed to meet its own deadline of issuing the permits by the end of 2014.

Last week, Rauner’s office said no licenses would be issued until a legal review of the process that began under former Gov. Pat Quinn (D), who announced on the morning of Rauner’s inauguration that he would leave the issue for the incoming Republican to decide, was completed.

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