Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Illinois is extending its deadline for auxiliary recreational cannabis business licenses. The cutoff had been scheduled for March 30; it has now been reset for April 30.
The licenses cover craft (i.e., small-scale) growing operations, cannabis infusing for products such as edibles, and transportation services. The state will grant a total of 40 licenses apiece for the first two activities. The number of transport licenses will not be limited, but applicants must meet a set of requirements in order to qualify, and their applications must hit a minimum score.
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The application fee for all license categories is $5,000, though it's discounted to $2,500 for those who fall into the "social equity" category as disadvantaged applicants. Those given licensees will have to pay annual fees currently set at $40,000 for craft grower licenses, $10,000 for transportation services, and $5,000 for licensed infusers.
Illinois has not released any figures about the number of applications it has received, but it can be reasonably expected that it's considerable, given the high demand for recreational marijuana dispensary licenses earlier this year. The state's legalization of recreational marijuana came into force on Jan. 1.
Several notable marijuana companies are headquartered in Illinois. Two that applied successfully for recreational dispensary licenses were Cresco Labs (CRLBF -1.19%) and Green Thumb Industries (GTBIF -1.39%). Both offer derivative products, however, it's unknown whether either has applied for an infuser license.
On Tuesday, shares of both Cresco and Green Thumb fell more steeply than the broader market. Cresco dropped by almost 3% and Green Thumb declined 3.5%.
