Illinois Cannabis

New entrants to marijuana market still struggle against entrenched businesses.

A bipartisan panel voted unanimously that the state overstepped its authority by requiring plain packaging in the adult-use cannabis market.

St. Louis residents who’ve purchased recreational marijuana at Metro East dispensaries say the convenience of having local shops and lower taxes will make Missouri locations more attractive.

Municipalities can levy up to 3% on recreational cannabis sales on top of existing sales taxes. Cities around the Metro East are using that new revenue in different ways.

The license lottery comes more than a year after the state was supposed to award new licenses.

The Fairview Heights City Council voted 8-1 Wednesday to approve the dispensary near the intersection of Interstate 64 and Illinois Route 159. Ascend Illinois can now move forward with opening its second dispensary in the region at 114 Commerce Lane, a defunct Babies R Us store, in the main shopping district.

Illinois has big goals to build non-white ownership in its new cannabis industry through new business licenses. But those goals are in peril now, because of delays to the licensing process. The longer applicants have to wait, the more money they have to spend to stay viable should they win one.

Updated at 3:10 p.m., Feb. 12, with comments from Collinsville's mayorCOLLINSVILLE — Illinois Supply and Provisions recorded $5 million in sales of…

BELLEVILLE — Officials here don’t have a proposal from a company that wants to locate a recreational marijuana dispensary in the city, but aldermen have…