January first will mark five years since recreational marijuana became legal in Illinois.
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Long lines were seen on January 1st, 2020 as hundreds waited to get into dispensaries in Chicago and across Illinois.
Tiffany Chappell Ingram is the executive director of the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois.
The state went from zero to more than 239 dispensaries in five years, according to Ingram. The industry also employes more than 30,000 people.
January first will mark five years since adult use, recreational marijuana became legal in Illinois.
However, Ingram said the cannabis industry is “extremely challenging” to be a part of.
“You have to remember, federally, it’s not normalized. So, what that means is that you don’t have normalized banking. Which means it’s very challenging to get capital, which is the life blood of any business,” she said.
State compliance regulations and taxes in Illinois, compared to states such as Missouri and Michigan, also make the industry challenging.