Hillcrest cultivation center awarded license to grow recreational marijuana

HILLCREST – The PharmaCann medical marijuana cultivation center in Hillcrest is one of several growers readying to fill increased demand pending the legalization of recreational marijuana.

PharmaCann was awarded a license by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to grow recreational marijuana, which becomes legal for those 21 and older on Jan. 1.

So far, the state has awarded nine licenses to growing operations in Hillcrest, Dwight, Lincoln, Kankakee, Joliet, Aurora, Barry, Rock Island and Anna. Only medical marijuana growers are receiving recreational licenses at this time.

“These centers are already hard at work in advance of legalization in January, and the department looks forward to continuing to review additional applications as they come in,” said Jeff Cox, IDOA Medicinal Plants bureau chief.

Founded in 2014, PharmaCann is a multistate cannabis operator with licenses in Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio; it is licensed for up to 26 retail locations and five cultivation and processing facilities.

PharmaCann’s facilities in Hillcrest in Ogle County and Dwight in Livinston County were the first two cultivation centers that went operational in the state for growing medical marijuana. The 36,000-square-foot Hillcrest site at 16274 Twombly Road was constructed in 2015.

PharmaCann currently operates five dispensaries in Illinois in Arlington Heights, North Aurora, Evanston, Ottawa and Romeoville, and expects to add additional retail store locations in the Chicagoland area next year.

Area cities and counties have spent the last few months working out local sales tax on recreational marijuana and zoning regulations for dispensaries and grow centers, or deciding to opt out from recreational sales.

Medical dispensaries have the first opportunity to garner state licenses to sell recreational marijuana, and 75 new licenses will be granted in May, with three to the 10-county area that includes the Sauk Valley.

The area’s sole medical dispensary is The Dispensary in Fulton, and city officials anticipate opting out from allowing recreational sales, after failing to approve zoning regulations last week.

A developer is interested in building a recreational dispensary in Dixon, and the City Council is going through steps that would set rules for local licensing and zoning.