Stuck in the weeds: No local recreational marijuana shop selected for state license yet

DeKALB – The company behind one prospective adult-use cannabis dispensary in DeKalb was not chosen in two recent license lottery drawings from the state, but company officials say they are holding out hope for better odds of selection in one more lottery scheduled later this month.

Illinois officials held the first of three lotteries a week ago and the second on Thursday for 185 total new recreational marijuana dispensary licenses. A spokesperson for NuMed, which has received local municipal approval, confirmed Monday the company was not selected in the first lottery awarding 55 licenses statewide. Nor was it listed as part of the second drawing awarding 55 more statewide, according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, but it will be participating in the remaining lottery scheduled for Aug. 19.

Dan Olson, principal planner for the City of DeKalb, said July 23 the NuMed location near the Junction Eating Place on Lincoln Highway is the only active contender for a dispensary in the city. The local license was approved more than two years ago, in April of 2019 by a 7-1 DeKalb City Council vote.

Local elected officials have in the past cited a desire for increased tax revenues from shop sales in their approval votes.

Olson said the city had a couple of shops approved zoning-wise, including one for Chicago-based BQ Enterprises approved in November of 2019 for a shop at 700 Peace Road.

“But that was a couple of years ago,” Olson said. “ ... That one on Peace Road dropped its petition.”

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Aaron Smuck, a co-owner at Aroma's Hookah Bar, smokes marijuana Friday, July 16, 2021, at the business in DeKalb. Aroma's is not a dispensary, it legally allows customers bring their own marijuana to smoke. Currently no marijuana dispensaries are located in DeKalb. (Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com/Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com)

Illinois legislators previously changed the cannabis dispensary licensing process, making a lower threshold for applicants to be considered for eligibility and a specific date only for “social equity” applicant draw, which was Thursday. Those 55 licenses, which did not include DeKalb’s location, were drawn from a pool of applicants specifically owned by someone or their family member who was arrested or convicted of a minor cannabis offense or people from communities most affected by the war on drugs.

On Aug. 19, Illinois also will distribute 75 licenses to the 21 finalists who received perfect scores to qualify for the original license lottery a year ago. The licensing lottery process was set to begin in mid-2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Olson said the NuMed dispensary location off Lincoln Highway recently received an extension to July 1, 2022 from the DeKalb City Council to get its state license and open its dispensary location in the city.

“So it’ll give them [about] a year for them to get their state license,” Olson said.

As far as the city is concerned, Olson said if NuMed passes its July 2022 deadline, the company would have to reapply for a special use permit with the city if it would still like to set up shop in DeKalb.

Laura Jaramillo Bernal, special projects director for NuEra and NuMed Cannabis, wrote in an April 2021 email the licensing process “has been extremely delayed first by COVID, causing delays in application scoring, then by controversy and lawsuits regarding the applicants that were picked to be lottery winners.”

“We continue to believe that DeKalb - and our building in particular - is a fantastic location for a cannabis dispensary that will help serve the DeKalb community,” Jaramillo Bernal wrote. “We have been working with our landlord, who has been very accommodating and patient, as well as with city staff to make sure that they are informed of the status of the process, and to make sure we are ready to open our doors as quickly as possible when we have a license.”

DeKalb is part of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin region for the licensing process, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That region will have 47 total adult use cannabis licenses, according to state law.

The NuMed spokesperson also confirmed Monday the proposed DeKalb dispensary could potentially be licensed for one of its multiple contending sites within the company if the company is awarded an adult-use permit from the state. If selected for a permit in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin region, the spokesperson said the company expects to be ready to start building out a dispensary – whether it’s at the DeKalb location or elsewhere within the region – as early as this fall.

The NuMed spokesperson declined to provide additional comment, citing the uncertainty of being selected in the state license lottery process, and was not immediately available to comment Thursday following the drawing.

Sycamore Acting City Manager Maggie Peck confirmed July 23 the city approved special-use permits for two medical cannabis dispensaries, though there have been no applications submitted to the city for recreational marijuana shops. Genoa City Administrator Alyssa Seguss confirmed July 22 the City of Genoa has not received any special-use permit applications for either recreational or medical cannabis dispensaries.

There remain no marijuana shops in DeKalb County, either recreational or medicinal, Olson confirmed, as none have received a state license.

The closest dispensaries to DeKalb for medical and recreational use within a 25-mile radius are Verilife, 161 S. Lincolnway Suite 301 in North Aurora, and Zen Leaf St. Charles, 3714 Illinois Ave. in St. Charles, according to the state.

“Hopefully, we’re the first,” Olson said.