CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation ("IDFPR") announced on Jan 18th, two key updates for the upcoming Social Equity Criteria Lottery for the next round of adult use cannabis dispensary licenses in Illinois. First, the application deadline has been extended through Friday, March 3, 2023. This replaces the original February 14 deadline and will give prospective applicants a total of five weeks to submit an application. The application window will still open for applicants on January 30 through IDFPR’s online portal.

“We are committed to maximizing the number of people with the opportunity to participate in this lottery, which is the latest building block in the most equitable cannabis program in the country,” said Mario Treto, Jr., Secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. “We encourage anyone interested in applying for the lottery to consult the resources available on our website to make sure they’re prepared for the application process and understand what the post-lottery process entails.”

IDFPR has also created an interactive map available on its website for all prospective applicants. This interactive map allows individuals to check if an individual address is within a census tract that qualifies for one of the required social equity criteria. The Department encourages all individuals to utilize this helpful map as they prepare their applications.

Additional resources for the Social Equity Criteria Lottery (including a step-by-step breakdown of the lottery and licensing process, a mock application, and a guide for acceptable documents to fulfill the social equity criteria) may be found on IDFPR’s Adult Use Cannabis webpage under the “Information for Social Equity Criteria Lottery” section.