Overdue: Illinois’ State-Mandated Study Is “Being Finalized”

Article Updated at 2:57PM on 7/11/24: shortly after I published this article, the state officially released the Disparity Study. Read it here.

Over the years, I have been making an effort to work with the state of Illinois to provide some clarity on the cannabis laws that exist in the state of Illinois. In the past, I’ve interviewed Danielle Perry, who served as the Cannabis Regulation Oversight Officer.

In my latest articles, The Cannabis Regulation Oversight Office provided responses to my questions on two important topics: cannabis gifting and possession limits for medical cannabis patients who choose to grow at home.

In this article, I’ll be sharing the response I received from the state regarding a mandated study that is seemingly overdue.

State-Mandated Study Overdue by 5 Months

On February 7th, 2023, in a press release, the Cannabis Regulation Oversight Office (“CROO”) announced the official commissioning of the Disparity and Availability Study for adult use cannabis licenses in Illinois as required by the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (“CRTA”). The press release mentioned that the final report would be due to the General Assembly and the Governor in 12 months.

As of July 7th, 2024, the report was officially be overdue by 5 months. Based on what the State of Illinois recently told me, the report is “being finalized”.

Now that the Disparity Study for adult use dispensary, cultivation, craft grow, infuser, and transporter licenses has been initiated, the final report is due to the General Assembly and Governor in 12 months.

Press release dated February 7, 2023. Click here to read full press release or see below.

disparitypressrelease Download

Message to the State

In my last article, I made it clear that I had reached out to the State of Illinois for official comment on the conclusions that I had drawn. Below is a copy of the original email that I sent to the state.

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to inquire about the progress of the Illinois Cannabis Disparity and Availability Study.

I have a few questions that I would appreciate clarification on:

1. Could you kindly confirm whether the data collection phase has been concluded? My understanding is that data collection has been completed.

2. Is it accurate to say that the report is currently overdue by approximately three months?

3. Could you provide insight into the reasons behind the delay in submitting the report?

4. When can we expect the publication of the final report?

5. Apart from the final report, will the raw data be accessible to the public to enable transparency regarding the state’s conclusions?

Thank you for your attention to these inquiries. I look forward to your prompt response.

Best,

Cole

Email sent on May 2nd, 2024

I sent a follow up in an unrelated email chain later that month.

Nathan,

Happy Friday. I just wanted to follow up as it has been a while since I’ve heard back from you.

Are you able to give me a status update on my inquiry? It’s all good if you haven’t gotten around to this yet, I just wanted to ensure that it was still on your radar.

Cole

Email sent on May 31, 2024 at 2:28pm

State of Illinois Initial Response

Here is the initial response I received from the state of Illinois

I didn’t forget, but will follow up now to see where the lawyers ended up!

And I also didn’t forget about the disparity study question. I’ll follow up on that one as well.

Thanks! Happy Friday!

Nate

Email sent on May 31, 2024 at 2:53pm

Here is my response

Thanks Nate!!

I hope all is well for you!

Cole

Email sent May 31, 2024 at 2:54pm

State of Illinois Confirms That Mandated-Study Is “Being Finalized”

Below is the response that I received from the state of Illinois.

Hey Cole,

The Disparity Study is being finalized. As the first thorough and legally defensible cannabis-focused disparity study, we are all working hard to ensure its accuracy, thoroughness, and readability. We launched this study last year to cover all five license types in a novel, federally-illegal market, that continues to change every month. We will be sure to let everyone know as soon as it is released, as well as publish it on the CROO website: https://cannabis.illinois.gov/legal-and-enforcement/disparity-study.html.

Stay tuned!

Nate

Email sent July 10, 2024 at 11:51AM

My Follow Up Question to the State of Illinois

In the pursuit of clarity, I have sent a follow up question to the state of Illinois. You can read my follow up email below.

Hey Nate,

Thank you for the update! I appreciate the work that you and the state are doing for cannabis policy in Illinois.

I have a few follow-up questions to better understand the current status of the Disparity Study:

1. Has the contracted group (Nerevu) completed their work for the state?

2. Can you tell me more about the finalization process? What exactly does finalization entail? Judging by information published by CROO in the past, am I correct in assuming that the finalization process involves taking the gathered data and putting it into a standardized format for CROO reporting?

3. Do you have an ETA on when the finalization process will be complete? If not, no worries.

Thank you again for your time and assistance. I appreciate our open channel of dialogue and hope you value my diligent approach to ensuring that I’m sharing accurate information.

I look forward to your response.

Take care,

Cole

I will share any updates that I receive from the state regarding this study.

Comment below with your thoughts!

The Cole Memo