New Illinois Rules Would Expand Outdoor Cannabis Cultivation to All Licensed Growers

The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) is proposing new rules that would allow all licensed cultivation centers and craft growers to cultivate cannabis outdoors, expanding a practice that was previously exclusively available to a small number of operators.

The proposal was highlighted today by Illinois News Joint, which pointed to the Aug. 14 edition of the Illinois General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules’ Flinn Report.

According to the Flinn Report, IDOA would expand the definition of a licensed premises to include areas outside an “enclosed, locked facility.”

Under the proposal, cultivation centers and craft growers could cultivate outdoors as long as the area is surrounded by a continuous physical barrier at least eight feet high. The barrier would have to be constructed of chain link and topped with razor wire or another type of security wire. Outdoor cultivation areas would also have to be screened or covered from ordinary public view and secured through controlled access points meeting the same security standards.

Cannabis grown outdoors may only be used for the purposes of extraction.

The proposal marks a significant change in how Illinois regulates cannabis cultivation. That said, outdoor cultivation itself is not entirely new to the state’s legal cannabis market.

Years of disputes over outdoor cultivation of cannabis

The Cole Memo first reported in December 2023 that two Illinois cultivation centers, Nature’s Grace and Wellness and Green Thumb Industries, had received state approval to cultivate cannabis in outdoor screenhouses.

In August 2024, The Cole Memo obtained and published letters showing that IDOA had attempted to rescind the approvals previously granted to Nature’s Grace and Green Thumb Industries. Both companies challenged the state’s actions in court and ultimately received rulings allowing them to continue operating their screen-houses.

The issue received more attention in September 2025, when Chicago Tribune reporter Robert McCoppin published an extensive report on a new dispute related to the subject of outdoor cultivation. In his report for the Tribune, McCoppin noted that IDOA said any significant change to outdoor cultivation policy would need to occur through legislation or administrative rulemaking so that the resulting policy could be applied to licensees equally.

The proposal published today appears to begin that process. McCoppin recently called into The Cole Memo podcast to talk about his last six years covering Illinois cannabis policy, including the subject of outdoor cultivation of cannabis.

The proposal is now open for public comment. Anyone who wants to weigh in on the proposed outdoor cultivation rules can submit comments to the Illinois Department of Agriculture through Sept. 28, 2026.

More information can be found on page 30 of the Illinois register, here.

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The Hemp Debate: Cannabis, Decriminalization, and Where We Go From Here | E307 – The Cole Memo

Cole is joined by cannabis advocates Brian Dombrowski and Annie Romelfanger for a spirited conversation about hemp, medical cannabis, federal decriminalization, and the increasingly blurry distinction between "hemp" and "marijuana." They discuss the impact of the 2018 Farm Bill, THCA flower, synthetic and converted cannabinoids, industrial hemp, medical cannabis, and whether the industry needs clearer definitions or fewer of them altogether. Later, Brian sticks around to discuss the latest federal effort to delay restrictions on hemp products, what regulations could come next, and developments in Texas and Illinois. Miggy and Guap also join the conversation to discuss cannabis access, medical programs, dosage limits, consumer protections, and what a truly descheduled cannabis market might eventually look like. Watch video version and read full show notes here: https://thecolememo.com/2026/08/14/e307/