Illinois finally issued its industrial hemp applications and final regulations in accordance with the new Illinois Industrial Hemp Act. https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/agr/Plants/Pages/Industrial-Hemp.aspx. These is no limit on the number of licenses, which are to be issued to qualifying applicants within 30 days of application. Applications are available for growers and processors, with fees ranging from $100 – $1000. The application is unlike the one for medical marijuana, in that it is not merit/point based, and it can easily be completed in a short amount of time. Those individuals with a controlled substance felony conviction in the last 10 years are ineligible for licensure.
The regulations provide that the minimum land area for industrial cultivation shall be ¼ acre of contiguous land for outdoor cultivation and 500 square feet for indoor cultivation. No land area used for industrial hemp shall produce a plant with more than .3% THC concentration on a dry weight basis. The regulations allow for the sale of marketable hemp products to members of the general public both within and outside the State of Illinois, and there is no restriction on the transportation of any such product following retail sale to a member of the public.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions – William Bogot