The Medical Cannabis Advisory Board (MCAB) convened for its first official meeting yesterday. During the inaugural meeting, board members and officials from state departments made introductions and discussed the role, scope, bylaws, and expectations for the newly formed board, as well as took questions from the public.

The virtual meeting ran from 3-4:30 p.m. Monday, August 7, and started with introductions from the multitude of members with diverse cannabis-related backgrounds, including nurses, doctors, medical patients, teachers, and more. Solomon Hatch, Deputy for Administration at the Cannabis Regulation Oversight Office (CROO), gave summary of CROO’s functions, including studies CROO undertakes, statutory requirements, and work with the many other departments involved with the legalization of cannabis in Illinois.

Allison Nickrent, Divisions Chief for Governmental Affairs, highlighted government rules, requirements, and procedures for MCAB members and meetings. In addition, board members discussed bylaws, expectation of board members, and the overall influence MCAB would have on politicians, lawmaking, accepted debilitating medical conditions, and the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Program overall.

Before adjourning, the public was allowed to comment, and two medical patients spoke to MCAB and gave suggestions for improvement the program with personal anecdotes. The first public commentator spoke about the difficulties acquiring medicine because there simply are not enough medical cannabis dispensaries within close proximity and that the only new dispensaries opening are adult-use retail stores that cater to recreational users and not medical patients. The medical patient also mentioned the high costs of medicine.

The second public commentator agreed with the first commentator about having to travel “all over” the state for needed medicine. The public commentator also suggested that medical patients should be able to ask a dispensary to order a specific medical product to reduce travel and wait time for specific medicine to reappear on menus.

“That’s been a huge inconvenience for my family in the last five years,” the commenter said. “I want to make availability a big deal moving forward.” The next meeting is scheduled for February 2024. To qualify and receive a medical patient card at a discounted rate, visit here.

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