CHICAGO (WLS) — Plans to open a marijuana dispensary in the old Rainforest Café restaurant in River North are now the subject of a lawsuit.
Illinois state law doesn’t allow dispensaries within 1,500 feet of each other. The owners of an established dispensary nearby claim opening a new one at the Rainforest Café site would violate that law.
The proposed Rainforest Café dispensary would be at 605 North Clark Street, while the existing Green Rose Dispensary is at 612 North Wells.
The city council’s zoning board approved the dispensary in November 2022, and has been subject to controversies since plans began to emerge.
Robert Brown, a neighborhood resident, had asked the board to reject the dispensary’s application, questioning Progressive Treatment Solutions’ role in its partnership with BioPharm to take over the former restaurant site at 605 N. Clark St.
Brown questioned the partners’ eligibility under state law as a social equity firm – the qualifying factor allowing the companies to open a Consume brand dispensary in River North, an area that’s already packed with weed shops.
The exception to allow a dispensary to operate within 1,500 feet of other existing dispensaries is if it is owned by a social equity applicant, part of a legislative
Lawsuit seeks to block dispensary from opening in old Rainforest Café – WGN TV Chicago
CHICAGO — There’s a battle brewing over the future of a well-known River North property.
Under one proposal, a company called Bio-Pharm LLC would open a marijuana dispensary in the 20,000-square-foot building at 605 North Clark Street.
The property has been vacant since 2020, when the Rainforest Café closed amid the pandemic.
The restaurant chain, known for its giant tree frog on the property, had been open 23 years.
Bio-Pharm is a social equity applicant, meaning it’s led by a minority ownership group. It was awarded a conditional license by the state last year, but its plan to open the dispensary has stalled, in part, amid opposition from some neighbors and pending legal action.
The most recent lawsuit, filed today in Cook County Circuit Court, was brought by the owners of Green Rose, a rival dispensary, also led by a minority ownership group.
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Green Rose is one of four dispensaries currently operating in River North, within blocks of the old Rainforest Café.
In its complaint, Green Rose claims Bio-Pharm’s plan would violate a state law aimed at preventing clusters
OCM, lawmakers eye illicit dispensary fight for next budget – Spectrum News
Officials who oversee New York state’s recreational marijuana industry say they will work with Gov. Kathy Hochul and the legislature to include additional resources to crack down on licit dispensaries as legally licensed stores come online at a snail’s pace — allowing thousands of illegal storefronts to open statewide.
In the nearly two-and-a-half years since adult-use recreational marijuana became legalized in New York, the state has 27 legal dispensaries open of more than 460 retail licenses issued to business owners.
“Obviously, the retail footprint is not sufficient at this moment, and I don’t run from that fact,” OCM Executive Director Chris Alexander said to lawmakers Monday. “We’ve got to open more stores.”
Office of Cannabis Management officials defended to lawmakers Monday why there’s thousands of illegal cannabis dispensaries in New York, overwhelming the slow-growing legal market. OCM officials say they don’t know
OCM says it has raided about 300 illegal stores in nearly five months since it got more enforcement power in the last budget.
“We’ve got a process now, but it’s inefficient,” Alexander said to reporters after the hearing.
The office has completed the required hearings for 16 of those stores so far, and recent media reports show OCM has
Riverhead’s first proposed cannabis dispensary falls through because of town’s restrictive zoning, business owner says – RiverheadLOCAL
Plans to site a recreational marijuana dispensary in a vacant former bank branch on Ostrander Avenue off Route 58 have fallen through, according to the business owner, who said the town’s restrictive zoning requirements have him looking outside of Riverhead Town.
Sean Lustberg, the owner of Mottz Only Authentic New York Style and recipient of a provisional adult-use dispensary license, said he has moved on after learning that the building at 1201 Ostrander Avenue, formerly occupied by People’s United Bank, was too close to a residential use and that there was little hope to change the zoning to allow the shop there.
“We’ve just moved on from Riverhead, because I just think that the process there — they’ve made it too restrictive,” Lustberg said. “And there’s just no properties really available.”
Lustberg said he heard there was still someone interested in siting a dispensary at the location. Ike Israel of Richmond Realty, the real estate agent Lustberg said he dealt with to lease the property, did not immediately return a call requesting comment.
The former bank branch on Ostrander Avenue, north of Route 58 where a retail marijuana dispensary was proposed. Photo: Alek Lewis
Riverhead Town’s cannabis code, adopted in
NYS Senate subcommittee hearing on cannabis: Retail dispensaries – newyorkupstate.com
Join NY Cannabis Insider for our next full-day conference on Nov. 16 at the Sonesta White Plains.
Myriad issues have plagued New York’s legal cannabis industry since the state’s Office of Cannabis Management and Cannabis Control Board began issuing marijuana business licenses over 18 months ago, but many of the problems stem from a foundational aspect of the rollout – retail.
New York State’s Senate Subcommittee on Cannabis conducted a fact-finding hearing on Monday related to the Empire State’s nascent and troubled industry.
Ten people, including legal dispensary owners, license applicants and advocates, told legislators how retail stakeholders have suffered as a result of the tumultuous situation.
Unless state legislators codify the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary program into law, it’s likely a current court case will destroy the CAURD program, and its licensees’ businesses, said Britni Tantalo, co-founder of cannabis retail applicant Flower City Dispensary and president of the New York Cannabis Retail Association (formerly the NY CAURD Coalition).
“The ruling by [state] Supreme Court justice Kevin Bryant … could not be more clear that CAURD is likely to be deemed unconstitutional,” Tantalo said. “Millions of dollars have been spent, entire life savings are gone.”
Monday’s hearing comes amid the state’s cascading legal cannabis problems that
Ganja and grub: Inside West Hollywood’s cannabis cafe PleasureMed – KCRW
Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the “Cannabis Cafe Bill” (Assembly Bill 374) that would have legalized Amsterdam-style marijuana cafes throughout California. Still, West Hollywood has its own rules, giving way to a rising culture of cannabis consumption lounges within city limits.
“There’s a difference between the bill that Newsom vetoed earlier this month and the existing cannabis consumption lounges that exist today. Assembly Bill 374 was the bill that would have allowed dispensaries to be able to function just like a place where you could go in and get a bag of Cheetos,” explains Eater LA Reporter Mona Holmes.
Those lounges include Woody Harrelson-owned “The Woods,” unofficially reopened “The Original Cannabis Cafe,” and an immersive cannabis, dining, and sex positivity experience called “PleasureMed.”
PleasureMed separates its businesses into distinct entities: an apothecary-themed dispensary on the ground floor, a restaurant called “Hind” that serves food and alcohol on the patio, and an upstairs restaurant called “Irie.”
“I was stunned when I got out of my car. … There are these beautiful, erotic 3D images projected on the front wall — nothing offensive — [at the apothecary-themed dispensary]. … Both restaurants have the same menu, [but upstairs at Irie], it’s huge,
Kansas City dispensary workers win union vote as Missouri’s … – KCUR
Workers at Homestate Dispensary in Kansas City’s Crossroads voted 6-1 Monday to unionize with Teamsters Local 955. This is only the second unionized dispensary in Missouri and the first in the Kansas City metro area.
The group began organizing in the spring and is fighting for higher wages, more time off, parental leave and better healthcare benefits, full-time security, control over their tips, bigger discounts for budtenders and better staffing rotations.
Madison Ford came to Homestate from a corporate background, where she says she had a good work environment that included competitive pay and healthcare. Working in the cannabis industry is her new dream, but Ford says a lack of worker protections has created a chaotic environment that’s forcing some people out.
She says workers often have their shifts switched with little notice, managers show favoritism and pit workers against each other and fire people without good reason.
Missouri is bordered by states, except Illinois, where marijuana is either completely or partially illegal, and she says the extreme influx of recreational business from Missourians and people coming in from out of state has put a strain on workers. The win makes her hopeful that she and her coworkers can make the industry better
‘People just can’t pay their bills’: Oklahoma’s wild marijuana market … – POLITICO
Tokelahoma’s days are numbered.
The world’s wildest weed market — which at its peak had nearly 14,000 licensed medical marijuana businesses — has been steadily shrinking since Oklahoma voters overwhelmingly rejected a recreational legalization referendum in March.
Heightened enforcement by state regulators and law enforcement is pushing some businesses to shut down. Others are simply realizing that Oklahoma is producing so much weed — a staggering 64 times the volume needed to serve the state’s medical patients, according to a recent study — that it’s impossible to make any money.
At the same time, the potential customer base is shrinking: There are just under 350,000 people enrolled in the medical program, down from a peak of more than 385,000.
“It’s just too big. It’s just causing too many problems,” said Chip Baker, a veteran weed entrepreneur who moved from Colorado to Oklahoma in 2019 to take advantage of the launch of the medical market. “Everybody’s struggling.”
Oklahoma has become a cautionary tale over the past five years for the country’s experiment with marijuana legalization. Many of the problems that have plagued fledgling markets across the country are magnified in the staunchly conservative state.
The unlikely boom market
Omaha police suspect allegedly robbed cannabis dispensary – KETV Omaha
RABIES FROM THE VACCINE BAIT. OMAHA. CRIME STOPPERS NEEDS YOUR HELP FINDING A SUSPECT AFTER HE TOOK PRODUCTS FROM A LOCAL CANNABIS DISPENSARY. OFFICERS RESPONDED NEAR 80TH AND DODGE SUNDAY EVENING AFTER AN EMPLOYEE TOLD OFFICERS THE SUSPECT ENTERED THE STORE, SPRAYED HIM WITH A SUSPECTED PEPPER SPRAY, THEN REACHED ER THE COUNTER AND TOOK PRODUCTS. NOW THEY ARE DESCRIBED AS A BLACK MALE, AROUND FIVE FEET, TEN INCHES TALL, 200 POUNDS, AND WAS WEARING A GRAY SWEATSHIRT, DARK PANTS AND A WHITE MASK CARRYING A DUFFLE BAG. IF YOU HAVE ANY INF
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Omaha police searching for suspect who allegedly robbed cannabis dispensary on Sunday evening
Updated: 12:11 PM CDT Oct 30, 2023
Omaha police are searching for a suspect who allegedly robbed a cannabis dispensary on Sunday evening.Around 6:42 p.m., officers responded to the Cannabis Factory, near 80th and Dodge streets, where an employee said the suspect entered the store and sprayed him in the face with suspected pepper spray, investigators said.According to authorities, the suspect then reached over the counter and
State Senate holds first public hearing on cannabis rollout – News 12 Westchester
Oct 30, 2023, 4:24pmUpdated 2h ago
By: News 12 Staff
In Albany, the first-ever Senate public hearing on the state’s rollout of cannabis and its legal retail access commenced this morning.
Chris Alexander, the executive director of the state’s Office of Cannabis Management, provided testimony before Senate Subcommittee on Cannabis.
The hearing also featured testimonies from cannabis cultivators, processors, and retailers – both applicants and licensed individuals.
Among those who testified were the owners of Orange County Cannabis in Wawayanda and Woodbury’s Big Gas Dispensary.
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