Des Plaines may soon be home to one of 60 medical marijuana dispensaries state-wide.
Prime Wellness of Illinois received the first stage of approval from the Des Plaines City Council for a conditional-use permit that would allow the company to operate a 4,000 square-foot medical marijuana dispensary at 415 W. Touhy Ave. in the far southwest corner of the city.
The proposed permit will come back to the council for final approval during their next meeting after a motion to advance the issue to a second reading by Ald. Mark Walsten, 6th, failed to garner the necessary votes.
Scott Mangum, senior planner for the city, said that even though the state has received more than 200 applications for medical marijuana dispensaries, Prime Wellness of Illinois submitted the only application for a facility within the corporate limits of Des Plaines.
According to Mangum, the allocation of dispensaries is broken down by township. For every two townships, only one dispensary will be allowed to open, he said.
The state has received 12 applications — including an application from Prime Wellness of Illinois — for dispensaries within the Elk Grove and Schaumburg townships, he said.
Though Prime Wellness of Illinois is poised to receive final approval for a conditional use permit from the city, there is still no guarantee that the company’s application will be successful at the state level.
Still, CEO of Prime Wellness of Illinois Mark Cannon said his company must first receive municipal approval for the proposed dispensary before the state will further consider the application.
Several council members said they believed the regulations included in Illinois’ medical marijuana pilot program are certainly adequate.
“People who are (terminally ill) or who are in grave pain, if marijuana, or for that matter if opium or heroin will ease their pain and help the ending of their life, I’m all for it,” Walsten said.
“I think this is very scrutinized and they took a long time as they have in other states. I think we’ve learned some things in other states to help keep an (eye) on this very, very tightly,” he added.
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Ald. Dick Sayad, 4th, asked whether or not the employees who would ultimately dispense the marijuana would be trained or certified in some way to perform the job.
“I’m not well-versed in what the requirements are for the employees, but I do know the state has built in several safeguards relative to the dispensing of marijuana,” said Des Plaines Police Chief William Kushner.
Cannon said the employees responsible for dispensing the marijuana would be “trained in the type of medical cannabis the patient will need for whatever it is that ails them.”
He added that the security at the facility would be “incredible.”
Under the proposed plan, security personnel would monitor 16 panel computers focused on both the interior and exterior of the building, Cannon said.
“There is nothing that we don’t see,” he added.
Additionally, state regulations stipulate that once a patient registers at a dispensary, that patient is “locked into” that particular facility and would not be able to go to any other dispensary to receive medical marijuana, Cannon said.
Cannon told the council he expects the state to make a decision regarding his company’s application sometime after the Thanksgiving holiday.
“I think it’s probably going to be closer to the first of December, and at that point, whoever is successful will be given the right to operate,” he said.
Successful applicants will then be required to open up for business within a three to four month time period, Cannon said.
The council is expected to vote for a second and final time on the proposed permit at a meeting slated for Nov. 17.