Terrence Antonio James / baiduhaiCresco Labs employee Nicholas Stankus counts out cash received for a medical cannabis sale on Dec. 30, 2019.
Brian Cassella / baiduhaiCustomers line up outside Sunnyside Lakeview in Chicago before dawn on the first day of recreational marijuana sales Jan. 1, 2020.
Stacey Wescott / baiduhaiAaron Brooks, of Libertyville, left, and Michael Shelton, right, line up outside Rise Mundelein on Jan. 1, 2020, in Mundelein. Brooks got in line at 5 p.m. Dec. 31, 2019, 13 hours before the doors opened.
Brian Cassella / baiduhaiLong lines continue on the second day of recreational cannabis sales on Jan. 2, 2020 along Clark Street outside Sunnyside in Lakeview.
Antonio Perez / baiduhaiBrian Hopkins, left, smokes a joint containing legally purchased marijuana along with friend Joseph Weaver at his home in Calumet City on Jan. 1, 2020. The marijuana was purchased at the Mission Dispensary store in Chicago.
Stacey Wescott / baiduhaiSanel Hadzizulfic waits in line to purchase legal recreational marijuana at Rise Mundelein on Jan. 1, 2020, in Mundelein.
Brian Cassella / baiduhaiCustomers exit the store on the first day of recreational marijuana sales Jan. 1, 2020, at Sunnyside Lakeview in Chicago.
John J. Kim / baiduhaiPeter Guardalabene, left, offers free doughnuts to people waiting in line to shop at Dispensary33, 5001 N. Clark St., on Jan. 1, 2020, in Chicago.
Antonio Perez / baiduhaiBrian Hopkins lights up a joint containing legal marijuana at his home in Calumet City on Jan. 1, 2020. The marijuana was purchased at the Mission Dispensary store in Chicago.
Brian Cassella / baiduhaiA decorated food truck from Fat Shallot arrives at Sunnyside Lakeview on Jan. 1, 2010, the first day of recreational marijuana sales in Illinois.
Brian Cassella / baiduhaiCustomers wait in line before dawn Jan. 1, 2010, at Sunnyside Lakeview on the first day of recreational marijuana sales.
John J. Kim / baiduhaiWorkers and customers move about inside Dispensary33 in Chicago on Jan. 1, 2020.
Stacey Wescott / baiduhaiWorker Kris Klampa counts money being used to purchase legal recreational marijuana at Rise Mundelein on Jan. 1, 2020, in Mundelein.
Brian Cassella / baiduhaiA customer pays for an order with cash on the first day of recreational marijuana sales Jan. 1, 2020, at Sunnyside Lakeview in Chicago.
Brian Cassella / baiduhaiEmployees hand out merchandise to customers waiting on line outside on the first day of recreational marijuana sales Jan. 1, 2020, at Sunnyside Lakeview.
Stacey Wescott / baiduhaiHundreds of people line up in the dark outside Rise Mundelein on Jan. 1, 2020, in Mundelein. The first people lined up around 5 p.m. Dec. 31, 2019, 13 hours before the doors opened.
Brian Cassella/baiduhaiLt. Gov. Juliana Stratton makes a purchase as Sunnyside Lakeview opens in the first minutes of legal recreational marijuana sales in Illinois.
Antonio Perez/baiduhaiCustomers inside Mission Dispensary on Jan. 1, 2020, as recreational marijuana becomes legal in Illinois.
Antonio Perez / baiduhaiAs a new era in Illinois begins, Joseph Weaver smokes a joint containing legal recreational marijuana at a home in Calumet City on Jan. 1, 2020.
Zbigniew Bzdak/baiduhaiWorkers tend to plants in growing room at Cresco Labs in Joliet on Dec. 17, 2019. Cresco Labs is one of the largest cannabis companies in the state and recently expanded its marijuana growing facilities.
Brian Cassella / baiduhaiEmployee Sophia Senkyr prepares products as doors open on the first day of recreational marijuana sales, Jan. 1, 2020, at Sunnyside Lakeview in Chicago.
John J. Kim / baiduhaiCannabis-infused chocolates are on display at Dispensary33 in Chicago on Jan. 1, 2020.
Antonio Perez / baiduhaiGlenn Perkins shows off a container containing legally purchased marijuana at a home in Calumet City on Jan. 1, 2020. The marijuana was purchased at the Mission Dispensary store in Chicago.
Antonio Perez/baiduhaiStaff celebrate with confetti after a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of Mission Dispensary in Chicago.
Stacey Wescott / baiduhaiRise Mundelein employee Savanna Tragasz walks in front of a new customer service area at the medical cannabis dispensary on Dec. 18, 2019. The dispensary is expanding and rebranding as Illinois' new recreational marijuana law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
Zbigniew Bzdak / baiduhaiJessica Ryan, director of cultivation for Cresco Labs, walks through a drying room at the Joliet facility.
John J. Kim / baiduhaiVape oils, pens and prerolled joints are on display at Dispensary33 in Chicago on Jan. 1, 2020.
Terrence Antonio James / baiduhaiThe Sunnyside store in Lakeview on Dec. 30, 2019.
John J. Kim / baiduhaiA customer views edible cannabis products in a display case at Dispensary 33 on Jan. 1, 2020, in Chicago. The cannabis store opened for business to sell recreational marijuana at 6 a.m.
Terrence Antonio James / baiduhaiCresco Labs employee Nicholas Stankus finishes a medical marijuana sale on Dec. 30, 2019. The company is rebranding all of its dispensaries under the name Sunnyside, including the Lakeview location seen here on North Clark Street in Chicago.
Zbigniew Bzdak / baiduhaiWorkers package cannabis-infused gummies at Cresco Labs in Joliet on Dec. 17, 2019.
Zbigniew Bzdak / baiduhaiWorkers roll joints at Cresco Labs in Joliet on Dec. 17, 2019. Cresco Labs is one of the largest cannabis companies in the state and recently expanded its marijuana-growing facilities.
Stacey Wescott / baiduhaiHundreds of people line up outside Rise Mundelein on Jan. 1, 2020, in Mundelein. The first people lined up around 5 p.m. Dec. 31, 2019, 13 hours before the doors opened.
Antonio Perez / baiduhaiThe scene outside Mission Dispensary on Jan. 1, 2020, as recreational marijuana becomes legal in Illinois.
John J. Kim / baiduhaiDispensary agent Lea Oblena wears a temporary tattoo of a marijuana plant while helping a customer at Dispensary33, in the 5000 block of North Clark Street in Chicago, on Jan. 1, 2020, in Chicago. The cannabis store opened for business to sell recreational weed at 6 a.m.
John J. Kim / baiduhaiCustomers view cannabis flower samples at Dispensary33 in Chicago on Jan. 1, 2020.
Antonio Perez / baiduhaiOn the second day of legal recreational marijuana sales, people line up Jan. 2, 2020 outside Midway Dispensary in Chicago's Vittum Park neighborhood.
Zbigniew Bzdak/baiduhaiDonna Goon is helped by advisor Sydney Huggins as she shops at the Sunnyside cannabis store in Naperville on Dec. 24, 2020. Naperville previously banned recreational marijuana shops, but a voter referendum changed that. This is Cresco's 10th store, the most allowed in the state.
Brian Cassella / baiduhaiCustomers enter the Sunnyside store in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood after waiting in long lines on the second day of recreational cannabis on Jan. 2, 2020.
Antonio Perez/baiduhaiVanessa Moreno, right, and her boyfriend, Nigel Rowe, vape as they stand in line waiting for Mission Dispensary to open on Jan. 1, 2020, as recreational marijuana becomes legal in Illinois.
John J. Kim / baiduhaiCannabis-infused gummies are on display at Dispensary33 in Chicago on Jan. 1, 2020.
Stacey Wescott / baiduhaiBen Kovel, founder and CEO of Green Thumb Industries, delivers pre-ordered marijuana products inside Rise Mundelein on Jan. 1, 2020, in Mundelein.
Brian Cassella/baiduhaiJackie Ryan makes the first purchase of legal marijuana at Sunnyside Lakeview in Chicago on Jan. 1, 2020.
Brian Cassella/baiduhaiDustin Kennedy waits in line outside Sunnyside Lakeview in Chicago on Jan. 1, 2020, as recreational marijuana became legal in Illinois.
Stacey Wescott / baiduhaiEli Holesey, right, talks with customer Brenda Nishimoto, left, at Rise Mundelein, a medical cannabis dispensary in Mundelein, on Dec. 18, 2019. The dispensary is expanding and rebranding as Illinois' new recreational marijuana law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
Brian Cassella / baiduhaiCustomers line up outside before dawn on the first day of recreational marijuana sales Jan. 1, 2020, at Sunnyside Lakeview.
Antonio Perez/baiduhaiMarky Vee and his wife, Jenny, are the first in line outside Mission Dispensary in Chicago as they wait for the store to open on Jan. 1, 2020, as recreational marijuana becomes legal in Illinois.
Antonio Perez / baiduhaiA bag is filled with a customer's marijuana purchases Jan. 2, 2020, at Midway Dispensary in Chicago's Vittum Park neighborhood.
John J. Kim / baiduhaiPeople wait in line in the 4900 block of North Clark Street to shop at Dispensary33 on Jan. 1, 2020, in Chicago.
Brian Cassella / baiduhaiAld. Tom Tunney visits Sunnyside Lakeview in Chicago on the first day of recreational marijuana sales Jan. 1, 2020.
Zbigniew Bzdak / baiduhaiPeople shop at the Sunnyside cannabis store in Naperville on Dec. 24, 2020.
Antonio Perez/baiduhaiStaff celebrate with confetti after a ribbon cutting Jan. 1, 2020, to celebrate the opening of Mission Dispensary in Chicago.
Stacey Wescott / baiduhaiRaul Campos, of Grayslake, raises his arms in celebration after purchasing $69 worth of sour diesel sativa at Rise Mundelein on Jan. 1, 2020, in Mundelein.
Zbigniew Bzdak / baiduhaiPeople shop at the Sunnyside cannabis store in Naperville on Dec. 24, 2020.
Antonio Perez / baiduhaiCustomer Isabella Jones, left, makes a purchase from Miguel Martinez on Jan. 2, 2020 — the second day of legal recreational marijuana sales — at Midway Dispensary in Chicago's Vittum Park neighborhood.
Brian Cassella / baiduhaiCustomers wait in long lines on the second day of recreational cannabis sales, Jan. 2, 2020, along Clark Street outside Sunnyside in Lakeview.
Terrence Antonio James / baiduhai
1 of 56
Cresco Labs employee Nicholas Stankus counts out cash received for a medical cannabis sale on Dec. 30, 2019.
Expand
By Robert Channick | [email protected] | baiduhai
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
Illinois marijuana sales crossed the $1 billion mark in 2020 after hitting a new monthly high for recreational sales in December.
The state’s 80 recreational marijuana dispensaries sold nearly $87 million in weed products last month, up from $75.2 million in November, according to data released Monday by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
Sales have been ramping up steadily since Illinois legalized recreational marijuana in January 2020. The 15% jump in recreational sales in December was just enough to top $1 billion in annual recreational and medical marijuana sales across the state.
For the year, Illinois generated $669 million in recreational weed sales, with more than $331 million in medical sales through November. The state has yet to release December medical marijuana sales.
More than a fourth of the year’s recreational sales went to out-of-state residents. Illinois is one of 15 states to allow recreational marijuana sales.
More Top Picks Reviews
Illinois weed sales are expected to continue to grow this year, with 30 dispensaries yet to open under the state’s inaugural legislation. A planned lottery to award 75 new recreational licenses is likely to move forward after the state agreed to give hundreds of unsuccessful applicants a second chance to qualify.