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Community College Cannabis Vocational Pilot Program Applications - Questions and Answers
- 1. As of right now the due date is July 1, 2020. Is this still the due date? There is nothing on the web-site that talks about this.
- 2. How are the fingerprints being handled?
- 3. Can we receive a license if we intend to use hemp instead of marijuana?
The Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act requires that applications be submitted by July 1, 2020. 410 ILCS 705/25-10(a) provides, in relevant part:
"The Department shall… require that applicants submit the completed application no later than July 1, 2020. If the Department issues fewer than 8 Program licenses by September 1, 2020, the Department may accept applications at a future date as prescribed by rule."
If a change is made, it will be posted on the Adult Use Cannabis landing page on the Department's website.
The Application and its required Exhibits include a Fingerprint Consent Form (Exhibit G). That Form contains the instructions for who must complete it and how to submit. From the Exhibit:
All of Applicant's faculty and staff that will have access to the enclosed and locked facility for storing cannabis must complete the Fingerprint Submission Consent and Notification Form and submit it directly to a live scan vendor. A copy of the Form must also be submitted with the application.
Illinois law already has provisions for institutions of higher education to grow industrial hemp. Please see 720 ILCS 550/15.2 – Industrial Hemp Pilot Program Act – for further details.
The Community College Cannabis Vocational Pilot Program is specifically directed for programs based on cannabis. Cannabis, as defined in the Act, explicitly does not include industrial hemp.
410 ILCS 705/1-10: "Cannabis" means marijuana, hashish, and other substances that are identified as including any parts of the plant Cannabis sativa and including derivatives or subspecies, such as indica, of all strains of cannabis, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof, the resin extracted from any part of the plant; and any compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds, or resin, including tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and all other naturally produced cannabinol derivatives, whether produced directly or indirectly by extraction; however, "cannabis" does not include the mature stalks of the plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the mature stalks (except the resin extracted from it), fiber, oil or cake, or the sterilized seed of the plant that is incapable of germination. "Cannabis" does not include industrial hemp as defined and authorized under the Industrial Hemp Act. "Cannabis" also means cannabis flower, concentrate, and cannabis-infused products.
(emphasis added)