5-Year Fight Over Cannabis Grow License Heads To IL Supreme Court

AURORA, IL — The Illinois Supreme Court is set to end a five-year legal battle over one of Illinois’ most lucrative marijuana-growing licenses.

Lake County-based Medponics Illinois has been seeking the medical marijuana-growing license held by Columbia Care in Aurora since 2015, and the state’s highest court is expected to decide the fate of that license in the coming months, the Chicago Tribune reports.

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Medponics officials are hoping the Supreme Court will revoke Columbia Care’s license and transfer it to them for their planned operations in Zion. Officials can only award one medical marijuana-growing license in each of the 22 Illinois State Police Districts, with Aurora and Zion in the same district.

Medponics filed a lawsuit in 2015 that alleges Columbia Care — then called Curative Health Cultivation — should not have received the license because it’s breaking Illinois Department of Agriculture rules by operating too close to residential areas.

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New York-based Columbia Care, one of the world’s largest cannabis operators, acquired Curative after it won the growing license in 2015.

IDOA rules say growing facilities cannot be located within 2,500 feet of residential areas, which it defines as areas “zoned exclusively for residential use.” Curative’s growing facility off Diehl Road on the East Side of Aurora is located within 2,500 feet of dozens of homes, with residential zones in several directions.

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A trial court ruled in Medponics’ favor in 2017, but an appeals court later overturned that decision. Appellate court judges acknowledged Columbia Care’s Aurora facility is within 2,500 feet of residential areas but ruled those areas were not "exclusively residential," as is prohibited by the IDOA.

The protracted legal battle has drawn in officials from Aurora and Zion, with both cities having large stakes in the outcome due to tax revenues.

Zion has entered a deal with Medponics that would see it lease land to the company for 3 percent of the company’s gross revenues, the Chicago Tribune reported. That could be worth $1.5 million in tax revenue for the city, the report states.

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Aurora spokesperson Clayton Muhammad said city officials are “cautiously optimistic” that the Illinois Supreme Court will uphold Columbia Care’s license, the Tribune states.

Medponics is not guaranteed to receive the license currently held by Columbia Care if the Illinois Supreme Court revokes it.

The license at the heart of the five-year dispute is more valuable than most growing licenses, as it allows the holder to cultivate large amounts of marijuana for recreational markets as well as medical markets.

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A large-scale operation in Illinois could be worth around $100 million to the company that holds the license, financial analyst Matt Karnes, of Greenwave Advisors, told the Chicago Tribune.

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