First Ailing Illinoisan Learns He'll Get a Medical Marijuana License

Pictured Above-Jim Champion

By Patch Chicago

The first Illinoisan to apply for the Medical Cannabis Pilot Program has learned he’ll get his marijuana registration card. Now, all Jim Champion needs is a cannabis dispensary to open.

Champion, 48, is a U.S. Army veteran with multiple sclerosis who lives in Somanauk, a small town in DeKalb County southwest of Aurora.

“I was shocked it came so fast,” Champion told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I’m very excited.”

In January, Champion told NBC Chicago he intended to apply but was concerned about a provision that would have denied him a card for owning a gun and possessing a firearm owners ID card. That meant he’d have to give up the firearm given to him by his father. That restriction was dropped this spring, so he gets to keep his gun.

Illinoisans will need a marijuana registration card to purchase medical cannabis from one of the 60 licensed dispensaries that will be allowed to open. The Sun-Times reports that 211 applications have been filed to open a dispensary, and 350 businesses have applied for licenses to cultivate marijuana.

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