Almost half of today’s Illinois lottery winners are from existing cannabis companies

Another 55 Illinois cannabis adult-use dispensary licenses were assigned today through a lottery conducted this morning. Although it was named the Social Equity Justice Involved Lottery, almost half of the selections made went to teams closely aligned with multi-state operators as well as a number of high profile Illinois names.

Limited by a Cook County Circuit Court order issued last week, Illinois regulators were allowed to proceed with the lottery but not to actually assign licenses, as a judge plans to determine next Monday, August 9, whether the lottery systems used an unjust license scoring process.

Today’s licenses were assigned to teams led by Illinois residents who had either lived in communities affected by the War on Drugs or were family members of or individuals who had been arrested for cannabis-related offenses. In addition, applicants in today’s lottery, all of whom first submitted applications in January 2020, had received at least 85% of the total application points availabl.

Perhaps the biggest winner so far has been a team that appears to be led by the Zises family, owners of the D33 Dispensary in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood. Between today’s and last week’s lotteries, eight different licenses went to companies starting with the name “Green &”, all of which are located at 4880 N. Clark Street, an address where D33 has been known to keep an office in the past. Zack Zises, co-owner of D33, was contacted for comment, but did not respond by publication.

A number of licenses went to numerous well-known Illinois names, including Alex Acevedo, part of Latino Veterans Health And Revival LLC, and who is the son of former Illinois State Rep. Eddie Acevedo. Alex Acevedo, a one-time Chicago aldermanic candidate was recently charged with federal tax evasion.

The Americanna Dream LLC team was also a winner today. That team includes Cook County Commissioner Bridget Degnan, a former deputy director of medical cannabis for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

Former Chicago television reporter and Chicago Police Department spokesperson Robin Robinson was also assigned a license today, as part of The Homecoming Group, LLC.

Hanna Jubeh, a lobbyist and consultant for Chicago-area labor unions was also a winner, as a leader of Canna Ventures LLC.

A number of non-Illinois cannabis companies were part of selected teams today, including Viola Cannabis, the company owned by NBA stars Allen Iverson and Al Harrington, which was selected for a license in the Chicago area. Other cannabis companies selected as part of license teams include Las Vegas’ Planet 13, Denver’s Body And Mind, which was selected for two licenses, Michigan’s Moods Cannabis, Chicago’s Justice Grown, Michigan’s Green Skies, and Arizona’s All Greens Dispensary and Nature’s Medicines.

Multiple groups that were selected for licenses last week were also selected this week, including Clean Slate Holdings, led by Green Thumb Industries co-founder Matt Estep, who had won two licenses last week. Clean Slate also controls Family Roots LLC and Desktop LLC, which combined, obtained three licenses today, for a total of five so far.

Edie Moore, executive director of ChicagoNORML was a winner again today, as KAP-JG LLC, a company led by her, was selected for a license in Northwest Illinois, after winning a license in the Chicago area last week.

ReNu LLC was also selected for a license today as well as last week. That company is led by William Needler, the owner of a Lake Forest, Illinois kitchen remodeling company.

Blounts & Moore LLC, an investment group of Black women from the South, won a second dispensary license in the Chicago area this week, after winning one in the same area last week.

Finally, Triumph 7 investments, a team led by the Patel family in Schaumburg, Illinois, won a second license today in the Chicago area after winning one in the Western Illinois area last week.