There is a major problem for Illinois residents who are interested in getting medical marijuana, once the dispensaries open up later this year.

Friday, August 14, 2015, UnityPoint Health-Trinity Chief Medical Officer Paul McLoone said that employees under their system, will not be recommending medical marijuana to patients in the state. Friday, officials at Genesis Health System came out with a similar statement.

“As medical marijuana is not a regulated drug that has the research behind it, there’s not going to be that comfort level with it,” Mcloone said.

With every day that passes, it becomes more important that Gov. Bruce Rauner sign a bill resetting the start date of Illinois’ medical marijuana pilot program. At the same time, if only to protect popular support for the pilot program, the governor has good reason to veto, for now, a companion bill that would add to the list of conditions for which medical pot can be subscribed.

The pilot program was expected to run for about four years, enough time to evaluate whether it helps people who are ill without creating unexpected problems. But due to a number of delays, the program has yet to start, and it is scheduled to end Jan. 1, 2018. The bill on Rauner’s desk would reset the start date, allowing the pilot program to get its full run.

Illinois approved about 200 new patient applications for medical marijuana during July, including 10 children.

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Wednesday that 2,800 patients now have approval to use marijuana. It's the first time the department announced how many are younger than 18.

Growers say they'll have marijuana in stores later this year.

Parents of children with severe epilepsy pushed for the expansion of medical marijuana to minors in Illinois. Children are able use the drug for any of the nearly 40 health conditions already authorized for adults, with state approval and a written certification from two doctors. Adult patients need one doctor's consent.

CHICAGO — Medical and recreational marijuana might be on the brink of becoming big business for growers and dispensaries, but Rudy Medrano and his company, RM Global Security, see opportunity for the security and enforcement side of operations, too — so he's encouraging Chicago dispensers to shop local.

Two years ago, medical marijuana became legal in Illinois. No patients have received treatments yet, but people are investing millions of dollars in the industry.

North of Rochelle, a big building looms over the fields of corn. Soon, marijuana will be grown inside. One of 18 state-licensed marijuana cultivation centers, the facility is the second one run by Pharmacannis. In Dwight, the growing process has begun.

Cameras are not allowed inside.

Qualified medical marijuana patients will buy their products from a dispensary in an Ottawa strip mall. That dispensary will likely be one of the first to open since the Compassionate Care Act was signed by Gov. Pat Quinn.

AXIM Biotechnologies, Inc. (OTC:AXIM) CEO George E. Anastassov, MD, DDS, MBA, proudly shared the Company's cannabinoid delivery methods – including the world's first patented cannabinoid release chewing gum - at the My Compassion Chicago Cannabis Conference. The three-day conference took place at Chicago's Navy Pier and focused on medical cannabis and hemp education with patients, industry professionals and the public.

Down in Delavan, a town in central Illinois roughly 30 miles south of Peoria, sits a massive 75,525 sq. ft. medical marijuana cultivation facility that just became the second laboratory to grow cannabis in the state. 130 miles southwest of Delevan sits an identical 75,525 marijuana cultivation center in Barry, IL set to open within the next 30 days.

The two combined buildings, owned by Revolution Enterprises, make it the largest grower of medical marijuana in the state of Illinois, and the company believes it's on the forefront of cannabis innovation in the state.

CHICAGO, JULY 28, 2015 /Weed Wire/ — MJIC Media LLC, a marijuana media conglomerate, today announced that it has acquired Pot-Stocks.com, an online source for cannabis investment education and stock information, and is rebranding the website as Cannabis Trader.

MJIC Media owns and operates the leading properties in the emerging legal cannabis industry, including the Marijuana Index, which tracks and reports on publicly traded cannabis related equities; Marijuana Investor News, the premier news agency covering the industry; and the Marijuana Investor Summit, a premium conference provider and industry educator.

A financial services company gives a prominent reform group the boot, then backtracks.

Earlier this month, a financial services company informed one of the nation’s largest marijuana advocacy groups that its business was no longer welcome, adding an unexpected twist to public debate about the de facto banking ban affecting state-legal pot businesses.

Multiple marijuana farms have planted crops, and the state is preparing to begin tracking each plant from “seed to sale.”

Five cultivation centers are authorized by the state to begin growing, said Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Kristi Jones.

Two downstate operations — Ataraxia, in Albion, and Revolution Cannabis-Delavan, in Delavan — have announced they have begun farming marijuana.

The state, however, won’t say which companies have been allowed to begin cultivating.

It also won’t say how much marijuana has been planted.

Ataraxia said it’s got hundreds of plants going and hopes to have product available by October.