In a few months, medical marijuana is likely to become available to seriously ill adults and kids in Illinois, but the brand new program and drug may leave seriously ill people with more questions than answers.

To help them, Americans for Safe Access and the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago are hosting a “patient summit” Saturday in Chicago’s South Loop to help answer basic questions.

For instance, a parent whose child has epilepsy might be interested in using a special marijuana-based oil to help treat devastating seizures but may ask: “Now that I can get medical cannabis for my child, what do I do?” said Kurt Florian, the president of the Chicago Epilepsy group.

As Deerfield gets closer to having a medical marijuana dispensary at 151 Pfingsten Road, the biggest certainty may be a lot of uncertainty about a very new and highly regulated business.

Under regulations created by the Illinois General Assembly, all the marijuana sold must be grown and packaged by licensed Illinois growers, it cannot be used at the facility or going to and from the dispensary, and dispensary personnel may not handle the product itself, only the packages.

"This is highly, highly regulated by four different state departments," said Greenhouse Group CEO Mitch Kahn, a Deerfield resident. "Everything we do is regulated by one agency or another."

× Marijuana could treat PTSD under new legislation

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (May 30, 2015) — Post-traumatic stress disorder would be considered a debilitating illness that can be treated with medically prescribed marijuana under legislation headed to Gov. Bruce Rauner.

The House approved state Rep. Lou Lang’s measure 68-36 on Saturday. The Skokie Democrat says marijuana can help people suffering from PTSD.

PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event that a person experiences or witnesses. There has been a lot of attention to it in the past decade because troops in combat are susceptible.

Cornelis Jan Slomp, the Dutchman who became the biggest seller of illegal drugs on the so-called Deep Web marketplace Silk Road, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Slomp sold MDMA, ecstasy, cocaine, benzodiazepine, amphetamine, LSD, and marijuana in vast quantities on Silk Road, working from his home in Holland and using the account name SuperTrips.

What made Slomp such a big target wasn't the range of drugs he sold (lots of sellers offer a variety of items on the Deep Web, a section of the internet hidden from most web browsers), but the sheer amount he was able to sell.

A proposal to put a medical marijuana clinic in Norwood Park is heading to the city council this week but the local alderman is balking.

Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st) told a DNAinfo reporter that his community has not had enough time to consider the proposal, which would place a Union Group of Illinois dispensary in a vacant storefront at 6428-30 N. Milwaukee Ave. He said there had only been one community meeting held regarding the proposal, and that most of the residents who attended that meeting opposed the plan.

An Illinois judge has acquitted a man of animal cruelty charges filed after the man uploaded a video of himself smoking marijuana with a chameleon to Facebook, according to local media.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) complained over the video Bruce Blunt uploaded of himself smoking marijuana with the chameleon Binna in 2015, the Chicago Tribune reported.

ILLINOIS — A bill that would extend a pilot program of marijuana decriminalization in Illinois cleared one more hurdle last week, but still faces at least one more.

Everything from antacids to frozen veggies has a label detailing nutritional values and active ingredients, but when it comes to cannabis that information has been sorely lacking. How does one know how much to ingest or inhale if potency information is lacking?

Sage Analytics has an answer. The company, one of 162 exhibitors at last week's Marijuana Business Conference and Expo in Chicago, wants to bring pharmaceutical-level testing to the cannabis industry with the Luminary Profiler, a black box that measures potency on-site within seconds. Marijuana leaves are sprinkled or extracts are dripped onto a lens that uses spectroscopy "to instantly measure the potency of cannabis products on the molecular level," the company's literature says.

When retailers open state-approved medical marijuana shops in Illinois later this year, they will face a distinct disadvantage in luring prospective patients across their thresholds: Marijuana will always be cheaper on the black market.

So what incentives might entice those patients?

Think cannabis-infused premium chocolate. Well-lit display cases that showcase buds as if they were jewelry. Informed employees who can guide each patient to the best strain for their needs.

Dispensary owners in Illinois are thinking, too, about Tupperware-style education parties, spa-like interior design and good old-fashioned customer service — all ways to beat out their fiercest competitors: underground dealers.

Four years ago Cassandra Farrington couldn’t find any venue in the country that would host her idea for a conference on the business of marijuana. This week, she hired out the Hilton Chicago, one of the city’s most famous hotels and one that has accommodated every US president since it opened in 1927.