Medicinal Marijuana Production Facility Licensed for Edgewood

After considerable wrangling, the State has licensed Effingham Medicinal Farms as the local producer of medicinal marijuana.

The grow facility will be built outside Edgewood. The original location sought was on the edge of Effingham, but the Effingham City Council narrowly voted the project down.

Chicago-based attorney Jon Loevy is a partner in the project. Loevy is in the midst of a trial, but e-mailed that "We are super excited to work with the Edgewood community to build a successful business in this new industry, and help as many Illinois patients as we can."

We asked how many jobs the production facility would generate and when it would be online. Loevy wrote, "A word of caution: the Illinois patient market is presently very small. Until the legislature and Governor fix the rules, the real bulk of the jobs and tax revenue associated with the Illinois Medical Cannabis Act appear to be several years away."

The State okayed the start of sales of medical marijuana to approved purchasers as of Monday. The nearest sales facility is in Marion. Sales will not take place at the Edgewood facility.