Rock Island grow house ready for medical marijuana patients

Thousands of cannabis plants are sprouting — and they have been since July — inside a nondescript warehouse off Andalusia Road in Rock Island.

Green Thumb Industries, or GTI, a Chicago-based medical pot company, won rights to operate a Rock Island cultivation center in February. It became the first facility this summer to earn the state’s OK to grow the plant.

“We got through all the inspections and requirements and now we’re ready to go,” Ben Kovler, GTI's CEO, said. “It’s been a long journey, but our wait pales in comparison to the wait patients have had to endure.”

But that wait may soon be over, as well.

State officials said Thursday that Illinois will begin its first medical marijuana sales within the next two weeks.

Additionally, the Department of Public Health anticipates required ID cards will be mailed Friday to 3,200 approved patients, including 16 patients under the age...

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