Illinois medical marijuana card wait time

Hullj18

Well-Known Member
Good morning all,
New member and this is my first time posting.
I want to thank everyone for all the information and posts they have given. I've been following this forum for a few weeks now.

Submitted my online application November 13th and my CC was charged the same day.

I've been reading all the comments about the temporary provisional card, so I decided to just call this morning and talk to someone.

I spoke to the gentleman with the accent. He said they were nowhere near close to issuing temporary cards; not close at all.
I tried to ask him what date they were processing so I could post it but he said they are no longer allowed to discuss that information.
Maybe bs, maybe not.

I said thank you very much and I will just have to be patient.
The guy was kind of cool.
He said he wished everybody could show patience as well.
He seemed sympathetic to our eagerness, but commented on how they were overwhelmed and understaffed.
I’ve talked to that guy, and he was quick to get me off the phone. I submitted my app on 9/20, and he told me it would still be 2-3 weeks. I know they can’t give us much info, but please don’t give us wrong info to get us off the phone ya know!

Good luck in your wait, hopefully soon they will get it streamlined and you won’t have to wait too much longer!!
 

Hullj18

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't take his word , if he told me is snowing outside / and where I am...it is. He clowns / If I remember right , you talked to the dude ?
Yeah, I think he was trying to get me off the phone. I just want to see some updates of people near me. I feel like everyone is right around or after you, and the couple people that are 18-20, aren’t as active as us, which I don’t blame them lol I just wanna see someone that was on the 19th say they called and were approved haha
 

natureboy!

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I think he was trying to get me off the phone. I just want to see some updates of people near me. I feel like everyone is right around or after you, and the couple people that are 18-20, aren’t as active as us, which I don’t blame them lol I just wanna see someone that was on the 19th say they called and were approved haha
I could say that...that's what friends are for ! Grin ! " I called, im on the 19th , they said I was approved , and I was the "lucky caller of the day " and I won a free coupon book to my favorite dispensary , and Doritos " ...yep , im a lucky Guy ! and Totally kidding !
 

TrailblazerTony

Well-Known Member
Hey,

So did any of you happen to use MCO when they still mailed applications for you? If so do you have your cards yet? My timeline is as follows..

Aug 23 *edit - Appointment at MCO that consisted of dr visit, fingerprints, all paperwork and paid cash. Was told within 90 days I'd have the card in hand.

Oct 16 - emailed IDPH and received an automatic response that told nothing.

Nov 20 - called and got through to the state. I was told that my application was received and it would be processed in the order received.

Dec 4 - Day 104 and Still no card

So what gives? I haven't gotten any mail and people that applied after me are getting cards. Makes me wonder if MCO didn't hold applications or loose mine in the mix. This happen to anyone else that used them?

Oh Yes, Many People have said that about them, and I was 102 days with them. I would be calling IDPH Right Now!!
 

Myk63

Well-Known Member
I had a dream I got a provisional letter. I didn't. First thing I did was log into the online application to make sure there wasn't a new link. There wasn't.

Is it considered eager to not want to feel like death and sleep this weekend away? If that was the word used I think that's part of the problem making them understaffed. Someone doesn't think we want relief or treatments, we're eager to get high legally.
At $50-$250 a shot they could afford more help. They average a card every 10 minutes, that's about $300/hr at the lowest half priced cards. They could have a lot more people.
 

trynakeepitanon

Active Member
TIMELINE
Doctor's appointment:
9/26
Applied online: 9/26
IDPH Received Application: 9/26

Still no word. I was really hoping to have this card by now. It has been almost 71 days since I have applied for my card(49 business days).

Starting to get impatient, time has sped by for me up until this point.

It seems that IDPH has also drastically slowed down. I would imagine that we are seeing a slow down because the rate of folks signing up for the program has increased exponentially each day since the rules for the program changed on August 28th.

It really is a shame that we aren't allowed to have a status update of any kind. I have a feeling that people will scoff in the future when I tell them the wait time that I've had to endure; it just isn't reasonable. Most importantly, it doesn't seem like this division is at all devoted to Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis...which was the main goal of this program right?

I will be sure to post again when I have received some sort of correspondence from the Division of Medical Cannabis in IDPH.
 

Hullj18

Well-Known Member
TIMELINE
Doctor's appointment:
9/26
Applied online: 9/26
IDPH Received Application: 9/26

Still no word. I was really hoping to have this card by now. It has been almost 71 days since I have applied for my card(49 business days).

Starting to get impatient, time has sped by for me up until this point.

It seems that IDPH has also drastically slowed down. I would imagine that we are seeing a slow down because the rate of folks signing up for the program has increased exponentially each day since the rules for the program changed on August 28th.

It really is a shame that we aren't allowed to have a status update of any kind. I have a feeling that people will scoff in the future when I tell them the wait time that I've had to endure; it just isn't reasonable. Most importantly, it doesn't seem like this division is at all devoted to Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis...which was the main goal of this program right?

I will be sure to post again when I have received some sort of correspondence from the Division of Medical Cannabis in IDPH.
I feel your pain! I will be calling tomorrow for sure to see if I’ve been approved, and I was the 20th. Hopefully I have been already, but as of Tuesday, I was not. So you shouldn’t be too much longer after me, so hopefully I will have some good news tomorrow afternoon!
 

Knowstigma

Active Member
I’ve talked to that guy, and he was quick to get me off the phone. I submitted my app on 9/20, and he told me it would still be 2-3 weeks. I know they can’t give us much info, but please don’t give us wrong info to get us off the phone ya know!

Good luck in your wait, hopefully soon they will get it streamlined and you won’t have to wait too much longer!!

Well that's basically falling in-line with what we originally thought right? (We have around the same submission day). It seemed apps were moving faster for awhile but that might not have really been the case. I had 12/20 circled as the time I should be getting my card originally.

I haven't talked to a staff person at IDPH in a long time, but they were always nice. One was extremely helpful a few months ago when it looked like I might have to change my address. She went out of her way to suggest what I should do. In the end, I didn't have to change the address but she made the process easier to understand. I am going to have to do so in the future, but I am waiting till I get the card first.


Two things they could do to speed this up:

1. Hire a few more people, I have hopes that that will happen quickly once you get the IL House, Senate and Gov all working together on Med Marijuana. The House and Senate have been the drivers the whole time.

2. Provide status updates via the patient portal. But that website was hardly working for so long. Once again, hire a few more people.

It really is all about the money/budget and also posturing.
 
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