Chicago Tribune

Despite low demand, medical marijuana companies in Illinois are growing

In a well-lit room in a nondescript building in Joliet, Ill., racks of marijuana plants are stacked, row after row.

The plants are young but pungent, and sway to the breeze of fans and the overhead humidifiers that regulate the room. Breaking through the hum is the noise of construction. Cresco Labs is expanding its Joliet cultivation facility, more than doubling the amount of cannabis it can grow and process.

The Chicago-based company is preparing for growth of the state's pot industry, and it is not alone.

Despite years of lower-than-expected demand in Illinois' medical cannabis pilot program, growers around the state are expanding. They're expecting more Illinois residents to gain access to the drug, be it through the continued approval of patient

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