Chicago’s First Medical Marijuana Clinic Opens in Wicker Park

Just moments after Gov. Pat Quinn made Illinois the 20th state to legalize marijuana, a Wicker Park business has already come out of the woodwork declaring itself Chicago’s first medical marijuana clinic.

Located at 1723 N. Ashland Ave. near I-94, Good Intentions plans to start accepting its first patients on Friday. Clinic president Tammy Jacobi says although the law doesn’t take effect until Jan. 1, she’ll still be here supporting interested parties.

"I anticipate that the State of Illinois will be using the next few months to sort out regulations and implementation of the program before the new law takes effect in January,” Jacobi told NBC Chicago. "In the meantime, we encourage patients to contact us and learn more about how to become an Illinois medical marijuana patient."

Although the law takes affect in January, Illinois regulators could finish finalizing all the rules sometime next summer.

That includes needing to suffer from one of 42 illnesses—including cancer or HIV—and patients must have a medical relationship with their doctor, the Chicago Tribune writes.

That’s where Jacobi hopes to come in, by starting to create relationships with patients in Wicker Park until the state is given the green light. The law will allow them to buy up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana over two weeks, an amount the Tribune points out is enough to fill two small sandwich bags.

Jacobi says she’s hoping to erect a billboard on the outside of her storefront by Labor Day, facing the Kennedy Expressway, Crain’s reports. The billboard would feature a picture of a name tag reading, “Hello, I’m Illinois Medical Marijuana.”