The legal weed business has generated a lot of money in Illinois and a lot of jobs: more than 6,000 of them.

There were 6,156 jobs created in the legal marijuana business in the state last year, about double the amount created the year before, according to estimates by Leafly, a cannabis-industry website. Illinois sales of recreational marijuana totaled almost $40 million in the first month.

Massachusetts, which legalized recreational use two years ago, created 10,000 jobs last year. Florida, which has the nation’s largest medical market, with 300,000 patients, created 5,140 jobs last year. Oklahoma, which launched a medical-marijuana program, added 7,300 jobs.

"Each of those states has more than 200 licensed and operating dispensaries—far more than Illinois," said Bruce Barcott, senior editor of Seattle-based Leafly.

Illinois has about 60 dispensaries and expects to add another 50 this year. Licenses for 75 new dispensaries will be issued this year, but significant hiring might not happen until next year. The state also plans to award licenses for small "craft" growers. It didn't issue any new licenses for large cultivation centers, which can employ a few hundred workers each.

"We expect Illinois to add 3,000 to 4,000 jobs in the legal cannabis industry in the coming year,” Barcott said.

Leafly estimates there are nearly 250,000 legal cannabis jobs in the U.S., or double the number three years ago. California has the most marijuana jobs, at nearly 40,000, according to Leafly. Illinois is 10th, with 9,176.



MEDICAL-WEED HOURS EXTENDED

The state of Illinois authorized dispensaries to extend their hours for medical patients to 10 p.m. from 8 p.m., matching hours for recreational sales.

Some medical patients had complained about the discrepancy after recreational sales launched Jan. 1. Under state law, dispensaries are required to give preference to medical patients, an idea that has been tested by shortages in the supply of weed in the early weeks of recreational use, as well as the continued increase in the state's medical program as more qualifying conditions were added.

“Serving medical-cannabis patients continues to be at the heart of our cannabis regulation,” said Deborah Hagan, secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation, which licenses marijuana dispensaries. “Our department will continue working to ensure patients receive the level of service they have come to expect from our medical-cannabis program.”