Buying weed in Illinois, start to finish

A big 2026 law and a few tax and federal moves rewrote the rules this year. If you shopped here before June, this is what's new.

• June 12. Purchase limits doubled, drive-through and curbside pickup became legal, stores can stay open until 2 AM with their town's okay, and an unopened store package can ride anywhere in the car.
• August 1. Chicago's sales tax on cannabis went from 16.25% to 16.5% when the regional transit tax went up.
• September 10. Adult-use stores can add a medical license and charge patients the medical rate.
• November 12. Hemp products with more than 0.4 mg of THC per container count as cannabis, sold only at licensed dispensaries.

Of the 289 licensed spots we list, 259 post their hours. Most open around 9 AM and close around 9 PM, and 133 stay open until 10 PM or later at least one night. On Sundays, 257 of them open their doors.

State law now allows sales from 6 AM to 2 AM, but a store needs its town's approval to stay open past 10 PM, and few have it yet. Chicago stores post closing times no later than 10 PM, so the late-night move is the suburbs. The full rundown is in our Chicago dispensaries open late guide.

Chicago has the most stores of any city in the state, 42 on our list, but also some of the highest taxes and the earliest closing times. Suburbs ring the city with later hours, and college towns like Champaign and Normal keep it simple.

Wherever you shop, the statewide rules don't change. Only the local taxes and hours do. Start with the Chicago dispensaries list if you're in the city.

Alexis 420 only lists stores on the state's license list from Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Adult Use Cannabis Program. Law facts on these pages come from state statutes, IDFPR and IDPH rules and the Department of Revenue's rate files, and we recheck them when the law changes.

Want to check a store yourself? Our how to tell if a dispensary is licensed guide shows how.