White Oak Growers asks court for review of Will County marijuana growing license
By Mary Baskerville MANHATTAN--When Peter Ford, Ken Salamone, and Steve Maslak of White Oak Growers sought a license to grow medical marijuana on a 34-acre farm in Wilton Center, the men said their background in energy development on the East Coast gave them experience in understanding how to follow government regulations and confidence that their Illinois application met all the requirements. Earlier this year, the award went to Cresco Labs of Chicago. Cresco also was named to receive the license in two other districts, including Kankakee County. In a suit filed Wednesday in the Circuit Court of Cook County, White Oak Growers is seeking an injunction to prohibit the Illinois Department of Agriculture from issuing the cultivation center license, and is seeking a court review of the scoring. Ford said Wednesday that the injunction will allow the courts to “examine the decision making process.” “There was an expectation that the law—the law of the land would be follo