You can apply to run a recreational pot shop in Illinois starting Tuesday — but hurry

State regulators will start accepting applications Tuesday for the next round of licenses to operate recreational pot shops in Illinois.

Applications will be accepted until Jan. 2 — the day after recreational sales kick off — and up to 75 conditional dispensary licenses will be issued by May 1, according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

But it’s not cheap: the application fee is $5,000, and it’s non-refundable.

The new licenses are the first being offered to individuals and companies that don’t already have a stake in the state’s weed industry, including the so-called social equity applicants that will get a leg-up in the application process if they have minor pot offenses on their records or live in areas that have been “disproportionately impacted” by past marijuana law enforcement policies. Employers can also qualify if the majority of their workforce lives in those areas or has been arrested for or convicted of similar crimes.

The $5,000 application fee will be cut in half for social equity applicants. [Read more at Chicago Sun-Times]