In anticipation of the January 1 legalization of marijuana in Illinois, local communities are frantically working to set in place their regulations.

DeWitt County is working to get their regulations in place but on the other side of the street, Clinton City officials are waiting things out. Tuesday morning on the WHOW Morning Show, Clinton City Administrator Tim Followell told Regional Radio News, the zone Clinton and DeWitt County falls under is paired with Bloomington.

The first licenses are going to be awarded to medical dealers and the only medical dispensary in the local zone is in Bloomington. Followell indicates they are likely going to be awarded the only license for the area.

Part of the City's wait-and-see approach is due to the State of Illinois not having all its regulations set. Followell says they have been waiting on those to be finalized. He also points out part of the latest decisions by other entities is a deadline set by the State but he does not foresee sales happening by January 1.

Followell feels the City has plenty of time before it will be a possibility a shop could be set up in the community and so they are simply waiting on the direction of lawmakers on how to proceed.

The County is hoping to begin discussing the regulations they will put in place for areas of the County however, they will not be able to set regulations for Clinton. The County had a deadline to meet to set the tax rate for sales of recreational marijuana in unincorporated areas of the County.