CHICAGO – Almost two dozen social equity applicants have made the cut for a cannabis dispensary license, but a lawsuit recently filed alleges those who were chosen are “politically connected.”

One of the chosen teams, “Suite Greens,” said they are in it to win it and are doing it all by themselves.

“Suite Greens” was formed by seven friends, who were one of around 700 social equity applicants. They were chosen for an upcoming lottery for those licenses.

After a lawsuit was filed alleging they are “politically connected,” the team said making the cut has been a little bittersweet.

Regenna Jordan and Sean Mason have been friends for a very long time.

“We went to school together since like fourth grade,” Jordan said.

They’ve been through the highs and lows of life.

“Regenna is a cancer survivor,” said Mason.

Jordan said cannabis really helped her during the battle. Armed with that knowledge, they’re ready to be business partners with five other friends from all walks of life.

They formed “Suite Greens” in hope of securing one of 75 marijuana dispensary licenses up for grabs in Illinois.

They spent weeks filling in their application and recently learned they were one of 21 social equity teams selected to move forward.

The happiness became more of a gut punch as a cloud formed over the process.

Two applicants who didn’t make the cut have filed a lawsuit alleging the 21 selected are “politically connected.”

Instead, they said they put in the work.

“We did this all ourselves,” Mason said.

Now, they are simply hoping to go all the way.

“It would be life-changing,” said Jordan. “Something different we can turn into from a negative to a positive for a lot of people.”

One of the grievances associated with the lawsuit is regarding deficiency notices, which were sent to “Suite Greens” and other teams.

In their case, more information was needed regarding part of their application. The procedure gives 10 days for the applicant to rectify the issue.

However, it’s alleged some teams never got that notice and didn’t know there was a problem with their application until announcements about who had been selected were made.

The lottery is slated to go ahead at the end of the month.