Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission Issues Administrative Stay on Licensing Process

The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) on Thursday issued an administrative stay on its licensing process, AL.com reports. The stay comes after the commission has twice failed to issue licenses, first after “potential inconsistencies” in scoring data and again after a judge granted a temporary restraining order finding the agency had violated the state’s open meetings law.  

The AMCC is named in two lawsuits related to the licensing process: one over the open meetings law violation claims, and another over its plan to void and reissue the permits. On Monday, the AMCC told a judge that it planned to “start back at square one” in the licensing process. 

AMCC Chair Rex Vaughn told AL.com that it was unclear whether licenses would be awarded at the next commission meeting on September 19 and that whether the agency could move forward would depend on what happens at a September 6 court hearing.   

Vaughn said the AMCC would not redo the scores by evaluators recruited by the University of South Alabama – which the agency has admitted have inconsistencies – and would continue to use the scores as a “guideline” to help make licensing decisions. 

Vaughn added that the commission would not hold another closed meeting in the licensing process – a practice that has drawn a lawsuit. Vaughn added that trying to predict the timeline for issuing licenses is “getting more complicated by the day” due to the lawsuits and scoring issues.