Alabama Regulators Plan to Issue Medical Cannabis Licenses by December 12

The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) is now aiming to get industry licenses awarded by December, in what its chairman calls an “aggressive” timeline after a summer of starts and stops, WIAT reports. The agency voted last week to officially rescind the previous licenses and laid out a new timeline that would issue the licenses by the end of the year with products available in the spring. 

In June, the AMCC awarded the first round of medical cannabis licenses, but days later paused the process due to “potential inconsistencies” in scoring data tabulation. The agency was then accused of violating the state’s Open Meetings Act, which drew a lawsuit from seven applicants and led to a temporary restraining order on further action by the AMCC. The agency then said it planned to void and reissue the licenses, which led to more litigation and a plan by regulators to “start back at square one.” The agency, last month, issued an administrative stay on licensing in order to get the process back on track, but faced yet another lawsuit by an applicant that claimed regulators had wrongfully implied that one of the company’s owners or senior directors had a criminal record. Earlier this month, regulators approved new rules for the process and reset licensing for a third time. 

AMCC Chairman Rex Vaughn told WIAT that starting November 27, applicants will be re-evaluated based on presentations they make to the commission and the application scores from the University of South Alabama; although commissioners can “choose to disregard the previous scoring,” which the agency had previously described as potentially inconsistent. 

Under the new timeline, the commission plans to award all licenses by December 12.