Alabama will have medicinal cannabis being sold as soon as the end of the year, but there are no plans to consider passing recreational cannabis in this session or even in the next four years. That was the message Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter told reporters following Tuesday’s legislative day.
A reporter asked Ledbetter if the state would consider passing recreational marijuana.
“That won’t come for years,” Ledbetter said. “That won’t come for the next four years….because the Speaker won’t let it on the floor.”
In 2021 the Alabama Legislature passed – and Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed – medical cannabis legislation. The legislation created the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC). The AMCC was tasked with writing rules for creating a limited Alabama-only medical cannabis industry. The Commission is formally considering applications from 90 firms and individuals who hope to become licensed Alabama medical cannabis growers, transporters, processors, dispensers, or integrators.
The Alabama statute is highly restrictive, but there have been calls from some conservative groups to make that even more restrictive. Some conservative groups want to introduce legislation requiring women of childbearing age to obtain a negative pregnancy test before filling their monthly doctor-recommended medical cannabis order. That legislation is expected to be filed this week. There have also been calls for some in the industry to go in and tweak the 2021 legislation to allow more permits to be awarded or more medical conditions to be included as being treatable by medical cannabis.
Ledbetter said he expects the Legislature to “tweak” the statute. Ledbetter did not say what tweaks he thought were likely.
Thursday will be the fourth annual lobbying day for the Alabama Cannabis Coalition. The group will meet in Room #429 of the Alabama State House. They will host guest speakers and discuss the current decriminalization legislation, SB42, sponsored for the fourth year by Alabama State Senator Bobby Singleton, and HB13, aka “Cite and Release,” sponsored by Alabama House Rep. Chris England.
The group favors both decriminalization of marijuana offenses and the legalization of marijuana, including home growing and the legalization of recreational marijuana.
Tuesday was day 11 of the 2023 Alabama Regular Session. The regular legislative session is limited by the Alabama Constitution of 1901 to no more than thirty legislative days during a regular session.
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