On Thursday, the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) awarded medical cannabis licenses to 24 different entities for the inaugural Alabama cannabis industry – under authority granted to the Commission by the Alabama Legislature in 2021.
Five entities were granted integrated facility licenses:
· Insa Alabama, LLC
· Flowerwood Medical Cannabis, LLC
· Southeast Cannabis Company, LLC
· Sustainable Alabama, LLC
· TheraTrue Alabama, LLC
In June, Flowerwood, Southeast Cannabis, Sustainable Alabama, and TheraTrue were awarded integrator licenses by the AMCC as well as Verano Alabama, LLC. Those license awards were suspended just days later after the AMCC discovered tabulation errors in the tabulation of the scores. Verano was not awarded a license in this do-over by the Commission, but Insa Alabama was.
Seven entities were awarded cultivator licenses on Thursday:
· Gulf Shore Remedies, LLC
· Pure by Sirmon Farms, LLC
· Blackberry Farms, LLC
· Twisted Herb Cultivation, LLC
· I AM FARMS
· Greenway Botanicals, LLC
· CRC of Alabama, LLC
In the previous round of awards, Blackberry Farms, LLC, Gulf Shore Remedies, Pure by Sirmon Farms, and Twisted Herb Cultivation all received awards. All four still received awards on Thursday, but they were joined by I AM FARMS, Greenway, and CRC of Alabama. This was still less than the twelve maximum cultivator licenses allowed by the 2021 enabling legislation.
Four entities were granted marijuana processor licenses.
· Enchanted Green, LLC
· 1819 Labs, LLC
· Organic Harvest Lab, LLC
· Jasper Development Group Inc.
In June, all four of the same entities were awarded licenses. There was no change in this category on Thursday.
On Thursday, the AMCC voted to give medical cannabis dispensary licenses to:
· Yellowhammer Medical Dispensaries, LLC
· CCS of Alabama, LLC
· RJK Holdings AL, LLC
· Statewide Property Holdings AL, LLC
CCS of Alabama, Yellowhammer Medical, RJK Holdings, and Statewide Properties received awards in June as well. There were no changes by the AMCC in this category.
Three entities were granted secure transporter licenses on Thursday.
· Tyler Van Lines, LLC
· International Communication, LLC
· XLCR, Inc.
In June, the Commission announced awards to International Communication and Tyler Van Lines. Alabama Secure Transport, LLC received an award in June but was replaced by XLCR, Inc. in Thursday’s grant awards.
The AMCC awarded only one license for the certified state testing laboratory. That award went to Certus Laboratories – the same as in June.
Rex Vaughn, a farmer, has replaced Dr. Steven Stokes, an oncologist, as the Chairman of the Commission.
“Since the Commission’s inception, we have worked to develop a fair, honest, and equitable process to select licensees,” explained Chairman Rex Vaughn. “It is regrettable that the tabulation errors occurred. However, we have acknowledged the miscalculations and have taken the necessary steps to ensure that the data provided to the Commission was accurate. We are sincerely appreciative of the Court for allowing us to take corrective actions.”
According to the AMCC, the University of South Alabama (USA) was engaged by the AMCC to coordinate the application review process and recruit evaluators to assess the scored exhibit items for all 90 applicants. USA utilized 66 evaluators with experience relevant to the application content to review one of eight scoring categories: (1) Financial Ability; (2) Business/Management Approach; (3) Operations Plans & Procedures; (4) Facility Suitability & Infrastructure; (5) Security Plan; (6) Personnel; (7) Quality Control & Testing; or (8) Marketing & Advertising. Each scored exhibit was independently reviewed by two evaluators to assess the applicant’s solvency, stability, suitability, capability, projected efficiency, and experience, both in relation to any baseline set by the Commission, as well as in comparison with other applicants.
Applicants who did not receive awards in June brought a lawsuit asking a judge to stay those awards. Nothing happened on Thursday that is likely to satisfy those plaintiffs, so the next phase of this process could potentially be in a Montgomery courtroom.
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