On Tuesday, Montgomery Circuit Court Judge James Anderson allowed the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) to proceed with its planned consideration of new rule changes at the scheduled Commission meeting on Thursday.
“As I see it, we have a meeting of the Commission on Thursday,” Anderson said.
There are two distinct cases. The first is the consolidated case where Alabama Always and other entities denied marijuana permits are plaintiffs objecting to how the AMCC made the awards.
The second, separate case is the case brought by Verano, which was awarded an integrated facility license in the June meeting of the AMCC but had that taken away in the August meeting of the AMCC.
Verano’s attorney said their “interest is distinct” from the parties involved in the consolidated case.
“Verano is claiming that they were awarded a contract, a license, and the Commission cannot go back and claw that back,” Anderson explained.
Verano’s attorney agreed with that explanation of the Verano case.
“We were issued an invoice, and we paid a $50,000 fee,” Verano’s attorney said. “Our rights were simply taken away from us when they had no authority to do that.”
“A license is a privilege, not a right,” Anderson said. “
Verano’s attorney said his client was denied in August because of a “mysterious story that has come up.”
“My client has a right to being heard to refute it.”
Anderson said, “The only thing that is fair is between first and third base.”
The AMCC’s attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss the Verano lawsuit. Anderson gave both sides until noon on Wednesday to file their briefs for and against that motion.
“I will have a ruling before the commission meeting,” Judge Anderson promised on the motion to dismiss.
The plaintiffs in the consolidated case would like to see a new awards meeting held – in the hope that they do better in the third round of awards than in the previous two. The AMCC appears to be headed towards that outcome in its November meeting.
Judge Anderson said there was a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) filed the morning before the hearing by Southeast Cannabis.
Southeast Cannabis was awarded a license by the AMCC in both the June and August meetings by the Commission. They are represented by Patrick Dungan.
“Our position is that it is an unnecessary delay,” Dungan said of the AMCC’s not going ahead and issuing the licenses to the award winners. “We have asked you to stop what they are trying to do on Thursday.”
Dungan argued that the 2021 statute legalizing medical cannabis does not give either the court or the Commission the power to vacate the license awards once they were made in June.
“I think in this pleading he agrees with the Verano position,” Verona’s attorney stated.
Anderson said he would “defer to the commission and let them do what they are going to do on Thursday.”
“I am going to allow everyone to have time to get ready for the hearing,” Anderson said.
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