Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission awards five integrator licenses

On Tuesday, the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) met, ranked applicants, and voted to award medical cannabis business licenses to five integrated facility applicants.

The state authorizes a holder of an integrated facility license to cultivate, process, transport, and dispense medical cannabis all in-house without having to rely on other businesses in the supply chain.

Rex Vaughn is the chairman of the AMCC.

“First, I thank all of the integrated facility applicants for their diligent efforts throughout this lengthy licensing process,” Vaughn said. “Second, I cannot emphasize strongly enough how much I appreciate the commitment and hard work of each Commissioner as we have navigated through this phase of the program. The result of these efforts has led to the award of licenses to entities who the Commission has determined are well-suited to serve patients through Alabama’s medical cannabis program.”

The license awards went to:

Trulieve AL, Inc.

Sustainable Alabama, LLC

Wagon Trail Med-Serv, LLC

Flowerwood Medical Cannabis, LLC

Specialty Medical Products of Alabama

Following this award of licenses, the procedural timelines associated with the post-award licensing process will begin along with the pre-issuance site inspections. AMCC staff will be performing onsite inspections over the next few days.

Those applicants awarded a license will have 14 days to submit the appropriate license fee.

Any applicant denied a license has 14 days to request an investigative hearing before the Commission for reconsideration of said denial. Since the statute limits the AMCC to a maximum of five integrator licenses that it can give, reversing their decision on a denied applicant would mean taking a license from one of the awardees – a procedure that is fraught with litigation ramifications.

Only doctors who have had special medical cannabis training will be allowed to make recommendations for medical cannabis to their patients.

Under the rules promulgated by the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners, physicians who want the authorization to make medical cannabis recommendations may begin the certification process to recommend medical cannabis to patients after business licenses have been issued. For a patient to qualify for medical cannabis, the patient must have at least one of the qualifying conditions and be recommended for medical cannabis by a certified physician to purchase any cannabis product.

The qualifying conditions are limited to autism spectrum disorder; cancer-related pain or nausea; Crohn’s Disease; depression; epilepsy or conditions causing seizures; HIV/AIDS-related nausea or weight loss; panic disorder; Parkinson’s Disease; persistent nausea; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); sickle cell anemia; spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury; Tourette’s Syndrome; a terminal illness; or conditions causing chronic or intractable pain.

No smokable product or raw plant product may be legally sold in the state of Alabama. Food products such as cookies or candies will also not be allowed.

The Commission hopes that the first lawful Alabama-grown medical cannabis will be available this spring.

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