Alabama's medical hashish program has been FUBAR for some time now, however there was a minimum of some excellent news for 2 candidates final week.
The Alabama Medical Hashish Fee (AMCC), at its assembly on August 8, 2024, awarded further grower licenses to Pure from Sirmon Farms, LLC and Blackberry Farms, LLC, following the completion of the investigative listening to. That brings the entire variety of licensed growers to 9.
It’s unclear what this growth means for investigative hearings in different license classes. On the one hand, the AMCC was fast to publish the information as proof that the investigative listening to, and never the courts, are the suitable avenue for dissatisfied candidates to hunt assessment of AMCC selections. President Rex Vaughn said that “[t]The Fee, in finishing up the executive course of as meant by the legislature and thru its actions at the moment, reiterated its dedication to make sure that all events have a good alternative to take part within the medical hashish business of l Alabama.
Alternatively, a wrinkle within the cultivator class could make the final resolution much less important as a predictor of future selections. Specifically, there have been 12 candidates for cultivation licenses and 12 licenses obtainable below the regulation. In different phrases, the AMCC may have awarded licenses to all 12 candidates if it had wished to. And extra particularly for the needs of the investigative listening to, The AMCC doesn’t have to acquire a license from an current licensee or awardee to grant any new cultivation licenses.. It is a massive distinction from different license classes, together with the dispensary and built-in facility classes, that are at the moment the topic of court-ordered injunctions and an administrative keep imposed by the AMCC.
Merely put, the AMCC can’t merely situation further licenses in these classes as a result of there’s a statutory restrict on the variety of licenses. Which means to situation a license to a dissatisfied applicant in these classes, it must take one from an current winner and would nearly definitely trigger further litigation.
The courtroom and the AMCC are effectively conscious of this conundrum, and far of the battle now hinges on whether or not the courtroom will enable a current proposal by the AMCC that the investigative listening to happen earlier than licenses are issued within the dispensary and built-in classes and solely situation the next licenses. the conclusion of the hearings and the assessment of the AMCC.
All of that is taking place because the Alabama Court docket of Civil Appeals considers a collection of challenges to circuit courtroom rulings concerning the propriety of the AMCC's licensing selections. If the appeals courtroom determines that a number of of the trial courtroom's selections had been fallacious, this might considerably change the present authorized panorama.
So whereas congratulations are to ensure that the 2 new grower licensees, it's secure to say that there can be rather more to come back on the medical hashish licensing entrance in Alabama. As all the time, we'll keep on prime of this so that you don't must, and we'll let you realize as this saga unfolds. Keep tuned.
Whitt Steineker
