Amid a flurry of lawsuits by vendors who say they were wrongly denied a permit, the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission said it will essentially re-do the license application process.
The panel announced it was placing a hold on licenses awarded last month while it investigated “inconsistencies” within the review process. The process is highly regulated, and requires any business involved in the budding industry to submit to rigorous standards, which was overseen by the Commission.
The cannabis industry includes producers, transporters and dispensers of medical cannabis. Only a select amount of permits are awarded for each category.
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Alabama Always, which has a $5 million facility in Montgomery, is one of the vendors suing the commission. The business conducted a media tour of its operations Thursday to make the case why they should have been awarded a license.
“This isn’t growing tomatoes,” said Greg Gerdeman, Ph.D., Alabama Always’ chief scientific officer.
The company contends its facility is well on its way to completion to meet the 60-day timeframe set by the AMCC.
“What we have here is a way to grow medicinal cannabis to a pharmaceutical standard,” Gerdeman said. “Part of our readiness was to be able to do this within the 60 days of receiving a license.
“We just don’t think most of those who did receive a license from the commission will be able to do that.”
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Gerdeman showed that construction supplies require up to a year for delivery and said all the materials for Alabama Always are on site. He said some applicants had not yet started construction.
Also Thursday, the AMCC held a hearing to address issues that applicants, including Alabama Always, had with the license process. Commissioner John McMillan said applications are undergoing another round of review and the scores are being recalculated. The commission is scheduled to distribute licenses at its Aug. 10 meeting.
Grayson Everett is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @Grayson270
