Montgomery, Ala] – The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) rescinded its previous medical cannabis business license awards and denials to carry out the new procedures provided through the emergency rules adopted by the Commission at its previous meeting.
“This action paves a path for us to award business licenses by the end of the year,” Chairman Rex Vaughn explained. “We have an aggressive timeline in front of us, but we feel that it is of the utmost importance that we get this industry started in an expeditious manner for both the applicants and patients.”
The new procedures retain the previous score results, while also providing applicants with an opportunity to make a presentation to the Commission regarding matters identified in their application and their score results. Presentations will be open to the public.
Presentation Schedule:
November 27, 2023 – Cultivator and State Testing Laboratory Applicants
November 28, 2023 – Secure Transporter and Processor Applicants
November 29, 2023 – Dispensary Applicants
December 4 – 8, 2023 – Integrated Facility Applicants
The Commission, on October 27, 2023, will begin to accept public comments in favor of or opposed to granting a license to a particular applicant. Comments must be made electronically through the AMCC website by November 26, 2023.
Applicants are also afforded the opportunity to respond to preliminary pass/fail items identified by the Commission and submit exhibits that were not previously filed due to the file size limitation in the application portal. The procedures also narrow the scope of information that may be redacted from applications.
The University of South Alabama was engaged by AMCC to coordinate the application review process and recruit evaluators to assess the scored exhibit items for all 90 applicants. The Commission has published information related to the evaluators’ qualifications, training, and resource materials.
Chairman Vaughn read a prepared statement regarding his thoughts on the new procedures adopted by the Commission. The statement emphasized the Commission’s discretion in licensing decisions. “The Commission’s rules are clear that the Commission has full discretion as to license award decisions. Rule 538-x-3-.12 states in part that, ‘the Commission remains the primary decisionmaker with regard to licensing and has authority to act independently of any third-party evaluation and recommendation,’” stated Chairman Vaughn.
The Commission is scheduled to award cultivator, processor, dispensary, secure transporter, and state testing laboratory licenses on December 1, 2023. The Commission will award integrated facility licenses on December 12, 2023.
###