Ag Commissioner Pate: ‘We don’t want’ the Department of Agriculture to have any role in selecting new medical marijuana growers

Earlier this week, the commission that will oversee Alabama’s new medical cannabis endeavors was established. It will regulate the production and use of medical marijuana on the heels of a law permitting the use of medical marijuana by the Alabama Legislature earlier this year.

However, Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries Commissioner Rick Pate only wants his agency to play a minimal role in the state’s new program.

During an interview with Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5 on Thursday, Pate said the Department of Agriculture wanted no part in selecting the growers for fears that it could cause prospective growers to lobby his agency for a growing license.

“People don’t realize, but the whole medical cannabis thing sort of got dropped in our lap,” he said. “That 14-member board had to be appointed by the first of this month, so it’s been appointed. They started scheduling meetings, and we have one voting member on that board that we’ve appointed. So, we are real concerned here about the rules that are written for that. We don’t want the Department of Ag to have any role in selecting those 12 growers. We think that will politicize the Department of Ag, and we’ll end up spending more time with people trying to lobby us for that than we want to be involved.”

Pate continued, “So, we know we’ll have a role because of how successful we were with the hemp program as far as administering it. This is a completely different animal. Obviously, we could license 200 or 400 or 1,000 hemp growers. It didn’t matter. But the way the law is written now, there are only 12 people that are going to get the growing license, and we felt like the medical cannabis commission needs to be responsible for making that selection. We’ll fulfill the role to monitor the growing if that’s what’s asked of us. But as they hire the executive director and get going, we want to make sure we’re engaged in what our role will be with that.”

Pate also said he had been approached by those looking to be prospective growers.

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.