I have spent my entire career fighting government dysfunction, but I’ve never seen dysfunction worse than the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission. The AMCC is the poster child for everything that Alabama Republicans dislike about government—waste, inefficiency, secrecy, and an absolute lack of accountability.
It is clear by now that the AMCC is either unable or unwilling to fix this mess. It is also clear that the only chance of getting AMCC out of the mess it has created is for the courts to intervene and hold the commissioners accountable.
It doesn’t matter whether you are for medical marijuana or against it. The issue here is government dysfunction. The Darren Wesley “Ato” Hall Compassion Act was passed over three years ago. The AMCC has spent millions of taxpayer dollars, but the only product that it has been able to produce is lawsuits.
Why? Because the AMCC has pig-headedly refused to follow the laws that set the standards for good, efficient government in our state. There is a reason, for example, why Alabama has an Open Meetings Act. The business of government is the business of the people, and it is supposed to be conducted in public so that the citizens can see what their government is doing. But the AMCC has consistently held meetings in secret, preventing the people of Alabama from knowing what it is doing.
There is also a reason Alabama has an Administrative Procedure Act. It is to make sure that people with business before the government get a hearing, and to make sure that government agencies explain their decisions. The AMCC has attempted to award licenses on three different occasions, but it has never explained why some people got a license and others didn’t. Never. There can only be one reason why the AMCC hasn’t followed the Administrative Act, and that is so that it can keep its reasoning secret.
In fact, the closest the AMCC has ever come to explaining why it chose one applicant over another is when, in December, it flipped a coin to choose one applicant over another. Maybe the AMCC thinks it should be commended for at least flipping the coin in public. But it makes you wonder what the AMCC is smoking if they truly believed they wouldn’t be sued over such an idiotic stunt.
The AMCC obviously believes that they can do whatever they want, and they won’t be held accountable. Republicans believe in governmental accountability, and it’s time for the courts to hold the AMCC accountable. The Circuit Court of Montgomery has the power to order the AMCC to open up its records, give testimony under oath, and explain how and why they have been unable and unwilling to do their job and follow the law for three years.
Laws are created by the legislature. They are administered by administrative agencies such as the AMCC. When an administrative agency does not follow the law, it becomes the province of the third branch of government, the courts, to provide a remedy. We are to that point.
Jim Zeigler is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor.
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