On Friday, the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) met, ranked the applicants and voted to award medical cannabis business licenses to 21 applicants.
The Commission voted to give cultivator licenses to:
- CRC of Alabama, LLC
- Greenway Botanicals, LLC
- Gulf Shore Remedies, LLC
- Native Black Cultivation
- Creek Leaf Wellness Inc.
- Twisted Herb Cultivation, LLC
- I AM FARMS
Four business entities were awarded medical cannabis processor licenses. These are:
- Organic Harvest Lab, LLC
- Coosa Medical Manufacturing
- 1819 Labs, LLC
- Jasper Development Group Inc.
Four business entities were awarded dispensary licenses. These are:
- CCS of Alabama, LLC
- GP6 Wellness, LLC
- Capitol Medical, LLC
- RJK Holdings AL, LLC
Four business entities were awarded secure transporter licenses. These are:
- Alabama Secure Transport, LLC
- Tyler Van Lines, LLC
- Pick Up My Things
- International Communication, LLC
Certus Laboratories was awarded a state testing laboratory license.
Two previous rounds of awards in June and August were rescinded by the Commission to settle lawsuits from failed applicants.
The controversial scoring by independent evaluators hired by the University of South Alabama was not considered by the Commission this time and through AMCC’s new procedures, members of the Commission received presentations and participated in discussions with applicants during public presentations held November 27-29.
RELATED: Settlement reached in Alabama medical cannabis lawsuits
“The presentations we received from applicants this week were insightful and allowed Commission members to ask questions about the contents and merits of their application,” explained AMCC Chairman Rex Vaughn.
“We received applications and presentations from applicants who would make terrific licensees, which made our job of selecting a limited number of them challenging. However, I trust this Commission’s wisdom and discretion in selecting the best applicants to serve as licensees in Alabama’s newest industry.”
Applicants who were awarded a license have 14 days pay the license fee. Applicants who were denied a license have 14 days to request an investigative hearing before the Commission for reconsideration of said denial.
The integrated facility licenses still have to be awarded. An integrated facility is allowed to cultivate, process, transport, and dispense medical cannabis. The statute creating the AMCC limits the number of integrator licenses to a maximum of just five – there are 30 applicants.
RELATED: Medical Cannabis Commission resets timeline on licensing
The Commission will receive presentations from integrated facility applicants on Tuesday through Friday (December 5-8). The AMMC will award those five licenses on December 12.
Doctors who wish to recommend medical cannabis to their patients may begin the certification process once the business licenses have been issued. Only people with a designated medical need on the list approved by the Alabama Legislature will be able receive a recommendation for marijuana from a doctor.
Doctors may recommend medical cannabis to patients as: Tablets, capsules, tinctures, gelatinous cubes, gels, oils or creams for topical use, suppositories, transdermal patches, nebulizers, or liquids or oils for use in an inhaler. There will be no raw marijuana plant materials sold. There will be no marijuana products administered by smoking or vaping, or food products such as cookies or candies.
Failed applicants in the past two rounds of awards brought lawsuits against the Commission to keep the licenses from being issued. It remains to be seen if that will happen this time and if the court will be willing to block the licenses this time around.
The earliest that Alabama grown medical cannabis may be available is late March.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email [email protected]
