CULLMAN, Ala. – Alabama residents have been patiently waiting and biding their time until the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) attempts to issue Integrated Facility Licenses for the third time. Throughout 2023, there have been two separate holds placed on awarding licensing in the state of Alabama, one in June and one as recent as August, delaying licensing and production for nearly five months. After identifying issues with scoring and evaluation protocols and several lawsuits filed against them, AMCC opted to take more time to research and make sure all regulations are followed.
Cullman County’s Wagon Trail Med-Serv CEO and President Joey Robertson said he believes the old application system is to blame for Wagon Trail Med-Serv receiving two consecutive denials in the licensing process.
“The downside to the initial application process was that everything was on paper and there was no way for the commission (AMCC) to do site visits and assess what was already on the ground,” he said.
Applicants submitted information to the AMCC, and their information was sent to the University of South Alabama (USA) to be scored and evaluated in eight categories; those numbers were sent back to the AMCC, and a decision was based on the information provided by the applicant on the paper application and scores from USA. After discovering these variables, AMCC began using a third party to recalculate applicants’ scores and implemented a set of emergency rules in an effort to expedite the awarding of licenses.
The new emergency rules that AMCC adopted should allow licensing to be awarded. They now allow applicants to submit and publicly plead their case in person before the AMCC, allowing commissioners to meet the hopeful operators. Physical site visits have never been done, and Robertson said he believes that if the commissioners tasked with choosing which sites will be awarded licensing could see the maturity of Wagon Trail Med-Serv’s operations, it could be a huge turning point in his business’ chance at one of the five coveted licenses in the state.
“They have passed some emergency rules that will allow us to make a presentation in front of the commission. This will also allow us to submit videos of our existing facilities,” Robertson said.
As The Tribune reported in August 2023, four of the five facilities that were originally awarded licenses do not have existing farms in place.
Said Robertson, “We now have our best chance to receive licensing because we are one of the only existing operations in the state of Alabama. We already have our cGMP status, which means we are operating the facilities to the standards they’re asking for. It would take other operations years to get to that point.”
The AMCC will evaluate presentations for Integrated Facility License applicants Dec. 4-8 in Montgomery and expects to award licenses on Dec. 12. The commission will accept public comments in favor of or opposed to granting a license to a particular applicant through the AMCC website until Nov. 26. Learn more at www.amcc.alabama.gov.
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