The medical cannabis licensing process in Alabama has been reset once again.
Montgomery Circuit Court Judge James Anderson on Monday afternoon ruled invalid the use of an emergency rule which the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission utilized in order to award licenses in December 2023. With that ruling, the court also tossed out the integrated and dispensary licenses that the Commission had awarded but not yet issued, effectively starting the process over from the beginning.
It is yet another setback for the beleaguered AMCC, which has bungled its way through four years of failing to implement a process that could stand up to legal scrutiny. Monday's ruling is the third time the licensing process – or some major portion of it – will be restarted due to the Commission's refusal to simply award licenses in a manner consistent with Alabama's Administrative Procedures Act, which governs such processes.
Instead, the AMCC has repeatedly sought to shape its own process, utilizing an odd and confusing array of measurements – such as subjective applicant scoring that produced incredibly inconsistent scores and over-simplified rankings that allowed a minority of commissioners to eliminate applicants – and then remolding the entire process when required by courts.
Read more at Alabama Political Reporter