HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — In May 2021, Governor Kay Ivey put her signature on a law authorizing medical cannabis in Alabama.
More than four years later, medical cannabis remains unavailable in the state, but it appears the disputes that have led to delays and court fights may finally be addressed, once and for all.
An administrative hearing process is set to be undertaken, led by Bernard Harwood, a former Alabama Supreme Court associate justice. No schedule for the investigative hearings has yet been announced.
The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission’s license awarding process has come under sharp scrutiny, and the commission voted three different times on license awards. Some companies that did not receive licenses have argued that the process was flawed and violated the law.
The court challenges have been ongoing for years, but the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals ruled earlier this year that the license disputes should be governed by Alabama’s Administrative Procedure Act, which includes a hearing officer and presentations and challenges to – in this case – license awards.
Licenses for medical cannabis include testing, dispensing, transport, processing, cultivating and integrated facilities, which include each of those steps other than testing.
The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission told News 19 it is looking into those investigative reviews taking place.
“Alabama’s medical cannabis statute and administrative rules provide that any applicant preliminarily denied a license award by the Commission may request an investigative hearing,” the commission said. “Over the last 2-plus years, the Commission has consistently argued in the courts that the investigative hearing process is an adequate administrative remedy that must be exhausted. The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals agreed that the next step in the administrative process is the investigative hearings, which must be conducted with all the processes and procedures available in a contested case under the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act. A number of applicants have requested an investigative hearing. The Commission is anxious for applicants to have the opportunity to establish their suitability for a license in a contested case investigative hearing.”
Alabama Always, which is seeking an integrated facilities license, was among those who sued the commission and pushed for the Administrative Procedure Act to be followed.
“Since December 2023, we have been in court asking for the Commission to send these license issues to an Administrative Law Judge for a hearing, Alabama Always board member Ben McNeil told News 19. “We have full confidence that Justice Harwood will conduct this hearing process with fairness, integrity, transparency and a commitment to doing what is right under the law. Justice Harwood has not set a schedule yet for the hearing process.”
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