Judge rules next steps for Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WHNT) — Lawyers representing the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission and other license applicants gathered for a hearing at the state’s capital Tuesday.

The commission has awarded but not issued any licenses to applicants up to this point because of legal injunctions. Now, Judge James Anderson has allowed the commission to move forward with its investigative hearings.

These hearings give denied applicants a chance to argue why they are qualified. Attorney Will Somerville for Alabama Always said it’s about making the process fair for everyone.

“Right now, we’re all arguing about ‘is the process fair?’ and that’s gonna keep going until they develop a fair process,” Somerville said.

Somerville said a fair process means giving applicants the ability to challenge one another’s qualifications.

“I should be able to point that out, go to a hearing with them and challenge them, make them shut up or put up about ‘can they satisfy the requirements of the act?'” said Somerville.

CEO of Oscity Labs Ray French was awarded a license and also attended Tuesday’s hearing. He said while today was a step forward, the overall delay is still frustrating.

“The very same people that we were in the courtroom today with agreed to all accept the commission’s decision to move forward and drop the lawsuits,” French said. “But here we are still in court.”

French said he has been farming hemp for four years and has several products ready to go.

“There’s definitely some positive things that happened in the courtroom today,” French said. “I think the commission is just trying to move forward and just get the job done here.”

Commission director John McMillan said the law outlines a very specific process for awarding licenses. He said the only thing they lack is their ability to go through that process.

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