MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – An Alabama appeals court on Friday rejected a bid by a state agency to dismiss challenges to medical marijuana licenses in December.
The ruling by the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals touching on jurisdictional issues was highly technical, but the upshot is that companies that sued the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission can continue making their case in front of a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge.
The ruling was good news for companies like TheraTrue Alabama, which got one of the licenses for a facility in west Alabama near Demopolis in both of the first two rounds only to lose out when the commission tried a redo in December.
The company’s lawyer, Bryan Taylor, said the commission failed to follow its own rules and then has hidden for months behind procedural arguments in the courts.
“We need to get to a final question of whether the commission was right or wrong to revoke the licenses that were previously awarded and to award licenses to a new slate of applicants, after taking the blindfolds off,” he said.
The commission said in a prepared statement that the ruling “clarified” the court’s previous decisions.
“While today’s decision was limited in scope, the Court provided guidance regarding other issues in the ongoing litigation,” the statement reads. “AMCC will continue to review the Court’s decision and the impact that it may have on other pending matters.”
Gov. Kay Ivey signed the law legalizing medical marijuana in 2021. But three years later, the process has been mired in legal disputes over how the limited number of licenses are awarded. Companies that sued include Southeast Cannabis Co., which wants to operate in Mobile County, and Pure by Sirmon Farms in Daphne.
Companies that were going to get licenses in December are eager to resolve the litigation. That includes Specialty Medical Products of Alabama and Oscity Labs. Those sister companies have a marijuana grow facility outside of Brewton and a processing plant in Foley. They plan to also operate five retail locations.
“We were one day from going operational when this temporary restraining order was put in place in January,” said Ray French, the CEO of the companies.
French said the initial process was flawed, noting that it did not even include site visits. He said he believes the commission now has done everything the judge has asked, including setting up a process for investigatory hearings and appeals for losing applicants.
The continued delays, French added, are hurting patients who need the medicine.
“It’s especially frustrating for us, because we’re already operational,” he told FOX10 News. “We’re already ready to make these exact same type of products. We have our greenhouses ready to go.”
But Taylor said it is the commission that has caused the delays.
“We could have gotten to a resolution months ago if the commission would have just agreed to answer the question, or to let the court answer the question on the merits, whether or not they handled this properly,” he said. “If the court had said ‘no,’ we could have gone back and had the licenses issued at that time based on the prior awards.”
Taylor said TheraTrue was the second-highest-scoring applicant both the previous times the commission tried to award licenses. The former state representative said lawmakers may step in if the legal wrangling drags on much longer.
“The Legislature designed a process intended for the process to be unbiased, fair and to be even above the appearance of collusion,” he said. “And we need to make sure the commission needs to make sure that it follows the process that the legislature set out.”
French said some patients are in “desperate need” of medical marijuana.
“So you know, when we hear threats of never-ending lawsuits and things like that, it’s very – it’s disheartening and frustrating knowing that this medicine is ready to go,” he said.
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An Alabama appeals court on Friday rejected a bid by a state agency to dismiss challenges to medical marijuana licenses in December. Read More