On Wednesday, Montgomery Circuit Court Judge James Anderson granted several unsuccessful medical marijuana license applicants' requests for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the issuance of marijuana licenses to all integrated facility recipients.

An integrated facility license allows its owner to grow, process, transport, and distribute medical marijuana to eligible Alabama patients. The five integrated facility licenses are among the most desired licenses awarded and ultimately issued by the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC). These licenses have been the subject of intense competition for more than a year, the last seven months of which have been fought in Judge Anderson's court.

This is the third time AMCC has attempted to award a medical marijuana license, and the third time the process has been delayed in court by a legal challenge by an unsuccessful applicant.

Judge Anderson also granted motions for expedited discovery by two unsuccessful applicants, Alabama Always and Insa, so that attorneys for the unsuccessful applicants will no longer have the authority to remove individual members of the AMCC. will have. AMCC and applicant Trulieve Alabama oppose efforts to delay license issuance. But so far these efforts have been unsuccessful in the circuit courts.

Had Judge Anderson not joined the TRO, integrated facility licenses would have been issued to successful applicants on January 9, marking the start of Alabama's long-delayed medical marijuana program. . Currently, it is unclear exactly when medical-grade cannabis will be available to eligible Alabamians.

RELATED: Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission awards license to integrated facility

Anderson has previously imposed TROs over the issuance of dispensary licenses. Licenses are issued for cannabis growers, processors, safe transporters, and state testing agencies. However, without a licensed dispensary or integrated facility, cultivated medical cannabis still cannot be legally distributed to patients.

AMCC is doing everything it can to keep the show on the air. Part of this includes inspecting licensees' properties.

Antoine Mordican is the President and CEO of Native Black Cultivation and has been issued a grower license. “We're waiting for the committee to come out and do an on-site investigation,” Modican said. yellow hammer news. “We are committed to compliance with our security plan.”

Modican explained that although licenses have been issued, regulations require licensees to submit to an on-site inspection by AMCC staff, after which they must issue a “permit” to the licensee to begin. did. From that point on, he has a 60-day period before the licensee becomes “operational.”

Antoine speculated that given the time it takes for the plant to grow, Alabama residents will not be able to purchase legal medical marijuana in Alabama until summer at the earliest.

Mordican was optimistic that the legal issues with dispensary applicants would be resolved soon, but believes it will take several months for vertically integrated licensing issues to be resolved in court.

RELATED: Failed cannabis applicant returns to court in attempt to block successful license award

AMCC is proceeding with investigative hearings requested by unsuccessful applicants, which is a procedural requirement under AMCC's governing law and accompanying regulations.

Nevertheless, unsuccessful applicants have been regularly filing cases in Judge Anderson's courtroom, with hearings tentatively scheduled for January 24th. The court will hear the plaintiffs' motion for a “preliminary injunction,” which, if granted, would delay implementation of Alabama's health care policy. Unlimited Cannabis Program.

In addition to the dozens of cases pending before Judge Anderson, there are also cases pending in the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals and cases filed in federal court by Jasper processor applicants that were excluded in the final ruling. be.

Thirty-six entities submitted applications for integrated facility licenses. However, the Alabama Legislature's Establishment of a Legal Medical Marijuana Industry Act passed in 2021 prohibits AMCC from issuing more than five licenses statewide. Mathematically, each applicant had a less than 13.9% chance of obtaining a license.

That didn't stop them from filing lawsuits if they didn't win the award.

Initially, the AMCC ordered the University of South Alabama to hire an independent evaluator to score the applications. In the initial license awards held in June, licenses were awarded to the five applicants who achieved the highest scores in the university's assessment.

Related: Is medical marijuana coming soon? 21 companies obtained licenses

However, many pointed out flaws in the university's scoring, which AMCC itself later acknowledged. His original June 12 ruling was blocked by the court. At the second awards ceremony in August, Verano was removed from the group of winners.

Verano subsequently filed a lawsuit, and that appeal is currently pending in the Court of Appeals. In a court-ordered arbitration agreement, AMCC agreed to vacate all June and August awards and redo the award. This would give all applicants an equal opportunity to submit their claims directly to the Commission, and would address almost all issues previously raised by the courts. Those who failed in June and August.

AMCC voluntarily agreed not to consider the University of South Alabama's scores after a lawsuit was filed seeking to have them thrown out. AMCC then announced the final awards at its December 12 committee meeting.

The lawsuit alleges that AMCC violated its own rules when it threw out the University of South Alabama's scores and replaced it with a system in which the committee members themselves ranked applicants. Plaintiffs, including former award winners, argue that when the commission threw out the University of South Alabama's scores, it should have replaced them with a new third-party scoring system rather than the commission's rankings. There is.

The Alabama Legislature passed and Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a bill legalizing medical marijuana in 2021. The bill established the AMCC and gave it the mandate to create and regulate rules for new industries, including the awarding of licenses.

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