An Alabama appellate court has blocked a lower court’s ruling that is preventing state regulators from issuing coveted vertically integrated medical cannabis permits.
However, no progress in the yearslong slog toward licensing MMJ in the state will directly follow the Alabama Civil Court of Appeals’ Monday ruling, counsel for the state’s Medical Marijuana Commission confirmed to MJBizDaily on Friday.
The appeals court’s ruling stays an April 21 order from Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge James Anderson that restarted the MMJ licensing process, Birmingham-based 1819 News reported.
It does so “pending further order of the court,” according to the ruling.
More briefings are due later this month.
“The Commission has been attempting for some time now to proceed with the administrative processes that must be completed before licenses are issued,” Justin Aday, the general counsel for the Alabama Medical Marijuana Commission (AMCC), told MJBizDaily via email.
“With the May 19 stay, the Commission is not enjoined from proceeding with those processes; however, the stay is effective pending outcome of the appeal, which has been set on an expedited briefing schedule, and is a priority for the Commission.”
At issue are five “integrated facility” licenses that allow a holder to operate as a vertically integrated cultivator and retailer.
Major multistate operator Trulieve Cannabis Corp. was among the five license winners in a December 2023 licensing round that has since been vacated.
The company, doing business as Trulieve AL, is now a litigant in one of three pending suits in state court, the appellate ruling noted.
Separate but related is a pending federal suit filed by Alabama Always, a Montgomery-based applicant for an integrated permit that claims the AMCC is trying to “punish” the company for challenging the licensing process.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed MMJ into law in 2021, but since then, efforts to license businesses have descended into chaos.
Multiple rounds of licenses have been revoked or canceled amid accusations of bias and impropriety.
The AMCC had promised to launch sales in 2024. But now, even a 2025 launch seems unlikely.
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