Alabama commission approves 3 licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries – wsfa.com
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission granted three medical cannabis dispensary licenses during their meeting in Montgomery Thursday morning.
It has been four years since medical cannabis was legalized in Alabama, and it is still not available to patients.
The three dispensary licenses provide a clearer path for the marijuana cultivators and processors who have already gotten their licenses.
For those who have been fighting to bring this access to patients, the meeting marked a significant milestone.
“I am absolutely elated [after the meeting] because we are on the cusp of having a working program,” said Amanda Taylor, a medical cannabis patient advocate.
Taylor has been a consistent advocate for medical cannabis access through the past four years of legal hurdles over who should hold the medical cannabis licenses.
‘I’m just as excited [after this meeting] as the day that Governor Ivey had me there for the bill signing,” she said.
Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission Chairman Rex Vaughn said there are still some licenses that are in limbo; specifically, companies that would do all of the steps themselves, including cultivating the plant, processing it and dispensing it.
“At least we have the other legs and other categories that have been fulfilled, and they have done all of their due diligence to get it to a point where we can give them a license,” said Chairman Vaughn.
He said the three companies will each have three locations around the state.
The process of building Alabama’s medical cannabis industry is still not done.
However, Taylor said this latest step provides a light at the end of the tunnel for Alabama patients waiting for another option to manage their pain.
“I have a three-foot-by-six-foot picture of the bill signing,” said Taylor. “I don’t know what I’m going to do to commemorate [this meeting], because [after this meeting] the patients have hope.”
Chairman Vaughn said the three dispensaries will officially get their licenses in Jan., and the goal is to have finished products available by the spring.
He said the commission is now focusing on getting physicians certified to issue cannabis cards to patients and developing the patient registry.
The commission is also expected to issue a license to a fourth company in the coming weeks.
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