BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – An audit conducted by the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts found five instances of noncompliance where the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission did not follow state laws or regulations, including an overpayment of $200,000 for a legal contract.
The Commission licenses and regulates businesses involved in cultivation, manufacturing, processing, testing, transportation, and sale of medical cannabis in Alabama.
The audit also found a records management failure, violations of the Alabama Open Meetings Act, improperly adopted fee schedule, and that the Commission established a rule that conflicts with state law.
The Commission established a rule requiring patients and caregivers to report a lost or stolen medical cannabis card within 72 hours of learning of the loss or theft. State law sets the notification deadline within 10 days.
The Commission is responsible for setting fee amounts for licenses and registration because it was not established in state law when the Commission was created, and auditors found the Commission has yet to do so for:
State auditors reviewed minutes for 62 meetings and found information required by state law was excluded, like the number of members in attendance, or the length of time members spent in executive session.
One meeting notice did not include the physical location of a meeting.
The Commission paid a legal services vendor $604,197.55 for a $400,000 contract, according to the audit.
“The overpayment occurred due to the Commission’s failure to properly monitor payments on the contract to ensure payments were made within the contract terms.”
The audit found the Commission collected $2.78 million in cannabis license and fees between 2022-2025.
WBRC reached out to the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission and we were provided the following statement:
The results of the recent examination conducted on the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) by the State of Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts was released recently. The Examiners reported five (5) findings where the Commission was in noncompliance with State laws and regulations.
The Commission respects and applauds the Examiners’ for their hard work and diligence in holding Alabama’s departments and agencies to a high standard and accountable in their services to the State of Alabama.
The AMCC began operating in the summer of 2021, following Governor Ivey’s signing into law the Darren Wesley “Ato” Hall Compassion Act which established the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission. As a new state agency, the Commission takes ownership of the areas of compliance where it has fallen short. Efforts are already in progress to correct these mistakes. It is the mission of the AMCC to comply with every area of Alabama’s laws and regulations in carrying out its mission of making medical cannabis derived from Alabama-grown cannabis available to registered qualified Alabama patients.
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