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The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission reopened applications for state testing laboratory licenses and provided market updates at its Thursday meeting, held one week after Callie’s Apothecary became Alabama’s first licensed medical cannabis dispensary to open, in Montgomery.
Commission Chair Sam Blakemore described visiting the dispensary on its opening day, praising it for “transparent pricing, education, excellent customer service and an efficient workflow to get patients in and out of the dispensary safely in 20 minutes or less.” Blakemore recounted a conversation with a departing patient: “He stated that he was a retired military veteran and had PTSD. He told me that for 20 years, he struggled to sleep at night. At that moment, he left Callie’s Apothecary with the hope that medical cannabis could improve his quality of life.”
Commission General Counsel Justin Aday reported that as of Thursday, the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners had approved 52 physicians statewide to recommend medical cannabis treatment, with 39 completing required commission registration and three with pending requests. Aday said 446 Medical Cannabis Cards had been approved, 21 licensed physicians had made cannabis requests for patients, and 102 patients had visited Callie’s Apothecary since it opened, generating nearly $15,000 in sales.
The commission voted unanimously to reopen testing lab applications, with Blakemore citing “a need for an additional state testing laboratory, or laboratories, especially to meet the requirements of our rules regarding retesting and challenged test results.” A single application emerged from the prior February 2025 opening, and the commission approved it.
The commission also unanimously approved a permanent permit variance allowing Callie’s Apothecary to install a sign larger than the current 16-inch-by-18-inch rule allows. Aday said the sign “doesn’t depict the cannabis plant. It doesn’t mention the word cannabis at all.” Commissioner Eric Jensen said, “A sign that small is not gonna be helpful,” and called for broader rule adjustments to dispensary marketing requirements. Aday noted the variance gives the commission grounds to revisit the signage size limit or defer to local restrictions.
Read more at Alabama Political Reporter
Frontpage photo: © Tinnakorn Jorruang | Dreamstime
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