“I am absolutely elated today because we’re on the cusp of having a working program.”
By Anna Barrett, Alabama Reflector
The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission Thursday approved three dispensary licenses, which members of the commission hailed as a critical step toward making medical cannabis available in Alabama nearly five years after the Legislature established the program.
“We waited a long time to get to this point in time where we can make a decision like this, and it is monumental,” Rex Vaughn, chair of the commission, said. “It’s a milestone meeting for us, so I’m tickled we can get this far.”
GP6 Wellness, RJK Holdings and CCS of Alabama will receive dispensary licenses within 28 days, as long as the companies pay the $40,000 licensing fee. A fourth license will be approved by the commission in late January due to a recommendation from an administrative law judge, Vaughn said after the meeting.
Vaughn said multiple times during the meeting that the approval of dispensary licenses is a milestone and will lead to patients getting care they need and tax revenue for the state.
“It takes a while for that to come through the system, but we should be seeing revenue by springtime at the latest,” Vaughn said.
The Alabama medical cannabis law, enacted in 2021, allows registered physicians to recommend cannabis for about 15 medical conditions, including cancer, depression, Parkinson’s Disease, PTSD, sickle-cell anemia, chronic pain and terminal diseases. The approved product forms are restricted to tablets, tinctures, patches, oils and gummies (only peach flavor), with raw plant material and smokable forms remaining prohibited.
People who suffer from the qualifying conditions must get approval from their physician and enter the patient registry in order to buy products at a dispensary.
Litigation has also held up access to medical cannabis. Some firms sued the commission for not being awarded a license, citing a discriminatory process. Another case involved five parents that sued the commission over delays in access to cannabis, which was dismissed in August.
As of Thursday, the commission had distributed licenses for nine cultivators, four processors, four transporters and three dispensaries. There is also one patient in the registry, Vaughn said.
Vaughn was not able to give a specific timeline for when the product will be available for purchase, but estimated Spring 2026. Earlier this year, AMCC Executive Director John McMillan had expressed hopes of getting medical cannabis in patients’ hands by the end of 2025.
“We’ve gotta get our physicians certified quickly. All those things are being staged as we talk right now, and we’ll see how the wintertime goes,” Vaughn said. “Hopefully all these things will fall in place quite quickly.”
Sam Blakemore, a pharmacist and member of the commission, said in an interview after the meeting that medical cannabis can help relieve symptoms without side effects like nausea and vomiting.
“Everybody focuses on Delta-9, but there are over 120 chemicals in the plant that’s able to give this full body experience of allowing patients to really get relief when it comes to nausea and vomiting, spasticity,” Blakemore said.
Blakemore primarily prescribes drugs for pediatric oncology patients. He brought his wife and two young children to the meeting to celebrate the approval of licenses.
“I’m not going to say cannabis is a cure all, but the big thing with getting this done today is at least the folks, that I call the sick and shut in, in the state, they can get relief,” Blakemore said. “They can’t get relief from opioids. They can’t get relief from the gabapentin. They can finally have an opportunity to try something.”
Supporters of medical cannabis attended the meeting Thursday.
Amanda Taylor, a medical cannabis patient advocate, has been a part of the commission’s process since 2021. She suffers from multiple lesions on her brain and spine.
“I am absolutely elated today because we’re on the cusp of having a working program,” she said in an interview after the meeting.
This story was first published by Alabama Reflector.
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