The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission is scrapping a plan that could have allowed medical cannabis business licensing—and sales—to begin as early as next year.
The commission said last month that it was considering asking lawmakers to allow for cultivation to begin at an earlier date than is outlined in Alabama’s medical cannabis law. The current statute requires the state to begin accepting business license applications by Sept. 1, 2022, but commissioners were reportedly in discussions with legislators to allow cultivators to be licensed sooner, in early 2022.
Now, commissioners have decided not to push for an earlier date, according to a Montgomery Advertiser report.
“At this point in time, we decided not to ask the Legislature to go back into digging up a legislative bill and opening it back up,” Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission Vice Chair Rex Vaughn told the news outlet. “We could lose what we’ve got.”
Instead, the commission will focus on rulemaking and physician training, Vaughn said.
The September 2022 launch date for licensing means medical cannabis sales will likely launch sometime in 2023, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
“If you start looking at the timelines for what it’s going to take to get rules and regulations approved, and the growth cycle and the 60 days that people have to get in business after they get the license, it starts adding up,” Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission Executive Director John McMillian told the news outlet.
