Medical Cannabis Commission pauses license awards due to possible scoring problems
Benjamin Bullard, The Cullman Times, Ala.
5 min read
Jun. 16—An initial round of Alabama medical cannabis licenses awarded to businesses on Monday by the state's designated oversight body was suspended Friday at an emergency meeting of the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC), with the commission voting to stay all of the licenses it previously had issued at its June 12 meeting.
Heavily criticized for a perceived bias toward south Alabama businesses in the wake of issuing the state's first ever batch of medical cannabis licenses, the commission in a Friday press release cited "the discovery of potential inconsistencies in the tabulation of scoring data" in its decision to issue the stay.
The pause, the commission added, will allow the AMCC to "seek an independent review of all scoring data" used in assessing medical cannabis applications, with commission member Dr. Steven Stokes, who helmed Friday's heavily-viewed online meeting, explaining that the commission will consult with a third party to review its scoring criteria.
In the initial round of applicant scoring, the commission employed criteria developed by the University of South Alabama. Alabama House Rep. Corey Harbison (R-Good Hope) said Friday that he is proposing a new third-party review that also would incorporate the expertise of other Alabama research institutions.
"I'd like to bring in a third party; even a fourth party — the more the merrier," said Harbison. "It concerns me for our community locally, because we have a community constituent with heavy investment and interest in the outcome. It's a big concern when only the University of South Alabama did the evaluation, and that no business north of Montgomery ended up being awarded an integrated license."
The stay not only halts businesses awarded licenses on June 12 from moving forward, it also resets the entire applicant evaluation process, affording all applicants — including Cullman County's Wagon Trail Hemp Farms, which was denied a license as a comprehensive integrated facility — a renewed opportunity.
On Friday, Wagon Trail managing partner Joey Robertson told The Times after the commission's decision that he was relieved to see the AMCC take the concerns of his business, as well as others turned away, to heart.
"Knowing that the AMCC is taking this seriously, and knowing that there may have been some issues in the grading process — the fact that they're taking time to review and bring it to a third party means a lot to us," said Robertson. "Everything that was done on June 12, including the timeline going forward, is now suspended until they have had time to review things, which is certainly encouraging."
Close to 300 people logged on Friday to witness the AMCC's brief but decisive vote. "The Commission will work expeditiously to investigate and identify inconsistencies in the score data," AMCC director John McMillan said in the followup press release. "Out of an abundance of caution, we are suspending all current procedural timelines until those matters are resolved."
Under the stay, applicants awarded a license on June 12 will not be required to pay their licensing fee by the previously-scheduled June 26 deadline, and applicants denied a license at that time will not be required to submit a request for an investigative hearing by June 26. "Licenses that were awarded on June 12, 2023, will not issue on July 10, 2023," the AMCC added.
The commission was authorized to award up to 12 cultivator licenses, four processor licenses, four dispensary licenses, five integrated facility licenses and an unspecified number of secure transport and state testing laboratory licenses. Two Cullman facilities — CCS of Alabama, LLC and Statewide Property Holdings AL, LLC — were awarded dispensary licenses according to information provided by the AMCC.
The license caps were established by the enabling legislation (Alabama Act 2021-450). Only the legislature could increase the number of licenses, according to the AMCC.
There's no timeline attached to the potential duration of the stay, which will remain in effect until the AMCC lifts it. "Once the stay is lifted," the body stated, "the Commission will reconsider the award of licenses, and provide a timeline for the payment of license fees, request for investigative hearings, and issuance of licenses."
"Almost everybody who got a license was from south Alabama," Harbison said Friday. "I don't know what the commission is planning to do in terms of bringing in a third party for review, but I would like to see a process that opens it up to review from a south Alabama school, a central Alabama school, and a north Alabama school.
"That, at least, would help avoid any accusations of regional bias, and make the process less susceptible to any suggestion of corruption. I called speaker Ledbetter [Alabama House Rep. Nathanial Ledbetter, R-Rainsville] to make that recommendation — not just for future applicants, but for this current licensing process, now that the process has been paused for a revaluation."
Though the commission offered no specifics regarding the type of "inconsistencies in the score data" identified by McMillan, Harbison offered one possible example.
"Wagon Trail has invested a few million dollars already in infrastructure at their current hemp farm in anticipation of what's supposed to be a rigorous application process to potentially receive an integrated facility license," he said. "I know that on the score sheets, there were applicants who don't even have a location yet in Alabama that scored higher on 'facilities' than the commission scored Wagon Trail. How does that happen?"
Wagon Trail's integrated facility license application sought the commission's most all-encompassing medical cannabis designation, vying with more than 30 other businesses for one of only five integrated facility licenses to be awarded by the AMCC. Under an integrated license, a business is permitted to engage in all phases of the medical cannabis supply chain, from cultivation to processing to distribution and final sale of the product to consumers at a dispensary.
Robertson said Friday that he's happy to have a renewed opportunity for Wagon Trail's application to be assessed through a fresh oversight lens.
"This has put some breath back in our lungs at least, and it's given us at least a stronger confidence in the AMCC, moving forward, in handling possible indiscretions correctly," he said. "It appears that they're taking a proactive approach to stopping any further issues. That's really what we had been hoping to see."
