Advocates frustrated by lack of medical cannabis in Alabama, treatment legalized four years ago

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — It has been nearly four and a half years since medical cannabis was legalized in Alabama.

But medical cannabis is still not available to Alabama patients.

Advocates say many thousands of people have been waiting for the relief that treatment promises, but it is not clear if those delays will soon be over.  

The most significant development in recent months is that there is now an agreed-upon process laid out for businesses that didn’t get a medical cannabis license — to challenge the decisions. Lawsuits challenging the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission’s selection process have been moving through the courts for the past few years, effectively putting the program on hold. The plaintiffs say the commission could have moved it forward sooner, if it had followed existing law.

Either way, for the people trying to build a medical cannabis business and for advocates like Jennifer Boozer Stewart, a spokesperson for the Alabama Cannabis Coalition, the wait has already been far too long.

“No matter what has happened, we cannot seem to move the medical cannabis program forward, for all of our trying,” Stewart said.  “And so many people on that side of the industry have invested millions and millions of dollars and years of time. I have friends who are growers, who have already harvested with the blessing of Alabama, and cannot get a penny back on it, because it’s sitting in a freezer somewhere.”

The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission has been sued by companies that say the license award process was deeply flawed and violated the law. Those lawsuits have dragged out over the past few years. But it appears those challenges will be heard, soon, by an administrative judge.

The Alabama Legislature also sharply expanded hemp regulations this year. Advocates say the hemp products have served as an alternative to medical cannabis for many people. That’s now largely gone away, Stewart said, with hemp businesses shutting down or facing extensive new regulations.  

The pending license challenges in administrative law hearings may also prove to be the final hurdle for getting business licenses sorted out and businesses able to conduct medical cannabis work. But there is still no timetable for resolving those disputes.