Alabama House Passes Bill to Enhance
Medical Marijuana Regulatory Clarity

Summary

• The Alabama House has approved a bill granting the state’s cannabis authority increased oversight powers for medical marijuana regulation.
• The bill, known as HB390, passed with a 95-4 majority and is now heading to a Senate committee evaluation.
• Under the bill, the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) will have increased responsibility for the regulation, licensing, and enforcement of medical cannabis processing and distribution.
• The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI) will maintain joint jurisdiction over cultivation.
• The bill aims to clarify the collaborative role of AMCC and ADAI in awarding distribution licenses.

In a significant move towards improved regulation of medical marijuana, the Alabama House approved a bill granting the state’s cannabis authority increased oversight powers. HB390, put forth by Representative Danny Crawford (R), sailed through the House with a 95-4 majority and is now poised for a Senate committee evaluation.

Key points of the bill outline that the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) will have heightened responsibility for all areas encompassing the regulation, licensing, and enforcement associated with medical cannabis processing and distribution. In tandem, the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI) maintains joint jurisdiction over the cultivation process for medical cannabis products.

Representative Crawford’s initiative aims to dissipate existing uncertainties surrounding the collaborative role of AMCC and ADAI in the awarding of distribution licenses, as reported by CBS 42. The legislative adjustment promises greater clarity in the operational dynamics between the two bodies.

Despite the legalization of medical marijuana in Alabama in 2021 and the subsequent awarding of a finite number of licenses by the AMCC, the market’s progress has been thwarted by a slew of lawsuits from parties whose applications were not successful. Earlier this year, State Senator Larry Stutts (R) remarked on the medical marijuana sector in Alabama, highlighting it as either “corrupt or incompetent.”

In response to these licensing challenges, State Senator Tim Melson (R) proposed a distinct medical marijuana bill aimed at expediting the resolution of the licensing conundrum.

SB306 advocates for the establishment of a five-member review panel under the Alabama Securities Commission (ASC). This panel’s mandate would be to verify whether the applicants for integrated licenses, as of the initial deadline in December 2022, fulfill “basic eligibility requirements for licensure.”