Alabama Officials Approve Medical Marijuana Dispensary Licenses, Readying Program For Sales To Start In 2026

*“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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