Case against Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission dismissed by court

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — Medical cannabis could soon be available across Alabama now that a federal court has dismissed a case against the state’s regulatory commission on the matter.

On Friday, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals dismissed the main case against the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission. The commission, which is in charge of awarding licenses to businesses seeking to distributing cannabis, had faced lawsuits after some applicants claimed they did not receive a fair consideration for a license.

The court said that because the commission is a state agency, it is immune from being named as a defendant in a court case.

Joey Robertson, managing partner of Wagon Trail Med-Serv who was awarded an integrated license, said that the ruling is a positive step forward.

“We may see additional lawsuits pop up from this- who knows,” Robertson said. “But at least the appellate court is standing up and saying ‘you know what, these cases need to go away, they don’t have grounds, they don’t have standing- and they should be dismissed.”

Will Somerville, an attorney representing rejected applicant Alabama Always, LLC, said the courts dismissed their case because of legal technicalities, but that there is still litigation pending from another plaintiff.

“The Court of Civil Appeals ordered the circuit court to dismiss those,” Somerville said. “There’s still another case pending in which injunctions were entered. And that injunction is still in effect.”

But Ray French, CEO of Specialty Medical Products of Alabama, says otherwise.

“This is the green light to go forward and allow the commission to proceed with their process of licensing,” French said.

John McMillan, commissioner of the AMCC, said that the group’s legal team is reviewing the decisions. He also said that he wants to get the program up and running to take care of patients and their needs.