BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – An audit conducted by the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts found five instances of noncompliance where the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission did not follow state laws or regulations, including an overpayment of $200,000 for a legal contract.

The Commission licenses and regulates businesses involved in cultivation, manufacturing, processing, testing, transportation, and sale of medical cannabis in Alabama.

The audit also found a records management failure, violations of the Alabama Open Meetings Act, improperly adopted fee schedule, and that the Commission established a rule that conflicts with state law.

The Commission established a rule requiring patients and caregivers to report a lost or stolen medical cannabis card within 72 hours of learning of the loss or theft. State law sets the notification deadline within 10 days.

The Commission is responsible for setting fee amounts for licenses and registration because it was not established in state law when the Commission was created, and auditors found the Commission has yet to do so for:

• Patient and Caregiver Initial and Renewal Registration Fees
• Patient and Caregiver Medical Cannabis Card Replacement Fee
• Business Application Corrections Processing Fee for Response to Notice of Deficiency
• Business Application Corrections Processing Fee for Extraordinary Circumstances
• Business Annual License Fees
• Business Untimely License Renewal Fees
• Business License Transfer Fees
• Business Investigative Hearing Fees

State auditors reviewed minutes for 62 meetings and found information required by state law was excluded, like the number of members in attendance, or the length of time members spent in executive session.

One meeting notice did not include the physical location of a meeting.

The Commission paid a legal services vendor $604,197.55 for a $400,000 contract, according to the audit.

“The overpayment occurred due to the Commission’s failure to properly monitor payments on the contract to ensure payments were made within the contract terms.”

The audit found the Commission collected $2.78 million in cannabis license and fees between 2022-2025.

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