The situation with Alabama’s yet-to-be-launched medical cannabis program has gone from really bad to worse.

Medical cannabis was legalized in the state after Governor Kay Ivey signed Senate Bill 46 into law in 2021. After developing regulations in 2022, the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) began accepting business license applications.

It’s been a dumpster fire ever since, with various pauses, revisions and licensing related litigation preventing the program from fully launching.

The first two rounds of licensing awards were abandoned by the AMCC and in the latest twist, a state judge has revoked permits already-awarded under a third round in December of 2023. This means the process must be restarted – again.

As for the patient and caregiver registry, that still isn’t taking registrations even though it was required to be operational by the beginning of September 2022. At the time of writing, the AMCC web site states:

“The Alabama medical cannabis program is under development and is not registering patients or caregivers at this time.”

A group of parents, all of whom have children with conditions that could be treated/managed with medical cannabis, have now filed a lawsuit over the situation, aiming for a writ of mandamus to be issued. A writ of mandamus is a court order compelling a public official or government entity to perform a mandatory duty they are legally obligated to carry out.

According to the suit, the Darren Wesley “Ato” Hall Compassion Act required the Commission to “commence, use and maintain a reliable system to track all aspects of patient qualification not later than September 1, 2022.”

The lawsuit alleges the Commission has failed to comply with numerous laws in its administration of the program, delaying its development.

“The Commissioners’ failure to establish a patient registry with actual patients has delayed the availability of medicinal cannabis to patients just as surely as the Commission’s repeated refusal to follow the Open Meetings Act and the AAPA.”

The AAPA is the Alabama Administrative Procedures Act.

The parents’ action has been filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court – further commentary has been published on Alabama Political Reporter.