Dozens of physicians in Alabama have taken an online course that is a requirement for them to be certified to recommend medical marijuana to patients when those products become available, which is expected to be next year.

Russell Sellers, director of communications for the Medical Association of the State of Alabama (MASA), said Monday that about 60 doctors have taken the three-and-a-half-hour course.

Doctors who complete the course and meet certain other requirements could soon be able to apply for certification with the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners.

But doctor certifications have been on hold because of delays in issuing licenses for companies to dispense medical cannabis.

The Board of Medical Examiners cannot certify doctors until at least one dispensary license is issued.

That wait appears to be nearing an end after the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission awarded licenses to dispensary companies last week.

Three companies are expected to be issued licenses on Jan. 8. A fourth company was also picked for a license, but it is on hold because of a challenge by a fifth company.

Each of the companies can have up to three dispensaries, which would mean up to 12 dispensaries statewide. if all four licenses are issued.

According to the description of the physicians’ course on the MASA website, it “addresses the basics of Cannabis and Cannabinoids, the therapeutic implementation of Cannabinoids, the risks, myths, and characteristics that make Cannabinoids different than conventional medication, and the relevant laws and rules that govern physicians who intend to certify patient eligibility for medical cannabis in Alabama.”

Doctors who complete the course will be able to apply for certification with the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners.

The board will then consider the applications at its monthly meetings.

If all goes as planned and the dispensaries open, that will be a partial startup of Alabama’s medical cannabis industry, which has been delayed by more than two years because of the disputes and litigation over companies competing for a limited number of licenses.

Still on hold are licenses for integrated companies, which will be able to cultivate, process, and dispense medical cannabis.

The state can issue up to five integrated licenses, and those companies can have up to five dispensaries each, which would raise the total number of dispensaries statewide to 37.

The AMCC has issued licenses for cultivators, processors, secure transporters, and a state testing lab.

Cultivators have been growing cannabis plants since 2024.

Alabama’s medical marijuana law, the Compassion Act, passed in 2021.

It allows licensed companies to make gummies (peach-flavored only), tablets, capsules, tinctures, patches, oils, and other forms of medical marijuana products.

Patients who receive a medical cannabis card after seeing a certified doctor will be able to buy the products at the licensed dispensaries.

The law allows the products to be used to treat a wide range of conditions, including chronic pain, weight loss and nausea from cancer, depression, panic disorder, epilepsy, muscle spasms caused by disease or spinal cord injuries, PTSD, and others.