Not unlike other states, Alabama’s rollout of medical marijuana has been a bumpy one flush with lawsuits, with a judge placing a temporary block on the issuance of licenses to grow and sell medical cannabis Thursday, just a week after the state awarded said licenses for a second time.
Some, such as Marty Schelper, founder and president of the Alabama Cannabis Coalition, have called for Gov. Kay Ivey to call a special session and give lawmakers the opportunity to remove the cap on the number of licenses the state can issue.
“That legislation picked winners and losers; it’s not free-market capitalism, it’s a monopoly,” Schelper told Alabama Daily News on Friday, referring to the 2021 bill that legalized medical cannabis in the state.
The state has placed limits on the number of licenses it issues to grow and sell medical cannabis, at least during the rollout period, largely to prevent an immediate market oversaturation and to have a tighter control on quality.
Opponents of the controlled rollout such as Schelper, however, argue that opening the process up would not only reduce costs for medical marijuana patients, but put a stop to the ongoing lawsuits from companies denied licenses, lawsuits that Schelper said “are not going to end” and “could go on for years.”
“Citizens are being delayed in having access to this life-saving product, and our position is Gov. Kay Ivey can call a special session, call the legislators back into the Alabama House and…
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