AMCC intends to go “back to square one” on medical marijuana licensure process – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

Lawyers for the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission and multiple plaintiffs involved in a lawsuit over licenses for what was set as a hearing on Monday to discuss a potential violation of the Open Meetings Act by the commission.

Instead, the parties agreed to extend a Temporary Restraining Order preventing the commission from moving forward with its licensure process until Sept. 6, while preserving appeal deadlines for applicants. 

Mark Wilkerson, the attorney now taking the lead as AMCC counsel in the suit, told Montgomery Circuit Judge James Anderson that the commission intends to once again issue its own administrative stay at its Aug. 31 meeting and then “start back at square one.”

When licenses are awarded, Wilkerson said the intention is to complete the process in an open meeting, deviating from the commission’s last two attempts to handle much of the process in executive session. The commission’s last vote, which included secret ballots used to nominate applicants in executive session, triggered the complaint about a violation of the Open Meetings Act that brought about Monday’s hearing.

At the first hearing regarding the potential Open Meetings Act violation, AMCC attorney William Webster told Anderson that the commission would “air everyone’s dirty laundry” during an open meeting if it was forced to award licenses a third time.

After an agreement between lawyers fell apart over the weekend, both sides appeared pleased with the extension of the…