The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission is asking state lawmakers to revise the medical cannabis law passed earlier this year to allow cultivators to get licensed sooner, AL.com reports. The law set the date the state can begin accepting medical cannabis cultivation applications at Sept. 1, 2022, but commission Vice Chair Rex Vaughn said he has been in discussions with lawmakers about changing that date to allow cultivators to be licensed by no later than early 2022.
Commission Chair Dr. Steven Stokes said the commission’s “goal” is to have products available to patients by the fall of next year.
Lawmakers are not currently in session but are expected to meet in a special session later this month or next month when they could consider the commission’s request. If the September date remains unchanged, medical cannabis patients won’t be available to Alabama patients until some time in 2023.
The chairman of the commission’s dispensary subcommittee, Dr. Sam Blakemore, recommended last week that dispensaries in the state “resemble a pharmacy.”
During its meeting Thursday, the Medical Cannabis Commission also voted to offer State Treasurer John McMillan the commission’s executive director job. McMillan and is a former state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources commissioner and served two terms as state agriculture commissioner. He said he expects to take the job which would require that he step down as treasurer.
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