02-05-2025
Families file lawsuit against Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission for not creating a patient registry
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Six families filed a lawsuit against the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission last Friday over not having the medicine accessible for their children.
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According to the legal documents, the AMCC has not created a patient registry, which has been a state law since 2022.
'We don't have a patient registry because we cannot start the program until we have licenses issued,' AMCC Director John McMillan said regarding the long delay for medical cannabis accessibility.
'And then the doctors have to be certified by the Alabama Medical Association,' he continued.
In 2021, the Alabama Medical Cannabis Bill was signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey.
AMCC was supposed to establish a patient registry list by Sept. 1, 2022.
McMillan told the commission has been held back due to extensive litigation, and that must be resolved before medical cannabis can be grown and sold in Alabama.
'The only two licenses that are still tied up in litigation are the dispensary licenses and the integrated licenses,' McMillan said. 'And that's where the big one is, and it all real kind of boils down to the fact that the legislation only allows the commission to issue five integrated licenses, and we had 38 applicants.'
In the meantime, certified hemp manufacturing facilities, such as Oscity Labs in Foley, have been waiting to finally sell their products to patients in need.
'We're ready to go,' Oscity Labs CEO Ray French said.
'We could be manufacturing these products within weeks of the commission being allowed to do their job,' French said. 'And that's what's so heartbreaking to see, knowing the patients need this medicine.'
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McMillan told he hopes that patients will finally be able to get on the registry by the end of this year, or whenever the litigation is
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