On Wednesday, the legal battle continued in Alabama, as the Cannabis Commission is still facing a slew of lawsuits criticizing its handling of business license issuance.
The medical cannabis industry in Alabama hasn't started yet precisely because of all the lawsuits the Commission has received.
"The Commission created rules that, in essence, allowed it to determine who would and would not be licensed in a completely arbitrary and secretive manner, with no semblance of fairness to the applicants," Mooresmith told WBRC. "The legally unexplainable actions of the Commission in ignoring the Alabama Administrative Procedures Act (AAPA) and arbitrarily awarding some licenses while denying others has deprived Alabama citizens of access to drugs they should already have. If the Commission had simply followed the AAPA as it was legally obligated to do, medical cannabis would already be available to the patients who need it."
The Commission has now returned to court to discuss the lawsuit with the attorneys and the judge. The judge appears to be moving the process along, identifying the questions he wants answered regarding the investigative process. Attorneys expressed hope after the discussion. "Each step here is a step closer," they said in an interview outside the courtroom. "The judge wants another week to review this," and attorneys expect to have some answers in the coming weeks.
