Alabama’s medical cannabis regulators have found themselves on the receiving end of a lawsuit after rescinding a licence they had issued to Verano.
The Chicago-based multi-state operator Verano filed its suit against the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission in Montgomery County Circuit Court on Monday.
Verano, which has operations in Alabama, received a licence for an integrated facility in the first round of awards in June, but failed to receive a licence in the second round this month.
As Business of Cannabis reported earlier this month, the licences had initially been issued earlier in June, however, these were voided. The authority made the U-turn only four days after announcing the plans to issue the licences, halting the progress after discovering potential inconsistencies in the tabulation of scoring data, citing a need for additional time to seek an independent review of all scoring data.
A meeting held on Thursday, August 10, 2023 saw the AMCC re-issued the licences to all of the initial applicants bar Verano and Alabama Secure Transport.
READ MORE: Medical Cannabis Business Licences Re-Issued in Alabama
Verano has now accused the AMCC of breaking its own rules, arguing that its decision to rescind its licence ‘both exceeds and conflicts with the authority provided to it by the Alabama Legislature.’
Two further lawsuits have been filed by Alabama Always, which did not receive a licence in either round, alleging that the commission violated a provision over the appointment of former chair Steven Stokes, who has since stepped down, as well as violating the state’s Open Meetings Act during its vote on August 10.
Last week, Montgomery County Circuit Judge James Anderson put the programme on hold once again due to the lawsuits.
According to the Alabama Political Reporter, the AMCC plans to redo its licence process once again on August 31 in order to nullify the Always Alabama lawsuit.
