It seems that Alabama patients still have a long wait before they can access medical cannabis in their state.
The situation in Alabama up to this point:
In 2014, very limited access was offered under the “Carly Act”, which allowed the University of Alabama at Birmingham to provide CBD oil to children with debilitating seizures, but only as part of a clinical study. . Then, in 2016, the “Leni Law” came into force, providing an affirmative defense to patients with CBD for the treatment of a limited range of debilitating conditions.
This was followed by multiple failed attempts to more widely legalize medical cannabis in the state.
But on February 24, 2021, the Alabama Senate passed Senate Bill 46 with a 20-10 vote. The House of Representatives then passed an adjusted version of SB 46 on May 6. of 2021. The Senate accepted these changes and Governor Kay Ivey signed the bill on May 17, 2021.
Under the law, regulated access to medical cannabis will be available based on a physician’s recommendation to patients with qualifying conditions. Smoking, vaporizing, and edible forms of medical marijuana are off the menu, but pills, patches, oils, and capsules will be allowed.
It’s a big improvement, but it’s been over a year now and none of these products are available in the state yet, nor will there be any time soon. It will not be until the beginning of September when the license applications for facilities, cultivation, transformation, transport and testing can be submitted.
According to the head of the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC), the fall of 2023 is likely to be the first when the products will be available in the state. And that is an optimistic estimate. AMCC Executive Director John McMillan said this could be extended to 2024 due to the complexity of deploying the state’s seed sale approach.
“There are still a lot of variables and unknowns that we have to deal with,” McMillan said in comments to Alabama.com. “I’m convinced he was too optimistic in the hope of being able to achieve something sooner.”
