Canncore Group Takes 1st Place with Highest Score in the Alabama Medical Cannabis Cultivation License; AMCC Stays the Licensure Process
Miami, Florida (PRWEB) June 28, 2023 -- On June 12th, 2023, Pure by Sirmon Farms, LLC was notified in the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (“AMCC”) meeting that they were one (1) of four (4) applicants intended to be awarded a lucrative cultivation license in Alabama’s soon-to-be booming medical cannabis industry.
Further, the AMCC released via email to all applicants a breakdown of their scored application, as well as the rankings for the category of license the applicant applied for. Pure by Sirmon Farms, LLC was informed they received the #1 score on the cultivation license application garnering a 4118.5 out of 4575.
However, on June 16th, 2023, the AMCC voted to stay all proceedings related to the current offering of medical cannabis business licenses. According to the AMCC, the stay was in response to their “discovery of potential inconsistencies in the tabulation of scoring data, and the Commission’s need for additional time to seek an independent review of all scoring data.” Although this is a pause on the Team’s next steps forward in providing pure, high-quality medical cannabis and cannabis products to the qualified patients of Alabama, it is necessary to ensure this process is fair and equitable to all those who applied.
Overview of Alabama’s Application Process
In 2021, Alabama became the 37th state to legalize medical cannabis for qualified patients with the passage of Senate Bill 46. By September 2022, the AMCC began accepting applications for six (6) license types: (i) Integrated Facility; (ii) Cultivation; (iii) Processor; (iv) Dispensary; (v) Secure Transporter; and (vi) State Testing Laboratory. Under the AMCC’s regulations, interested applicants vying for a license would have to overcome complex regulatory requirements while designing their applications to stand-out from the rest as there was a statutory cap on each license type to be applied for. Specifically, only five (5) Integrated Facility licenses, twelve (12) Cultivation licenses, four (4) Processor licenses, and four (4) Dispensary licenses. Moreover, for those vying for a Secure Transporter or State Testing Laboratory license, it was entirely up to the AMCC to limit the number of licenses to be awarded.
Specifically, the cultivation application had a 25-part “Application Guide” that enlisted each interested applicant to show not only the eligibility requirements such as majority ownership of the applicant to reside in the state for no less than fifteen (15) years as well as commercial horticulture/agronomic production experience, but also their turn-key capabilities to begin operating a prosperous cultivation operation within sixty (60) days of licensure.
On February 13th, 2023, applicants received their Deficiency Notices and had until March 3rd, 2023, to propose corrections in response to the Notice. The AMCC confirmed that twelve (12) cultivation applications were deemed submitted. Although there were twelve (12) approved applicants vying for the twelve (12) available licenses, it was under the AMCC’s discretion to award the number of cultivation licenses in this initial round.
Many experts in the cannabis industry have agreed that the state of Alabama set forth one of the most complex cannabis business license applications the country has seen in recent years. Paula Savchenko, Esq., Founder and CEO of Cannacore Group has spent the past seven (7) years working in multi-state expansion in the cannabis industry. Although she has worked in approximately ten (10) states and has garnered an 85% success rate in achieving licensure for her clients, she believes her work in Alabama taught her a plethora of new complex issues interested groups are facing when entering new markets. “From building a strong local team with 15+ years of commercial horticulture/agronomic production experience and deep roots in their community to complying with each regulatory requirement, this 25-part application required extreme attention to detail,” explained Paula Savchenko. “Each state I have worked in has set forth various obstacles to overcome, but with Alabama’s specific regulations, vital local groundwork, and deadline set around the holidays, it required us to be flexible and adaptive each day we worked with our Team and the state.”
Next Steps for Alabama’s Medical Cannabis Industry
As applicants wait until the AMCC lifts the stay, many are anxiously awaiting to see what the future of the Alabama medical cannabis industry will look like. Here is what we do know:
Until the AMCC lifts the stay, applicants awarded the license will not have to pay the license fee until a later date is set. Further, those denied the license will be provided a new deadline as to when they can submit an appeal of the denial of their license. Unfortunately, with the stay and possibility for future lawsuits on appeals, we do not know how the AMCC will approach moving the program forward to ensure patients will receive access to medical cannabis products by the end of this year.
Although the timeline of the AMCC is subject to change, the AMCC did state at their June 12th meeting, that they will afford a second application round for Cultivators, Secure Transporters, and State Testing Laboratories. For those interested, now is the time to begin working with a Team of experts to begin strategizing your competitive application. Contact us today to discuss your options!
Paula Savchenko, Canncore Group, https://www.cannacoregrp.com/, 1 8134156465, [email protected]
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