During the course of the most recent session when the Alabama Legislature gutted Alabama’s consumable hemp program, I had the opportunity to hear from certain individuals with thoughtful, nuanced views on the pros and cons of...more
7/9/2025
/ Alabama ,
Cannabis Products ,
Controlled Substances ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Hemp ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
New Legislation ,
Pets ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State Legislatures
One of my favorite quotes from Justice Potter Stewart (naturally, a Supreme Court justice writing about watching pornography is my favorite) is “[f]airness is what justice really is.” The Alabama attorney general has an...more
6/13/2025
/ Alabama ,
Cannabis Products ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement ,
Hemp ,
Marijuana ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government ,
State Attorneys General
“Equal is not fair, and fair is not equal. Equal is obtainable but fair is not.”
The Montgomery County Circuit Court overseeing the launch of Alabama’s medical cannabis program has an interesting dilemma on its hands. It...more
6/10/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Alabama ,
Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Cannabis Products ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Judicial Authority ,
Licensing Rules ,
Marijuana ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
State and Local Government ,
Statutory Interpretation
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. That’s been the tenor of what I’ve heard and read from stakeholders in the Alabama hemp industry in response to the enactment of comprehensive hemp reform legislation earlier this...more
5/28/2025
/ Alabama ,
Cannabis Products ,
Hemp ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Manufacturers ,
Marijuana ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Retailers ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
“Compromise” sometimes gets a bad rap. And history teaches us that there can be bad compromises. But as your resident glass-is-half-full contributor who has also been closely following debate over access to consumable hemp...more
5/9/2025
/ Alabama ,
Cannabis Products ,
Government Agencies ,
Hemp ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Licensing Rules ,
Marijuana ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State Legislatures
On Monday — the day after the holiest of days on the cannabis calendar and just days after a hearing during which the Montgomery County Circuit Court heard arguments about whether an emergency rule promulgated by the AMCC in...more
There’s a great scene in the movie Wall Street when the up-and-coming Charlie Sheen (pre-Tiger Blood and now that I think about it maybe the precursor to the “winning!” mantra that seems to resonate today) is playing the role...more
4/1/2025
/ Alabama ,
Appellate Courts ,
Government Agencies ,
Judicial Proceedings ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Licensing Rules ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government
It takes a big person to admit when they are wrong. But I’ll raise my hand and say I was wrong when I predicted that the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals would rule in favor of the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission in late...more
Ronald Reagan famously asked voters, on the eve of the 1980 presidential election, to ask themselves whether they were better off than they were four years ago. It was a powerful question that asked Americans to take stock of...more
If you haven’t seen Ted Lasso, you need to do that immediately (after reading this). In the final episode of the first season, Ted Lasso – an American football coach hired, for reasons that don’t matter here, to coach an...more
Longtime readers of Budding Trends (and there are dozens of you) know that I have been saying over and over recently that – as counterintuitive as it may sound – the fastest way to get Alabama’s medical cannabis program...more
2/13/2025
/ Alabama ,
Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Jurisdiction ,
Licensing Rules ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
New Legislation ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Regulatory Reform ,
State and Local Government
Advocates and stakeholders in the medical cannabis world of Alabama are desperate. And as it is so often when we are faced with a desperate situation, we make well-intentioned but ultimately flawed decisions....more
2/12/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Alabama ,
Cannabis Products ,
Licenses ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
“The overhead view is of me in a maze.”
I don’t know what it says about me that the great Trey Anastasio and Tom Marshall of Phish fame were able to encapsulate my feelings so neatly – and the feelings of so many...more
1/28/2025
/ Alabama ,
Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Business Licenses ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Legalization ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government
Over the past nearly two years, I have been talking to friends, clients, and basically anyone at parties about the slow progress (if I might be permitted to use that word in this context) of the Alabama medical cannabis...more
9/10/2024
/ Alabama ,
Business Licenses ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Dispensaries ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Licenses ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
The Alabama medical cannabis program has been FUBAR for a while now, but there was at least some good news for two applicants last week....more
8/13/2024
/ Alabama ,
Business Licenses ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Dispensaries ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Licenses ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
During a hearing today on SB276, a proposal released only yesterday that would fundamentally change the landscape of Alabama’s nascent medical cannabis program, would have probably been less one-sided if the proposal called...more
Well, it’s here. Late yesterday afternoon Sens. Tim Melson and David Sessions introduced the long-awaited “legislative fix” to help get Alabama’s long-stalled Alabama medical cannabis licensing program off the ground. The...more
The Alabama Medical Cannabis licensing process has officially entered Groundhog Day territory. After previously directing that the AMCC participate in limited, expedited discovery (including the deposition of up to six...more
Hold the phones, Alabama medical cannabis integrated applicants (and probably dispensary licensees). Last night the Montgomery County Circuit Court issued three orders that will at least temporarily pause the issuance of the...more
Yesterday the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission(AMCC) awarded the five coveted licenses in the Integrated Facility category. The five licenses were awarded to:
1. Trulieve AL
2. Sustainable Alabama
3. Wagon Trail...more
12/13/2023
/ Alabama ,
Business Licenses ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Dispensaries ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Licenses ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
I feel like Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day. I keep writing the same blog post in some way heralding the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission’s awarding of licenses to would-be operators. Well, on Friday it happened...more
12/4/2023
/ Alabama ,
Business Licenses ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Dispensaries ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Licenses ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
In the coming, frenzied 90 days, the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission likely will save or ruin the future of medical cannabis in Alabama...
Last Thursday, the AMCC voted to adopt an emergency rule that, by its terms,...more
10/31/2023
/ Alabama ,
Business Licenses ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Dispensaries ,
Emergency Rule ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government
Maybe it was inevitable. Anyone who has seen another state award competitive licenses for a limited number of cannabis operators knew well that Alabama’s process would result in litigation. That was not an indictment of...more
9/13/2023
/ Alabama ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Licensees ,
Licenses ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Open Meetings Act ,
State and Local Government
I have literally (yes, literally) lost track of the number of times that the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission or a court has ordered a halt to the AMCC’s efforts to issue licenses to medical cannabis operators. If you...more
9/1/2023
/ Alabama ,
Business Licenses ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Dispensaries ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Licenses ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
There is a scene in the fantastic film Wayne’s World (cult classic or blockbuster, I don’t know; I just write blogs about cannabis) where Wayne and Garth are playing street hockey and whenever a car drives down the street...more