Project Catalyst an Economic Development Video Podcast | Episode 16: Powering Alabama’s Economic Progress with Leigh Davis of Alabama Power Company
Project Catalyst: An Economic Development Podcast | Episode 15: The Gateway to Alabama’s Economic Growth with John Driscoll of the Alabama Port Authority
Project Catalyst: An Economic Development Podcast | Episode 13: Economic Development in Rural Alabama with Valerie Gray and Lori Huguley of VaLor Strategies
Project Catalyst: An Economic Development Podcast | Episode 11: The EV Industry in Alabama with Mike Oatridge of Alabama Mobility and Power Center
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
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
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
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
“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
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
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
A recent lawsuit in Alabama, challenging the award of medical cannabis licenses by regulators, underscores the potential pitfalls in licensing regimes where applicants are selected based on specific enumerated factors. Below,...more
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Last Thursday was License Award Day 2.0 for the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Nineteen of the applicants awarded licenses in June, before the process was halted due...more
In a court hearing yesterday in the Montgomery County Circuit Court, it appeared that the staff of the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission was prepared to move forward announcing licensees at its meeting on Thursday and that...more
In a shocking development only four days after announcing its intent to issue 21 licenses to cultivators, processors, dispensaries, secured transporters, laboratory testing facilities, and integrated facilities, the Alabama...more
Yesterday was a day years in the making for would-be medical cannabis operators in Alabama, as the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) announced its intent to issue 21 licenses to cultivators, processors, dispensaries,...more
Bob Seger’s “Against the Wind” is an anthem to love and growing old. Among its many great lines is “wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.” Can you tell I recently turned 40? But I write today not about what I...more
Like many sports fans, we’re suckers for next-season predictions immediately following the prior season (even when Notre Dame is inexplicably ranked in the Top 10). At the time of this writing, applications have just been...more
I’ll never forget when the Alabama Legislature and governor approved a medical cannabis regime. We wrote about it with great fervor at the time. In some ways, it feels like yesterday. In others, a lifetime ago. As has been...more