Alabama judge names mediator to settle medical marijuana license fight

A state judge in Alabama appointed a mediator to oversee a legal resolution to the long-stalled medical marijuana licensing in the state, which has been beset by lawsuits and restarts for more than a year.

Judge James Anderson, of the Montgomery Circuit Court, picked retired Judge Eugene Reese to mediate a lawsuit over five “integrated” medical marijuana permits that are still being fought over, the Associated Press reported. Anderson wrote in his order that Reese’s appointment is “appropriate in this case and could result in the speedy and just resolution of the dispute.”

Although the Alabama Medical Marijuana Commission has attempted three times to award permits, each time objections have been raised and regulators have walked back their decisions. In July, Anderson issued a temporary restraining order preventing the commission from moving forward with the overall MMJ program until the five integrated licenses could be awarded. Anderson wrote at the time there was a “serious question” as to whether the commission had properly given out permits.

Will Somerville, an attorney for Alabama always, one of the losing MMJ license applicants, told the AP that the mediator’s appointment is positive news, and he expects Reese will focus on the licensing procedures used by regulators, as opposed to figuring out which companies will win permits.

“The mediation is an attempt to get people to agree on a new set of rules to do the investigative process. It’s really intended to speed the process up,” Somerville told the AP.

The AMCC declined to comment to the AP on news of Reese’s appointment.

If Reese is successful in straightening out the licensing problem, sources have told Green Market Report the medical cannabis market could be functional within a matter of months. That’s partially because several other awarded license types are not in dispute, including for stand-alone growers, processors, dispensaries and transporters.

The five “integrated” permits – which are the only companies allowed to be vertically integrated – are the only licenses at issue, but that fight is holding up the launch of the entire program, the AP reported.