Alabama Appeals Court Clears Path for Medical Marijuana Licensing to Resume
- The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals ruled that a lower court had no authority to halt the state's medical marijuana licensing process, allowing the program to move forward.
- The appeals court dismissed multiple appeals and ordered the Montgomery Circuit Court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by unsuccessful license applicants, including Jemmstone Alabama, LLC.
- The court found that the legal challenges were premature since the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission had not yet issued final licenses and was still in the investigative-hearing phase.
- The ruling removes a significant legal barrier, enabling the commission to continue its licensing process and advancing Alabama’s medical marijuana program closer to operational status.
Alabama’s long-delayed medical marijuana rollout took a significant step forward Friday after the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals ruled that a lower court had no authority to halt the state’s licensing process. In a unanimous decision, the appeals court dismissed multiple related appeals and granted a writ of mandamus requested by the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission, ordering the Montgomery Circuit Court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by several unsuccessful license applicants, including Jemmstone Alabama, LLC.
The ruling centers on an April 2025 order from the circuit court that had blocked the commission from moving forward with licensing decisions made in December 2023. The appeals court determined that the circuit court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to issue that injunction, meaning the order was legally void from the start.
Judges said that legal challenges brought by applicants were premature because the commission has not yet issued final licenses. Under Alabama law, the commission is still in the investigative-hearing phase of the process, a step required before licenses can be formally awarded.
Because no final licensing decisions have been made, the court found there was no completed agency action for the trial court to review. As a result, the lower court should not have intervened in the process at this stage.
The decision removes a major legal obstacle that has repeatedly stalled Alabama’s medical marijuana program, which was authorized by lawmakers in 2021 but has yet to result in any operational dispensaries or cultivation facilities due to ongoing litigation over how licenses were scored and awarded.
With the injunction now nullified and the lawsuit ordered dismissed, the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission is cleared to continue its investigative hearings and move closer to issuing final licenses for cultivators, processors, transporters and dispensaries across the state.