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In a bold legal maneuver, Alabama Always filed both a petition and a lawsuit Thursday aimed at forcing a reset of the state’s beleaguered medical cannabis licensing process, alleging deep-seated bias and unlawful conduct by the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission.
The Montgomery-based company filed a formal petition with the AMCC seeking the disqualification of all current commissioners from participating in any future licensing decisions. The petition points to statements made by commissioners that, according to the company, show an unmistakable bias against Alabama Always and other applicants.
“The commissioners’ own words and actions show they are incapable of making a fair and unbiased decision on our application,” said Will Somerville, an attorney for Alabama Always. “When commission members publicly call us ‘the bad guys’ and state that their goal is to ensure we don’t ‘win,’ it’s clear our application is not being judged on merit. Their words and actions paint a disturbing picture of a regulatory body that has already made up its mind – regardless of the facts.”
But the challenge didn’t stop there. In tandem with the petition, Alabama Always filed a lawsuit in Montgomery County Circuit Court, accusing the AMCC of violating multiple provisions of the U.S. Constitution and Alabama law in its handling of the licensing process.
The company, which has led a steady drumbeat of legal challenges against the commission, is again calling out what it says is a pattern of lawbreaking and obfuscation. Despite court rulings confirming the need for due process and adherence to administrative procedures, the AMCC, the company argues, has consistently chosen delay and defiance over transparency and compliance.
“Rather than working with us to fix these serious violations of the law, the AMCC has stonewalled and vilified us,” Somerville said. “The bias displayed by the commission and their repeated failure to follow the law undermines the integrity of the entire process. In order to settle these issues fairly for all applicants in an administrative hearing, we call on the AMCC to recuse themselves and let a judge make these decisions. The people of Alabama deserve a medical cannabis program based on the merits of each application and Alabama law, not personal vendettas.”
The lawsuit outlines how the commission allegedly denied Alabama Always a license despite the company meeting all statutory criteria. It further alleges violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, along with breaches of the Alabama Open Meetings Act and the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act.
Alabama Always is asking the court to declare the current licensing process unlawful and stop any further licensing actions until a legal and impartial review can take place.
“Our goal is to create a stable, legally sound process that ensures patients can access the medical cannabis products they need as quickly as possible,” Somerville said.
As Alabama’s medical cannabis rollout continues to be mired in legal controversy, this latest challenge could mark a decisive turning point—if the courts agree that the commission has lost the public trust and its legal footing.
Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission, AMCC
Timeline of Failures
May 2021 – Gov. Ivey signs the Compassion Act, legalizing medical cannabis.
August 2021 – May 2022 – Over 9 months, AMCC holds monthly meetings but fails to draft licensing rules, establish a patient registry or recruit patients.
September 2022 – AMCC misses the deadline to award cannabis licenses as required by law.
October 2022 – AMCC Chairman Stokes announces AMCC has hired the University of South Alabama to evaluate license applications – paying over $1 million – despite Chairman Stokes being a board member of the University. This is a conflict of interest. AMCC also fails to allow public comment on draft rules or share a draft application with applicants.
June 12, 2023 – AMCC selects license winners in a closed-door meeting, violating the Alabama Open Meetings Act.
June 15, 2023 – AMCC rescinds awards due to “math errors” by the University of South Alabama.
August 2, 2023 – Chairman Stokes resigns after the Attorney General finds he violated the Cannabis Act by serving on both AMCC and the University of South Alabama board.
August 10, 2023 – AMCC again selects winners in a closed-door meeting, violating the Open Meetings Act.
September 2023 – Under public pressure, AMCC releases the University of South Alabama’s rankings but later abandons them due to widespread criticism.
October 26, 2023 – AMCC rescinds licenses again and adopts “emergency” ranking rules that violate multiple statutes.
December 12, 2023 – AMCC ranks applicants in private, using an illegal voting method, then ignores its own rankings and awards five licenses—three of which go to companies with no grow facilities, despite the law requiring readiness to cultivate within 60 days.
January 2024 – Present – Six companies file lawsuits challenging the AMCC’s process, stating that the AMCC failed to allow for hearings in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. A judge blocks the December 2023 licenses from being issued until a hearing occurs. AMCC refuses to negotiate or establish a hearing process and delays legal proceedings through appeals. The AMCC appeals prevented a resolution for 15 months, from January 2024 to the present.
October 2024 – February 2025 – A judge orders mediation, but no settlement is reached.
December 12, 2024 – At a public AMCC Commission meeting, during a discussion of pending litigation regarding licenses, Commissioners stated that companies filing legal protests of their actions were “the bad guys” and they needed to be sure “the bad guys don’t win.”
March 7, 2025 – The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals orders the AMCC to abide by the Administrative Procedure Act and hold hearings in regard to medical cannabis licenses, which the Commission had previously refused to do. This means companies who were “awarded” licenses by the AMCC will be required to appear at a hearing conducted by an Administrative Law Judge and prove that they satisfy the requirements that the Alabama Legislature set for getting a medical cannabis license.
April 3, 2025 – One of the four applicants protesting the AMCC license award process, Alabama Always, files a petition with the AMCC asking them to recuse themselves from the appointment of an Administrative Law Judge to hold the license hearings.
The AMCC’s troubled history reads more like a cautionary tale than a blueprint for responsible governance—from missed deadlines and backroom meetings to conflicts of interest and repeated legal defeats. Now, with Alabama Always calling for the commissioners’ recusal and a judge-led review of the licensing process, the state stands at a legal and moral crossroads. Whether the courts will force a long-overdue reckoning remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the credibility of Alabama’s medical cannabis program is hanging by a thread, and the AMCC’s pattern of delay, defiance and disdain for due process is no longer just a bureaucratic blunder—it’s a full-blown crisis of public trust.
