HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commision hit a milestone Tuesday. "So, it'll definitely be going will go down in history on 12- 12- 23 where we finally did issue out the last round of the license," Chey Garrigan, founding director of the Alabama Cannabis Industry Association shares.
The final five licenses being awarded today in the vertically integrated category, took a series of tries to get right. "Why this is so important is because it's not been an easy process for anyone that's been involved," Garrigan shares. "When are we going to get a license? When can we start? When can we start putting some seeds in the ground? When can we start servicing patients, things like that. There's just so many different questions that really, we haven't had the answers to. So today what they did is they did finally make the decision."
With the process finally behind them, they can now focus on the next phase. "With all the delays, you know, and now that the licenses have been issued, it's more of like we're we have to assess where we are right now," Garrigan explains. "You know how many doctors, where the doctors are located at, along with we're going to be putting together outreach programs where there's still a lot of people here in Alabama that aren't even aware that we have the option of medical cannabis, and they have a lot of questions."
The wait to be serviced won't be as long as the previous process. "I would like to say as soon as reasonably possible; we're going to have product out there on the shelf because these guys too, have already got they've been paying leases on locations," Garrigan shares So they're ready to go. These guys have been ready to go for quite some time."
With the process moving along in Alabama, what does that mean for the Rocket City? They're working it out. I've spoken to Huntsville a lot," Garrigan shares. "They're just you know, like a lot of people...kind of cautious," Garrigan explains. "Wanting to make sure that they've got, you know, got it in the right area. Like I think they're trying to keep it in the medical district and so they're being accommodating. I do believe we're going to have something in Huntsville as far as a dispensary operation. I know we are so; we're going to have some things up in Huntsville."