Spurned Alabama medical marijuana company sues state in federal court

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For its next act, the yearslong saga of medical marijuana licensing in Alabama will head to federal court.

Alabama Always, a prospective integrated operator based in Montgomery and one of the companies rejected by the state Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) for a state business permit in 2023, filed a lawsuit against the commission in U.S. District Court on Tuesday.

The suit accuses AMCC Chair Rex Vaughn and commission members of being “motivated by a desire to punish Alabama Always for filing lawsuits” challenging the licensing process.

The lawsuit requests a trial by jury that could award damages, including lost revenue and income.

The AMCC told Montgomery TV station WSFA that it’s still reviewing the lawsuit and could not comment.

According to the suit, Alabama Always claims it “raised $15 million in paid-in capital” and “built a multi-million-dollar cultivation facility in order to meet the new program’s stringent requirements that licensees be able to provide medical cannabis within 60 days of receiving a license.”

But, the suit alleges, the AMCC has “refused to fairly consider Alabama Always’s application for a license.”

As evidence of bias and bad faith, the suit references interviews and public statements that appear to criticize Alabama Always and other litigants.

During a May 2024 appearance on Alabama Public Television, Vaughn called the suits “frivolous” and claimed they were a “delaying tactic,” the suit alleges.

And at a December 2024 commission meeting, commission member William Saliski Jr. appears to refer to Alabama Always as “the bad guys” – a comment the suit references several times.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill legalizing MMJ in the state in 2021, but in the four years since, the program has sunk into a morass of false starts and multiple lawsuits.

The chaos is at least partially responsible for the growth in Alabama of hemp-derived THC alternatives to medical marijuana, which Ivey moved to curtail this week by signing a bill restricting hemp in the state.

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