Month: January 2024

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A judge temporarily blocked Alabama from issuing licenses to medical marijuana dispensaries amid an ongoing legal battle over how the state selected the winning companies.

Montgomery Circuit Judge James Anderson issued a temporary restraining order late Thursday to stop the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission from issuing licenses to the four dispensaries. The licenses will be on hold while he hears a challenge to the selection process.

The court order is the latest development in an ongoing legal battle that has plagued the start of Alabama’s medical marijuana program. Alabama lawmakers voted to allow medical marijuana in the state in 2021. Commission officials are aiming to make the products available in 2024 after a series of delays.

SEE ALSO: Alabama aims to get medical marijuana program started in 2024

SEE ALSO: Alabama begins tax exemption for overtime pay with new year

The ruling affects only the dispensaries. Brittany Peters, a spokeswoman for the commission, said Friday that the commission has issued licenses to other companies that were selected to cultivate, transport, and test marijuana.

The commission next month is set to issue the coveted “integrated” licenses for multifunctional companies that grow, transport and sell medical marijuana. Anderson has not yet ruled on a

Read More Here...

Dozens of sites could become eligible for recreational cannabis shops in Riverhead if the town board adopts a new zoning recommendation from the municipality’s marijuana advisory committee.

The committee has pitched allowing the pot dispensaries to be located within 1,000 feet of homes along the town’s major commercial arteries, according to Councilman Ken Rothwell, the committee’s leader.

Currently, town zoning requires the shops to be 1,000 feet away from residences. They also have to be 1,000 feet from schools and libraries, 500 feet from town facilities, playgrounds and churches and 2,500 feet from each other.

The new recommendation doesn’t put any limit on how close shops in the commercial areas could be to the homes if the shops meet other zoning restrictions.

While the current zoning leaves five sites available for dispensaries, both Rothwell and Deputy Town Attorney Annemarie Prudenti have estimated the proposed revision could provide 144 potential locations.

The marijuana advisory committee recently went back to the drawing board to look at zoning after pushback about a lack of available shop sites from the town’s business advisory committee and marijuana entrepreneurs eyeing property in Riverhead.

The state adopted regulations that went into effect in October under which potential recreational marijuana store owners can file an appeal if they feel a municipality has “unreasonably impracticable” zoning or other requirements.

Under the regulations, applicants who feel

Read More Here...