(Updated) Local business denied medical cannabis Integrated Facility License
Published 5:14 pm Monday, June 12, 2023
- Distillation equipment used to refine product is seen in July 2022 at Wagon Trail Hemp Farms in Dodge City. The business has operated a hemp processing facility — minus the production of medicinal cannabis — since 2019.
UPDATED 6-13-2023 1:30 pm: A previous version of this story stated “a local act passed to capitalize on the potential sale of medical cannabis in Cullman County appears also to have been rendered moot…”
In fact, two local businesses — CCS of Alabama, LLC and Statewide Property Holdings AL, LLC — were awarded dispensary licenses according to information provided by the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission.
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Alabama’s new commission set to oversee the state’s first foray into the legalized sale of medical cannabis awarded its initial round of licenses on Monday, spurning the application of one Cullman County business along with dozens of other unsuccessful applicants statewide.
Cullman’s County’s Wagon Trail Hemp Farms was among the long list of applicants for the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission’s comprehensive Integrated Facility License, but wasn’t among the initial batch of only five recipients in the category statewide — despite months, said managing partner Joey Robertson, of careful preparation in putting together a thoroughly-documented application package.
Speaking by phone while driving back from Montgomery, Robertson said he’s disappointed that Wagon Trail was not among the five state businesses chosen from among more than three dozen applicants in its category, though he added that his business plans to appeal the commission’s decision.
“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to even consider an appeal. I’m a little bit shocked today,” said Robertson. “We weren’t able to get our license today; other groups did. We’ll carry through on the appeal process, but that’s about as far as we can go with it.”
Wagon Trail’s application for an Integrated Facility License aimed for an all-encompassing permit from the state, with the category netting the highest annual licensing fee ($50,000) along with a rigorous dossier of documentation for all phases of its intended coverage, from cannabis cultivation to sale of the end medicinal product in up to three company-administered dispensaries. The five business that did receive licenses in the category include Southeast Cannabis Company, LLC, Flowerwood Medical Cannabis, LLC, Verano Alabama, LLC, Sustainable Alabama, LLC, and TheraTrue Alabama, LLC.
Editor’s note: This story was clarified June 13 to include two Cullman County businesses.
