Cullman County voters rejected a ballot referendum Tuesday, Nov. 6 which would have placed an additional 15 percent tax on local medical cannabis sales.

Local Amendment 1 — initiated by a bill carried through the Alabama Legislature by the Cullman County Delegation in 2023 — would have increased the total tax rate on medical cannabis products sold in Cullman County to more than 30 percent. Sixty-three percent of the revenue generated from the tax would have funded additional personnel Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker said were needed to work through an extensive backlog of cases. The remaining 33 percent would be given to the Delegation in order to fund local mental health initiatives.

As the first ballots began trickling into the Cullman County Courthouse just under an hour after polls closed on Tuesday, Nov. 5, those voting in favor of the amendment took a sizable lead of more than 11 percentage points. However, as more ballots began to be counted, the vote almost immediately began trending in the opposite direction and by 8:30 p.m. the no-votes had overtaken the majority.

Joey Robertson, head of operations and public relation for Wagon Trail Hemp Farm, was present as the final ballot box of the evening was counted around 10:30 p.m. With only provisional ballots — which are typically counted the week following an election — remaining, he said he was pleased to see the measure had failed by 1,091 votes (No-19,660. Yes-18,569).

“Obviously we’re excited to see these results. We’re also grateful for all of the support we’ve received from everyone and for them to have wanted to learn more about this amendment and eventually vote against it which will allow patients in Cullman County to have more affordable healthcare with this new tool,” Robertson said.

Amanda Taylor, a local medical cannabis patient advocate, has been active in advocating against the proposal due to the barrier she said it would create between patients and their medicine. Speaking to The Times Wednesday, Nov. 6, she pointed to those early votes favoring the tax as validation in the power of educating voters.

Referencing a series of articles and an editorial by The Times detailing the proposal and its effect on patients, Taylor said, “If you look at the absentee ballots you see where the numbers were at before the people became truly aware and educated.

“The difference between those and those that were cast after this issue was brought to the public’s attention — you can clearly see that the key was education. By educating the people it was truly put into their hands and we the people said ‘Lord no, this isn’t right.'”