The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission is currently reviewing business license applications, but far fewer than expected. Of the 607 requests for licenses, only 94 companies actually submitted an application by Dec. 30.
One of the companies that successfully submitted an application said they may have a leg up, with years of industry knowledge from working in the hemp business.
"There's little to no difference honestly in the way that you process medical cannabis versus hemp," said Joey Robertson, president of Wagon Trail MedServ.
Robertson has been cultivating and processing hemp products at Wagon Trail Hemp Farms in Cullman since 2019.
"There's a lot of things we had to learn along the way that we didn't know in 2019. But now that we know them, we know that we're way ahead of the learning curve from a lot of other people who are going to come in and try to start new," said Robertson.
He is currently up against 38 other companies vying for one of five integrated facility licenses from the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission.
"I would say if there's 38 people who actually completed an application because of the difficulty of it, that they're real contenders. That they have a solid chance of getting a license," said Robertson.
The competition is far less than the 133 companies that originally requested an integrated facility license application. Robertson said his paperwork was more than 1,500 pages and included major financial investments on where his company plans to put five dispensing sites.
"We're holding those properties and paying for them for the next seven to eight months before we even find out if we get a license," he said.
If they do receive a license, everything is already in place.
"We can roughly run 1,000 pounds of material through this machine per day ... To make roughly 600 or 700 thousand end good products," said Robertson.
The main difference between his current facility and one approved by the AMCC will be increased security and regulations from the state. His company will go from a ten person operation, to more than 80 employees with Wagon Trail MedServ. He said all of the tedious work will be worth it, to help provide the state with new medicine for those in need.
The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission will issue business licenses on June 12.
