Alabama: Medical cannabis sales begin!

It has been a long road to Alabama’s medical cannabis program launching, with several years of lawsuits. But, almost five years after its medical cannabis bill became law, the first patient has been served!

Callie’s Apothecary had a soft opening in Montgomery and officially opens on Thursday, June 4. The location is at 5232 Atlanta Highway, Montgomery, Alabama 36109. The hours of operation will be 10am-6pm Monday through Friday. The company expects to open two more locations in the coming months.

You can find the counties that will have dispensaries here. It is expected that more dispensaries will begin to open over the course of this summer.

The Alabama Compassionate Act, SB 46, was signed into law in 2021 by Gov. Kaye Ivey (R). Our overview of the law, including qualifying conditions, can be found here. Alabama has one of the most restrictive medical cannabis laws in the country. No legislation has been submitted to expand the program since SB 46 became law.

To qualify, a patient must be diagnosed with an approved condition by a physician who is certified to recommend cannabis. There are now 35 medical professionals certified to recommend cannabis for patients. After the doctor has recommended cannabis, a patient must create a profile in the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission’s portal. Instructions for next steps can be found here. Caregiver instructions can be found here.