MONTGOMERY — Companies hoping to secure a medical cannabis license in Alabama will begin presenting to the awarding commission next month. The public will also be allowed to submit comments in favor of or opposed to particular applicants.

The new process comes amid an embattled months-long licensing process by the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission plagued with lawsuits. In June, the commission initially awarded 21 licenses among 90 applicants, which have been rescinded three times since.

Upon implementing the new procedures, the commission hopes to mitigate challenges expressed in lawsuits and provide more transparency in the process of getting medical cannabis products to Alabama patients in need.

“This action paves a path for us to award business licenses by the end of the year,” AMCC Chairman Rex Vaughn said. “We have an aggressive timeline in front of us, but we feel that it is of the utmost importance that we get this industry started in an expeditious manner for both the applicants and patients.”

In 2021, Alabama became the 37th state to legalize medical marijuana, allowing certain illnesses and conditions — such as cancer, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy and panic disorder— to be treated with the medication through pill form, capsules, creams, oil and other forms. Most patients will be allowed up to 50 mg of legal cannabis per day and after a few months a physician would be able to increase the dosage if necessary.

Before the attempt by the commission to award licenses Aug. 10, all applicants had been rescored and reassessed by University of South Alabama accountants and independent accountants.

According to the newly adopted procedures of the commission, those scores will still be used in the decision process and applicants will also be able to make a presentation to the commission regarding matters identified in their application and their score results.

Per the statute, the commission can award up to 12 cultivator licenses, four processor licenses, four dispensary licenses, five integrated facility licenses and an unspecified number of secure transport and state testing laboratory licenses.

The updated timeline from the commission anticipates awarding cultivator, processor, dispensary, secure transporter, and state testing laboratory licenses Dec. 1 and integrated facility licenses on Dec. 12.

The commission’s new decision process will allow applicants the opportunity to respond to preliminary “pass/fail” items identified by the commission and submit exhibits that were not previously filed due to the file size limitation in the application portal. The procedures also narrow the scope of information that may be redacted from applications.

Presentations will be open to the public and the schedule is subject to change, dependent on the number of 90 applicants that opt to present to the commission.

The current presentation schedule is as follows:

Nov. 27: Cultivator and State Testing Laboratory Applicants

Nov. 28: Secure Transporter and Processor Applicants

Nove. 29: Dispensary Applicants

Dec. 4-8: Integrated Facility Applicants

Submitted applications and the public comments portal can be found online at https://amcc.alabama.gov/cannabis-business-applicants/.