Alabama Judge Dismisses Lawsuit From Parents Whose Children Could Benefit From Medical Marijuana

“Petitioners…do not have standing to bring a claim individually related to the patient registry.”

By Alander Rocha, Alabama Reflector

A state judge Monday dismissed a lawsuit from parents of children who are potentially eligible to receive medical cannabis who wanted to force the state to create a patient registry.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge James Anderson wrote in the order that the plaintiffs lacked the legal standing to bring the claim.

The plaintiffs, parents Dustin Chandler, Cristina Cain, Catherine Hall, Megan Jackson and Kari Forsyth, filed a lawsuit in April to direct  “the State of Alabama to uphold the Compassion Act’s requirement that the commission establish a patient and caregiver registry and to secure performance by defendants of this duty owed to the public.”

“The identity of qualified patients and caregivers will not be known, and the patient registry populated, until the [Alabama Board of Medical Examiners] authorizes physicians to identify and recommend medical cannabis and provide the necessary information regarding the qualified patients,” the dismissal order stated.

Anderson in his order also said that plaintiffs weren’t the right party to sue on behalf of the state, and that the lawsuit would have to have “participation or consent of the attorney general of Alabama.”

“Petitioners cannot demonstrate standing to invoke the Court’s jurisdiction because they are not the proper party to institute a proceeding for mandamus in the name of the State in this matter and because they do not have standing to bring a claim individually related to the patient registry,” the order stated.

A message seeking comment was left with the parents’ lawyer.

John McMillan, director of the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC), said in a phone interview Thursday that he was pleased with the court’s ruling, saying that this lawsuit could have been resolved with “a phone call to our office.”

“Until we get licenses issued in these other categories, [doctors] can’t start certifying patients and putting them in the registry,” McMillan said.

A motion to dismiss filed by AMCC stated that the AMCC had already established a patient registry and was maintaining it. The reason it was not populated, according to the commission, was due to a series of lawsuits filed by “disappointed license applicants” that resulted in delays due to restraining orders and injunctions.

The AMCC argued that those delays prevented them from issuing licenses, which is a prerequisite for the Board of Medical Examiners (BME) to certify physicians. Without certified physicians, patients cannot be registered.

The BME is responsible for certifying physicians to recommend medical cannabis, and physician certifications can only be issued after the AMCC has granted at least one license to a cultivator, processor, transporter and dispensary, or one integrated facility.

The petitioners’ response to the motion to dismiss countered that the commission’s website “expressively contradicts” their claim of a functioning registry, and that “the hold up with the medical board’s requirement is on the Commission.”

This story was first published by Alabama Reflector.

Photo elements courtesy of rawpixel and Philip Steffan.