The statute states that if you are a public officer, you cannot be a board member. As a South Alabama Board of Trustees member, he is a public servant.
By Alander Rocha, Alabama Reflector
A lawsuit has been filed against the chair of the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission.
Kimberly Holcomb, in a lawsuit filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court on Tuesday, claims that Dr. Steven Stokes is not eligible to serve as a member of the AMCC since he served as a trustee of the University of South Alabama at the time he received his appointment in July 2021.
The lawsuit cites a state law that prohibits any AMCC members from being “current public officials.”
AMCC received a message on Wednesday asking for comment. USA had no representative available to comment on Wednesday’s lawsuit.
William Somerville said that in an interview on Wednesday, the lead attorney for the petition, William Somerville stated that Stokes had a conflict in his work with the Commission.
Somerville explained that “the statute states, if you are a public officer, you cannot be a board member of South Alabama.” As a trustee of South Alabama, he is a public servant. “We believe that is very clear.”
Somerville stated that Holcomb was a “regular citizen” who works at a Montgomery law firm, but she “solely” acted out of her conviction that it is in the interest of the citizens of Alabama.
Somerville stated that “she felt the process was not on track and wants to see medication available in Alabama for people to use.”
AMCC was to grant licenses in June to businesses who applied to take part in the state’s medical cannabis program. AMCC awarded licenses to certain companies, but those who were denied raised concerns about the transparency of the scoring.
The Commission announced that it would not be awarding licenses for a period of less than a week. It cited “scoring irregularities” which could have resulted in “catastrophic results” if licenses had been issued.
The University of South Alabama hired evaluators to review the initial license applications .
After the commission’s stay, Alabama Always, , one of those companies that was denied a medical marijuana license, filed a suit and claimed that the agency violated state law which legalized and established a market for medicinal cannabis in 2019.
The plaintiff in the Dr. Stokes lawsuit filed a motion on Wednesday to combine her case with that of Alabama Always. Somerville is the attorney for both cases.
This article was originally published by Alabama Reflector.
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The article Top Alabama medical marijuana regulator faces lawsuit seeking his removal first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
