One of the best medical marijuana experts in the country is leaving the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission.
The head of the UAB Epilepsy Center, Jerzy Szaflarski, M.D., Ph.D., told people on Friday that he was stepping down. A spokesperson for UAB also stated that Szaflarski had quit.
Two people who spoke to APR said that Szaflarski’s official reason for quitting is that he is too busy with other duties and study projects. Both, however, said that Szaflarski is tired of the ongoing issues with the AMCC and the many legal problems that have made it hard to get people who need medical marijuana what they need.
Without a doubt, Szaflarski’s work on the AMCC was significant and important. Szaflarski was seen as one of the most important people on the panel because he was one of the best researchers in the country on how well medical marijuana works and the lead researcher on many studies at UAB. Lawmakers in Alabama often looked to his work and help when they were writing and trying to get Alabama’s medical marijuana law passed.
Lawmakers are trying to get the AMCC out of court and the process for licensing medical marijuana back on track at the same time that Szaflarski quit. Last week, new laws were presented that would increase the number of licenses available in many areas. For example, the number of integrated licenses would triple to 15. A lot of businesses that want integrated licenses have sued the Commission because its licensing process is clearly flawed and not fair to all of them.
But now there is strong opposition to even that new law. Lawmakers were worried and skeptical about the big changes at a public hearing on Wednesday. The Alabama Cannabis Coalition, an advocacy group that helped get previous laws passed, pulled its support for the new bill, calling it “a very suspicious move” to stop lawsuits against the AMCC.
