The Legislature states its findings and intent about creating an intrastate medical cannabis system in Alabama and limiting recreational marijuana use.
The Legislature finds all of the following: (1) It is not the intent of this chapter to provide for or enable recreational use of marijuana in the State of Alabama. (2) Medical research indicates that the administration of medical cannabis can successfully treat various medical conditions and alleviate the symptoms of various medical conditions. (3) There are residents in Alabama suffering from a number of medical conditions whose symptoms could be alleviated by the administration of medical cannabis products if used in a controlled setting under the supervision of a physician licensed in this state. (4) A majority of states have adopted a program providing for the administration of cannabis or cannabis derivatives for medical use for residents of their states. (5) Establishing a program providing for the administration of cannabis derivatives for medical use in this state will not only benefit patients by providing relief for pain and other debilitating symptoms, but also provide opportunities for patients with these debilitating conditions to function and have a better quality of life and provide employment and business opportunities for farmers and other residents of this state and revenue to state and local governments. (6) It is important to balance the needs of employers to have a strong functioning workforce with the needs of employees who will genuinely benefit from using cannabis for a medical use in a manner that makes the employee a productive employee. (7) The State of Alabama, therefore, wishes to create a health care market for medical cannabis. Notwithstanding any medical benefit of cannabis or cannabis derivatives, the recreational use of marijuana remains a significant threat to public health and safety. Allowing the cultivation, processing, dispensing, and use of cannabis for medical use without appropriate safeguards to prevent unlawful diversion for recreational use would pose a risk to public health and safety. (8) The power to regulate intrastate commerce is vested in the several states under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. (9) The Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees to the people rights not granted in the United States Constitution and reserves to the people of Alabama certain rights as they were understood at the time Alabama was admitted into statehood in 1819, and the guarantee of these rights is a matter of contract between the State of Alabama and its people and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Alabama and the United States in 1819. (10) It is the intent of the Legislature to create within Alabama a wholly intrastate system for the cultivation, processing, and distribution of medical cannabis in the interest of protecting its own residents from the danger that recreational cannabis poses. (11) Requiring licensees to prove a history of residency within the state for a period of time is directly related to avoiding an influx of companies engaged in the recreational production of marijuana; the state has a substantial interest in protecting its residents from the dangers of recreational marijuana. (12) Requiring that licensed cultivators, processors, transporters, and dispensaries of cannabis for medical use possess the requisite skill, expertise, resources, and capital to conduct operations as proposed in their business plans, and favoring those applicants who already possess the requisite skill, expertise, resources, and capital, promotes the goals of stability in licensing and reduces the risks of unlawful diversion and misuse. A lengthy base of agronomic experience will help achieve those goals, as will past experience participating in an agronomic supply chain. (13) Ensuring that all cultivation, processing, transportation, and dispensing operations remain intrastate in nature reduces the risk of exposing licensees to the potential penalties of federal law based on the activities of their licensed operations. (14) There is a pattern in states that have legalized the use of medical cannabis or medical marijuana; frequently, in the years following authorization of medical use, recreational marijuana is subsequently authorized. It is the intent of the Legislature to avoid a shift from medical cannabis usage to recreational marijuana usage. Therefore, safeguards to adequately protect the residents of this state are essential.