Alabama’s second medical cannabis dispensary opened Friday in Talladega. This new location is the second store for Callie’s Apothecary. The first Callie’s Apothecary opened in Montgomery three months ago.
Vince Schilleci is the owner of Callie’s Apothecary.
Schilleci said in a phone interview Thursday that the Talladega location will ease the travel burden for patients in the northern half of the state. He noted this helps until more dispensaries open. The new store serves patients who previously had to drive to Montgomery.
The Montgomery location opened in June. This was five years after the Legislature approved a medical cannabis program. The store reported doing about $15,000 worth of sales in its first week of operation.
Over 800 patients have made more than 1,300 transactions at the Montgomery location.
Sam Blakemore is the chair of the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission. He stated that the opening of medical cannabis dispensaries is a milestone for Alabama’s medical cannabis program. Blakemore said in a statement that having more dispensary locations throughout the state is vital for patient access and affordability.
John McMillan is the AMCC Director. He said in a statement that Alabama law tightly regulates businesses in the medical cannabis industry. McMillan noted that opening a dispensary is not an overnight process.
He appreciated the diligence of each of the licensees in moving forward with their plans.
Once the first round of licensees gets up and running, there will be 12 dispensaries across the state between four companies. At the program’s full capacity, there will be at least 37 dispensaries across the state, McMillan said.
GP6 Wellness expects to open BamaBloom dispensaries in Athens and Birmingham in September. A third location is planned for Etowah County. CCS of Alabama expects to open its third Callie’s Apothecary location in Bessemer in September.
RJK Holdings has locations planned in Oxford, Mobile, and Daphne. Three companies currently hold licenses: CCS of Alabama, LLC, GP6 Wellness, LLC, and RJK Holdings, LLC. A fourth license is pending litigation but is likely to go to Yellowhammer Medical Dispensaries, LLC.
The Alabama medical cannabis law was enacted in 2021. It allows registered physicians to recommend cannabis for about 15 medical conditions. These include cancer, depression, Parkinson’s Disease, PTSD, sickle-cell anemia, chronic pain, and terminal diseases.
Patients must get approval from their physician and enter the patient registry to buy products.
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