The executive director of the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission will retire on October 29, commission Chairman Sam Blakemore said.
Blakemore told APR that McMillan informed him and others of his plans to step down.
But that apparently comes as a surprise to John McMillan, who has served as executive director since the commission’s inception. McMillan told APR on Monday that he had no plans to step down and that there “is still a lot of work to be done.”
Asked specifically whether he plans to retire or resign later this month, McMillan responded: “Not me.”
When told that others, including Blakemore, had been making calls to line up his replacement, McMillan said, “You can let them know that you heard it straight from the horse’s mouth.”
The conflicting accounts mark another oddity in the commission’s long, unusual history. Some six years after its creation, the commission is still working to issue its first integrated medical cannabis licenses. Applicants for the potentially multimillion-dollar licenses have presented their cases to an administrative law judge during an ongoing hearing and are awaiting his ruling.
The judge’s ruling would carry significant weight and could deter lawsuits over the commission’s next licensing decisions. Three previous attempts to award the licenses have failed because of the commission’s repeated failures to follow state law and required procedures. Those requirements include the current administrative hearing under the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act.
The legal jockeying over the past several years has also exposed questionable conduct by several people involved in awarding licenses. According to people familiar with the process, one was commission attorney Justin Aday, whom numerous attorneys have openly accused of being untruthful while answering questions under oath.
Three sources familiar with the phone calls said commission members floated Aday as a possible replacement for McMillan, at least temporarily.
Blakemore, however, said he now believes a committee should conduct the search for the next executive director if McMillan steps down.
“We need to do this above reproach and make sure that no one questions our motives,” Blakemore said.
