Second Alabama medical cannabis store set to open in Talledega

Alabama’s second medical cannabis dispensary is set to open Friday in Talladega about three months after the first storefront opened in Montgomery.

The dispensary will be the second location of Callie’s Apothecary, the first medical cannabis dispensary to open in the state. When the program is fully up and running, there will be 12 dispensaries across the state between four companies. 

“The opening of medical cannabis dispensaries is a milestone for Alabama’s medical cannabis program,” said Sam Blakemore, chair of the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC), in a statement. “Having more dispensary locations throughout the state is vital for patient access and affordability.”

Vince Schilleci, owner of Callie’s Apothecary, said in a phone interview Thursday that the Talledega location will ease the travel burden for patients in the northern half of the state until more dispensaries open.

“Hopefully it’ll help patients that have been on the fence of whether or not they wanted to try this, but didn’t want to drive to Montgomery. Perhaps it’s a little bit closer for them now,” he said. “We’re just happy to now have multiple locations in the state to make it a little bit easier for those patients that are having to travel.” 

The Montgomery location opened in June, five years after the Legislature approved a medical cannabis program and after several rounds of litigation over the state program, particularly in the granting of licenses. 

The store reported doing about $15,000 worth of sales in its first week of operation. According to the release, over 800 patients have made more than 1,300 transactions at the Montgomery location. 

Three of the companies, CCS of Alabama, LLC, GP6 Wellness, LLC, and RJK Holdings, LLC, have licenses. A fourth license is pending litigation, but is likely to go to Yellowhammer Medical Dispensaries, LLC.

According to the statement, 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, according to the statement.

The Alabama medical cannabis law, enacted in 2021, allows registered physicians to recommend cannabis for about 15 medical conditions, including cancer, depression, Parkinson’s Disease, PTSD, sickle-cell anemia, chronic pain, and terminal diseases. 

People who suffer from the qualifying conditions must get approval from their physician and enter the patient registry in order to buy products at a dispensary.

The approved product forms are restricted to tablets, tinctures, patches, oils, and gel cubes (only peach flavor), with raw plant material and smokable forms remaining prohibited.

“Alabama law tightly regulates businesses in the medical cannabis industry and rightfully so,” said AMCC Director John McMillan in a statement. “Because of this, opening a dispensary is not an overnight process, but we appreciate the diligence of each of the licensees in moving forward with their plans to open first-class dispensaries across the state.”

At the program’s full capacity, there will be at least 37 dispensaries across the state, McMillan said.