State warns of cannabis fraud
Consumers Warned Against Businesses Claiming They Can Provide Evaluation and Pre-Registration for Medical Cannabis Use
MONTGOMERY – The Alabama Board of Medical Examiners is warning people about businesses that are claiming they can help individuals receive or get pre-registered for a state-issued medical cannabis card by having a physician evaluate them.
“There is really no service these companies can offer Alabamians at this time. No physician has yet been authorized to evaluate patients for medical cannabis in Alabama, and no one in Alabama can be pre-registered for a medical cannabis card,” said William Perkins, the Executive Director of the Board of Medical Examiners. “Alabamians should be warned against engaging with any business that claims otherwise.”
The state’s medical cannabis law that passed in May requires several steps before individuals can legally use and access medical cannabis. One of those steps is physicians who can certify patients to legally use medical cannabis must first be authorized to do so by the Board of Medical Examiners. The law tasks the Board with developing the criteria for the issuance of physician certifications for patients to use medical cannabis by December 1.
The Board of Medical Examiners has been in contact with the Alabama Attorney General’s Office about these businesses. Alabamians concerned they may have been scammed can contact the Consumer Complaint Hotline at the Alabama Attorney General’s Office at 1-800-392-5658 or go online to: www.alabamaag.gov/consumercomplaint.
