Alabama’s Medical Marijuana Commission met for the first time Aug. 12. The 14-member commission, created by legislation that passed in May, is tasked with rolling out medical cannabis policies for the state.

During the meeting, Dothan radiation oncologist Dr. Steven Stokes was elected commission chair. Madison County farmer Rex Vaughn, the Alabama Farmers Federation’s North Area vice president, was named vice chair. 

Other commission members are:

• Dr. William Saliski Jr., a pulmonologist from Montgomery
• Sam Blakemore, a pharmacist at Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham
• Dwight Gamble, a bank executive from Headland
• Dr. Angela Martin, a pediatrician from Anniston
• Dr. Eric Jensen, a biochemist from Brownsboro
• Loree Skelton, a healthcare lawyer from Birmingham
• Charles Price, a retired circuit judge from Montgomery
• Taylor Hatchett of Boozer Farms in Chilton County
• James Harwell, former executive director of the Alabama Nursery and Landscape Association
• Dr. Jerzy P. Szaflarski, director of the UAB Epilepsy Center in the Department of Neurology

Non-voting, advisory members are:

• Katherine Robertson, chief counsel for the attorney general’s office
• Dion Robinson, an Alabama Law Enforcement Agency senior special agent

The new state law allows people with qualifying medical conditions to purchase medical marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation. The commission has until Sept. 1, 2022, to set up rules to allow companies to apply for licenses to cultivate, produce, transport and sell products in Alabama.