ALABAMA (WHNT) – The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) voted on Thursday to impose a stay on the second round of licenses that were awarded on August 10.

That would be on top of the court-ordered stay already in place after an Open Meetings Act Violation was alleged in a suit filed against the commission by one of the companies that had its awarded license revoked in the second round.

The licenses that were awarded on August 10, will not be issued on September 7, as scheduled.

“The Commission has a singular goal of ensuring that medical cannabis products reach patients in need of them. The Commission’s action today, while pausing the process, furthers that goal by attempting to avoid additional legal challenges,” Chairman Rex Vaughn said in a statement. “We understand that litigation is an obstacle just as it has been in every other state that has a medical cannabis program. However, we appreciate and join in the Court’s commitment to seeing that Alabama’s program becomes operational sooner rather than later.”

With the stay in place, applicants who were awarded a license on August 10, will not have to pay license fees.

“I am confident in the process that the Commission has used to evaluate applications and select licensees,” said Vice Chairman Sam Blakemore in a statement. “Nonetheless, I welcome reasonable discussions with interested parties about the process as directed by the Court and I am hopeful that we will soon move forward with our program.”

This stay will remain in effect until lifted by the AMCC. Once the stay is lifted, the licensing process will resume for what would be the third time.

The hearing on the Open Meetings Act violation will be held on September 6.