The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission awarded licenses Monday to 21 companies that will be part of the state’s new medical marijuana industry as cultivators, processors, transporters, dispensaries, and a testing lab.

The AMCC chose the licensees from 90 companies that applied.

Here are the companies chosen by category:

Integrated facility: Flowerwood Medical Cannabis, Southeast Cannabis Company, Sustainable Alabama, TheraTrue Alabama, Verano Alabama.

(Integrated licensees will be authorized to cultivate, process, transport, and dispense medical cannabis. Each integrated licensee can have up to five dispensaries).

Cultivator: Blackberry Farms; Gulf Shore Remedies; Pure by Sirmon Farms; Twisted Herb Cultivation.

Processor: 1819 Labs; Enchanted Green; Jasper Development Group, Inc.; Organic Harvest Lab.

Dispensary: CCS of Alabama; RJK Holdings AL: Statewide Property Holdings AL: Yellowhammer Medical Dispensaries.

Transporter: Alabama Secure Transport; International Communication; Tyler Van Lines.

Testing lab: Certus Laboratories.

The AMCC met Monday morning in Montgomery voted to go into a closed session to discuss the selections. The AMCC returned for an open meeting shortly after 1 p.m. The licensee names were read by category and the AMCC voted to approve the selections. The meeting room was filled with license applicants, lobbyists, media, and others.

The companies chosen have 14 days to pay their licensing fee. The AMCC plans to issue licenses on July 10.

“I think we had a fantastic process,” AMCC Director John McMillan said. “I just don’t know how it could have been any better. It worked out as well as we had hoped or maybe even better.

“We certainly are grateful to everybody that applied for any of these licenses. But we also are very happy and look forward to working with those who are awarded licenses.”

Asked when the earliest medical marijuana products could be available, McMillan said, “I still think late this year or worst-case early next year.”

McMillan was asked about the possibility of lawsuits filed by companies that were not chosen.

“You never know,” McMillan said. “We’ve had litigation already. There are some applicants that are certainly very disappointed, some very good applicants,” McMillan said. “But we had a system to evaluate them and we’re proud of that system and are willing to stand behind that system.”

The AMCC engaged the University of South Alabama to coordinate the application review process and recruit evaluator. USA used 66 evaluators with experience in the categories that were factors in ranking the applicants, such financial ability, facility suitability and infrastructure, security plan, personnel, quality control, and marketing and advertising.

Asked whether litigation could delay the availability of products, McMillan said it would depend on the judicial system.

“The end game of all this is to get (products to) patients that need these products, primarily for pain and other reasons,” McMillan said. “And so we hope everybody is going to come together now and recognize that primary goal and not do anything to obstruct our ability to make it happen,” McMillan said.

Under the state’s medical cannabis law, the AMCC could have awarded up to 12 cultivator licenses but instead awarded only four. AMCC Vice Chairman Rex Vaughn announced at the meeting that the AMCC intends to open a second offering of licenses for cultivators, secure transporters, and state testing laboratories. The law did not place a limit on the number of transporters or testing labs.

“The Commission looks forward to affording more opportunities for individuals to participate in the industry,” Vaughn said in a press release. “These businesses will not only serve Alabama patients but provide business and job opportunities for local communities.”

This story will be updated.