United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions has harsh words for the use of marijuana.

He wrote the criticism into a prepared speech for law enforcement officers in Richmond, Virginia.

In the speech, Sessions describes marijuana as "only slightly less awful" than heroin. After the speech he told reporters "medical marijuana has been hyped--maybe too much".

Dustin Chandler of Hoover calls the attorney general's comments disappointing. Chandler's daughter, Carly, was born with a neurological disorder. In 2014, Carly's Law was passed in Alabama, allowing similar patients to access cannabidiol oil through UAB.

Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the medical cannabis patient advocacy group, recently released its annual report assigning letter grades to states based on the proficiency of their medical cannabis programs. The good news: 39 states improved their medical cannabis laws last year. The bad news: Six states have yet to legalize any form of medical cannabis, including CBD products, and many others still struggle with restrictive laws, limited access or daunting prices.

Unlike most states, Alabama does not allow the medical use of marijuana. But the state has recently passed laws allowing the use of some marijuana-derived extracts that can't get you high.

And Mark Coleman's testimony on his daughter's use of cannabidiol oil makes a compelling case for the drug's benefits.

Coleman's 15-year-old daughter, Mary Ann, has a severe case of autism. She doesn't speak and frequently tries to hurt herself - pinching her arms, slamming her head, biting whatever she can get into her mouth.

Then the Alabama legislature passed Leni's Law, which went into effect June 1, 2016, and Mary Ann's life improved "tenfold" since she began taking the CBD oil, her father said.

In 2008, real estate developers Tripp Keber and Chuck Smith owned and operated an upscale RV resort just outside Gulf Shores with aspirations of building a national chain.

But the recession would see those dreams dashed, and in 2009 the business partners took a risk and diversified their investment portfolio in a new way by putting money into an up-and-coming cannabis company in Colorado.

Business was good, and they soon realized that legal pot was quickly becoming a booming industry. So in June 2010, they took the next step, incorporating a humble Denver-based cannabis start-up called Dixie Elixirs.

As legalized marijuana spreads across the United States, most observers remain skeptical that recreational marijuana will be legal anytime soon in Alabama.

"We're the Bible Belt," said Gary Hetzel, a retired warden at Donaldson and Holman prisons and now executive director of the Alabama Therapeutic Education Facility. "We're too conservative."

Marijuana activists are hopeful, but realistic.