Pubdate: Thu, 24 Apr 2014
Source: Sun Times, The (Owen Sound, CN ON)
Page: Front Page
Copyright: 2014 Owen Sound Sun Times
Contact: http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/letters
Website: http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1544
Author: Rob Gowan

LEGAL POT WILL CREATE JOBS

Municipality Sells Land In Business Park To Medical Marijuana
Company

A medical marijuana production company is setting up shop in
Hanover.

Hanover council passed a bylaw at a special meeting Tuesday night to
sell 3.7 acres in the town's business park to Alternative Medical
Solutions Inc., which plans to build a 45,000- to 50,000-square-foot
facility to grow medical marijuana.

Mayor Kathi Maskell said the company will bring new tax dollars and
jobs to town.

"We are looking at probably 40 full-time jobs to start and that is a
good news story for any of us in southwestern Ontario," Maskell said
Wednesday.

"We are pleased it is coming, we are pleased about the jobs and we
look forward to the plant moving forward."

Maskell said the town and company have been negotiating the sale for a
couple of weeks. The selling price was "market value" - $30,000 per
acre.

The company has first right of refusal on an additional 2.6 acres
adjacent to the land being purchased.

"This is a good company to work with," said Maskell. "They are very
open and they have been easy to work with."

Before March 31, Canadians who required medical marijuana were able to
apply to receive the drug from Health Canada, produce it themselves or
designate someone to cultivate it on their behalf through a special
licence.

As of April 1, the only way to access marijuana for medical purposes
is through commercial, licensed producers. On its website Health
Canada lists 13 licensed producers under the "marihuana for medical
purposes regulations." Health Canada media relations officer Sara
Lauer wrote in an e-mail Wednesday that Health Canada could not
disclose information related to applications to produce medical
marijuana for privacy reasons, but added Health Canada has not put a
cap on the number of producers it will licence.

Maskell said the land purchase was the last major step for Alternative
Medical Solutions before construction of its facility starts.

"They are getting very close to the end," said Maskell. "The director
who was with us last night told us the instructions and the sort of
hurdles they had to jump through are in a manual several inches thick.

"This isn't something you decide in one week you are going to do. They
have been working on this for a long, long time."

Maskell, who declined to provide contact information for Alternative
Medical Solutions, said the plant in Hanover will produce 15 strains
of medical marijuana.

Maskell said the process is highly regulated and the marijuana the
company will grow should not be mistaken for the drug bought and sold
on the street.

"This is not the smoking pot kind of thing, this is medical marijuana
which has been proven to alleviate pain and help in many, many
different ailments," said Maskell, who listed end-of-life pain,
serious chronic pain and back pain as some applications.

Maskell said the facility will be extremely secure with 12-foot
fences, no windows, very few doors and 100 cameras. There will be no
visits to the facility, which is regulated by Health Canada.

"We are comfortable because it is Health Canada," said Maskell. "We
are comfortable because of all of the things that are in place to make
it secure."

Maskell said the company had originally approached the town looking
for a building, but the town didn't have one.

"We did inform them . . . that we do have good land for purchase in
our new business park and maybe an option was to build new and that
has been the route they are taking, which is good."

Maskell said no zoning changes were needed for the company to
establish the plant in the business park.

"Their location is ideal and we are pleased to be working with them
and having them there," said Maskell.

Late last year a different company proposed to set up a medical
marijuana growing operation in Hanover, but that proposal is now dead.

Maskell said Hanover has been aggressive in its marketing to bring
businesses to the community that will employ the people of the area
and the new facility meets those requirements. She said the town had
not been pursuing a medical marijuana facility specifically.

"It just happens that this is another business," said Maskell. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D