Pubdate: Thu, 08 Jan 2015
Source: Sun Times, The (Owen Sound, CN ON)
Page: A1
Copyright: 2015 Owen Sound Sun Times
Contact: http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/letters
Website: http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1544
Author: Denis Langlois

POT PLANT PROPOSAL WELCOME NEWS

Planned Medical Marijuana Facility Would Bring 100 Full-Time
Jobs

A Toronto-based company hopes to transform the remaining section of
the former PPG plant in Owen Sound into one of the largest medical
marijuana production facilities in North America.

The Canadian Bioceutical Corporation said the operation, which it
announced Wednesday, will go ahead as soon as the firm receives the
required licence from Health Canada.

The plant, once fully operational, would employ up to 100 people full
time, the company and city said in separate news releases.

"That's the start. Who knows where it could go? But a manufacturing
firm that employs 100 people is rare these days anywhere," Owen
Sound's economic development manager Steve Furness said in an interview.

The prospect of the new plant and resulting jobs is welcome news in
the city, which has seen several factories and other businesses close
in recent years.

Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy said along with the jobs inside the plant,
there will likely also be spin-off employment such as for
transportation and packaging.

"We need it badly. We need the jobs and we need the assessment of an
industrial plant again. These are the things that we're after," he
said in an interview.

Boddy, who has met with the company's president and CEO Scott Boyes,
said the firm believes the 155,000-square-foot building is the perfect
site for their new facility.

Boddy congratulated local developer Peter Van Dolder and the rest of
the ownership group at Peninsula Pro-Growth business park for
revitalizing the vacant factory "and making it possible to attract new
manufacturers" like Canadian Bioceutical.

The publicly traded company, formerly known as Allegiance Equity
Corporation, has been developing herbal and natural-based medicines
and supplements for more than 20 years.

The company plans to expand its business "into the production,
processing and distribution of medical marijuana and cannabisbased
medicinal products," it said in a news release.

The company noted in its release a B.C. Appeal Court ruling in August
that said limiting patients from access to other types of cannabis
medicines, aside from the dried variety, is unconstitutional. The
court gave Health Canada one year to amend the language of its medical
marijuana access regulations.

"When the regulations are amended later this year (as anticipated), we
hope to be ready to supply patients with multiple formats of high
quality cannabis medicines," the release said.

The planned offerings include cannabis extracts in the form of
capsules, oils, tinctures and creams. The firm's newly incorporated,
wholly-owned subsidiary Bio-Cannabis Products Ltd. recently submitted
an application to Health Canada to become a licenced producer under
the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations, which came into effect
on April 1.

It said it will take "significant time and cost" to obtain the
licence.

Meanwhile, Boyes said the company has signed a letter of intent to
lease the former PPG building, which he called ideal for the proposed
new operation.

"The region offers a capable labour force with a strong small town
work ethic, while business costs and taxes are favourable compared to
many other jurisdictions in the province. But, just as important, we
also found a highly supportive municipal government and community
anxious to encourage the growth of new business and employment," he
said.

Boyes said the company will start right away to "adapt the building to
support the cultivation, processing, packaging and distribution of
medical cannabis and cannabinoid-based products."

Owen Sound city council passed a motion last month to kick-start a
process to establish areas of the city where Health Canada-approved
medical marijuana production facilities are permitted. It approved a
staff recommendation to hold a public meeting on a proposed zoning
bylaw amendment that, if approved, would allow the buildings on
industrial lands that meet certain criteria.

The proposed areas include the former PPG plant land.

At the time Owen Sound officials said the city was being proactive by
starting the process on its own. They acknowledged receiving some
inquiries from potential medical marijuana production firms but said
no formal applications had been received.

Health Canada introduced regulations in June 2013 to permit
larger-scale medical marijuana production facilities. The producers
must be licensed by Health Canada and the facilities must meet certain
requirements for quality control and security.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D