Medical marijuana grower plans to open in North Country to cash in on state's budding pot industry:
Syracuse, N.Y. - A medical marijuana grower wants to set up shop in a tiny Northern New York town near the Canadian border as competition is about to heat up in the state's legal pot business.
A former shoe and clothing factory in Bombay, a Franklin County town with a population of 1,357, could become home to a pot production facility where marijuana is grown indoors and converted into oils and other forms to be prescribed by doctors. The business group behind the proposal hopes to land one of five licenses the state will award to growers.
The group is entering what's likely to be intense competition to cash in on the state's new pot industry. Counties are expected to vie for new tax dollars marijuana will generate.
Some Franklin County officials were initially leery about the idea. "It has taken a little getting used to for some officials," said John C. Tubbs, chief executive officer of the Franklin County Industrial Development Agency. "People need to understand this is akin to a pharmaceutical facility, with stringent regulatory and security controls, and safeguards that will be in place for production and distribution."
The proposed North Country pot plant is the brainchild of North Country Natural Solutions which has five investors. That group plans to team up with a Canadian company that already grows medical marijuana.
John McLaughlin, a Boston lawyer and one of the principals in North Country Natural Solutions, said the proposed plant will be a very sophisticated, well-secured operation.
"This place will be guarded like Fort Knox," McLaughlin said. "It (medical marijuana) would leave the building in the equivalent of a Brinks truck."
McLaughlin expects plenty of competition from other groups seeking licenses.
New York legalized medical marijuana in June, but has yet to issue regulations or begin accepting applications from growers. The law allows doctors to prescribe marijuana for 10 conditions and does not allow patients to smoke the drug. Under the law, up to five organizations will be licensed to grow, manufacture, distribute and dispense marijuana for medical use in New York. Each licensed grower will be allowed to operate up to four dispensaries statewide. Medical marijuana is not expected to be available in New York until January, 2016 at the earliest, according to Julie Netherland of the Drug Policy Alliance, a national organization pushing for marijuana legalization.
"We imagine the competition for those licenses will be pretty fierce," Netherland said. "There have been a lot of industry groups that have expressed interest in getting into the business in New York."
Gaia Plant-Based Medicine, which grows marijuana in Colorado, is expected to seek a license. Gaia, which recently changed its name to Mindful, provided input to state legislators, helped them draft New York's medical marijuana law and lobbied for its passage.
McLaughlin said other groups interested in getting licenses may be better capitalized than his. "But I think we can make a good case that at least one of them should come to the North Country," he said.
His partners, whom he would not identify, include a resident of St. Lawrence County, two residents of Franklin County and a resident of Ontario, Canada.
His group recently signed a letter of intent to form a joint venture with Affinor Growers, a publicly traded Canadian company that grows medical marijuana in the state of Washington. Affinor uses vertical farming, a technique where plants are grown indoors in tall rows without pesticides. It also grows strawberries, spinach and lettuce.
McLaughlin said North Country will not be able to come up with a good estimate of the cost of launching a marijuana business in Bombay until it sees state regulations that spell out in detail how these facilities must be operated. He estimated the plant would cost "several million dollars" and employ 15 to 20 people.
Medical marijuana could be a potential pot of gold for Franklin County or any county that lands a licensed grower or dispensary.
That's because the medical marijuana law calls for the state to impose a 7 percent tax on marijuana sales. Counties where medical marijuana is manufactured will get 22.5 percent of those tax revenues, while counties with dispensaries will also collect 22.5 percent.
"We need partners like North Country Natural Solutions in Franklin County, not just to provide investment, but also to diversify the economy and show others what can be done," Tubbs said.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/1..._town.html
Syracuse, N.Y. - A medical marijuana grower wants to set up shop in a tiny Northern New York town near the Canadian border as competition is about to heat up in the state's legal pot business.
A former shoe and clothing factory in Bombay, a Franklin County town with a population of 1,357, could become home to a pot production facility where marijuana is grown indoors and converted into oils and other forms to be prescribed by doctors. The business group behind the proposal hopes to land one of five licenses the state will award to growers.
The group is entering what's likely to be intense competition to cash in on the state's new pot industry. Counties are expected to vie for new tax dollars marijuana will generate.
Some Franklin County officials were initially leery about the idea. "It has taken a little getting used to for some officials," said John C. Tubbs, chief executive officer of the Franklin County Industrial Development Agency. "People need to understand this is akin to a pharmaceutical facility, with stringent regulatory and security controls, and safeguards that will be in place for production and distribution."
The proposed North Country pot plant is the brainchild of North Country Natural Solutions which has five investors. That group plans to team up with a Canadian company that already grows medical marijuana.
John McLaughlin, a Boston lawyer and one of the principals in North Country Natural Solutions, said the proposed plant will be a very sophisticated, well-secured operation.
"This place will be guarded like Fort Knox," McLaughlin said. "It (medical marijuana) would leave the building in the equivalent of a Brinks truck."
McLaughlin expects plenty of competition from other groups seeking licenses.
New York legalized medical marijuana in June, but has yet to issue regulations or begin accepting applications from growers. The law allows doctors to prescribe marijuana for 10 conditions and does not allow patients to smoke the drug. Under the law, up to five organizations will be licensed to grow, manufacture, distribute and dispense marijuana for medical use in New York. Each licensed grower will be allowed to operate up to four dispensaries statewide. Medical marijuana is not expected to be available in New York until January, 2016 at the earliest, according to Julie Netherland of the Drug Policy Alliance, a national organization pushing for marijuana legalization.
"We imagine the competition for those licenses will be pretty fierce," Netherland said. "There have been a lot of industry groups that have expressed interest in getting into the business in New York."
Gaia Plant-Based Medicine, which grows marijuana in Colorado, is expected to seek a license. Gaia, which recently changed its name to Mindful, provided input to state legislators, helped them draft New York's medical marijuana law and lobbied for its passage.
McLaughlin said other groups interested in getting licenses may be better capitalized than his. "But I think we can make a good case that at least one of them should come to the North Country," he said.
His partners, whom he would not identify, include a resident of St. Lawrence County, two residents of Franklin County and a resident of Ontario, Canada.
His group recently signed a letter of intent to form a joint venture with Affinor Growers, a publicly traded Canadian company that grows medical marijuana in the state of Washington. Affinor uses vertical farming, a technique where plants are grown indoors in tall rows without pesticides. It also grows strawberries, spinach and lettuce.
McLaughlin said North Country will not be able to come up with a good estimate of the cost of launching a marijuana business in Bombay until it sees state regulations that spell out in detail how these facilities must be operated. He estimated the plant would cost "several million dollars" and employ 15 to 20 people.
Medical marijuana could be a potential pot of gold for Franklin County or any county that lands a licensed grower or dispensary.
That's because the medical marijuana law calls for the state to impose a 7 percent tax on marijuana sales. Counties where medical marijuana is manufactured will get 22.5 percent of those tax revenues, while counties with dispensaries will also collect 22.5 percent.
"We need partners like North Country Natural Solutions in Franklin County, not just to provide investment, but also to diversify the economy and show others what can be done," Tubbs said.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/1..._town.html
