If Target is Alberta this is the one. Not That it really matters but for those looking this would be the only Alberta facility that fits the criteria.
Cremona-area marijuana facility nearly operational
200,000 medicinal-grade plants to be housed in facility
Tuesday, Sep 09, 2014 10:17 am | BY Kevin Vink
The Cremona area in Mountain View County will soon have its very own medical marijuana production facility, which is expected to hire up to 50 full-time employees by the time the operation is in full swing, say officials.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. – which changed its name from Releaf Inc. after patent issues arose – has been working on construction of a facility that will house over 200,000 medicinal-grade plants spanning a wide variety of different strains and strengths, says Aurora CEO Terry Booth.
“(The construction is) going great,” said Booth. “We’re looking forward to our Health Canada inspection in the next week, and we have some consultants coming in to do a pre-audit on us as well.”
Once Aurora begins operations, he said there will be a public opening of the facility, with both area residents and politicians invited to the event.
Production is expected to start by mid-September, he added.
“We’re actually operational now – as far as propagation and starting of the plants but we have to wait on that start until we have final approval from Health Canada on the facility itself,” he noted.
The structures are all built, although two of the sections need further work, he explained.
The first building, which will contain propagation, administration and trimming areas, is completely finished, but the vegetation room and flowering rooms are just in the process of getting the lights installed – 1,000 high-pressure sodium lights, to be exact.
Staffing levels are looking good so far and during the construction, the company pulled in as many local contractors as possible. As far as staff for the facility, the company will be advertising positions with the company within the next six weeks, ranging from assistant growers to distribution staff, he said.
“We expect to employ maybe 20 people locally right away and towards 50 as we get to full production.”
He explained that in the first few weeks of production, plants are propagated – grown from seed and cloned – and then moved into the vegetation room, where the plants will spend most of their lives.
Afterward, the plants will go into the flowering room, where they will then produce their flowers – also known as buds.
The operation is top-notch, he says, because it is a brand-new facility, whereas many other medicinal growers have bought old warehouses that come with a free collection of dust and the ensuing microbes, all of which can infect plants and wreak general chaos in the operation.
“But because we’re new we don’t anticipate that problem. And our testing is significant – it’s far beyond what the Food and Drug Act asks for in your standard herbs.”
The company will be testing for metals, salmonella and E. coli, as well as pesticides, although he said they won’t be using any in the facility.
“But we’re going to test anyway and we have to send those results to Health Canada before we send (the product) out.”
This facility will be the company’s first, and Booth said that he plans to expand the company with new operations down the road.
But because of recent changes to Mountain View County’s bylaws, the facility currently in place cannot expand, and future operations must be located in a warehouse and business district – a move that he says would not work with the facility model.
“We would have loved to continue expansion in this municipality but as fortune would have it, we’ve had a lot of unwarranted concern,” he said.
Because of that they won’t be able to expand in Mountain View County, he said, adding that future operations may be located in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.
“I think there’s a lot of stigma attached to marijuana. It has a long history of people having different opinions and it’s a very polarized subject, but the proof is in the pudding,” he said, noting that studies on the medicinal use of marijuana show promising results.
Neurosurgeon and professor Sanjay Gupta, who was asked to be the U.S. surgeon general in the past, and is also CNN’s medical correspondent, was against the use of medicinal marijuana. But after he looked into the studies and evidence, he compiled his results and presented them in the documentaries Weed and Weed 2, after changing his mind, said Booth.
“I think anybody wondering about the medicinal benefits should watch those movies,” said Booth.
“We would have loved to have (expanded) here. It’s a purposeful build. We’re Albertans and we were born and raised here, so it’s unfortunate.
“(County council’s decision) might change as we remove the stigma and give back to the community and educate residents, we hope. But it will not stop our success though.”