Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
There's another local entry into the medical marijuana business.
Agripharm, a subsidiary of Mettrum Health Corp., received the OK from Health Canada in December to grow up to 9,000 marijuana plants at its facility near Cashtown Corners under the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations.
Peter Miller, a 27-year-old with a degree in commerce, launched Agripharm in mid-2013.
While commerce and agriculture may seem like an unlikely pairing, Miller's family roots in the region date back to the early 1850s.
His uncle is John Miller of Miller's Dairy, itself a leader in the milk production industry.
"There's a bit of tradition of innovative agricultural practice," said Peter Miller.
Miller became intrigued with the idea of medical marijuana production while observing the change in laws in Colorado and Washington. When Colorado legalized the plant for (recreational) use in 2012, Miller started to explore what the opportunities were in Canada.
"I was passively aware that medical marijuana of some form was legal in Canada, but I wasn't aware of how it worked, I had no experience with the plant," he said. "It seemed like a really interesting opportunity."
At that time, the rules in Canada were changing from a "produce-for-yourself" model, said Miller, to a highly-regulated commercial model.
He began to do research, and chatted with stakeholders – including local politicians and Clearview's municipal staff – to sound them out on the idea.
Fortunately, the township had already gone down the road with Peace Naturals, which became the first licensed producer of medical marijuana under the new legislation, and was again the first approved for a renewal last fall.
"[Peace Naturals] had done a lot of hard work to explain what this all was, [so] when I called up [the township], they'd heard it all before," Miller said. "They were already the most-experienced township in the country by virtue of the fact they had one of the first licenced companies."
Miller also headed to Colorado to research production practices; his master grower is from the state. When he got back, he and his team began to survey some potential sites, and broke ground in the summer of 2013 on a 15,000-square-foot facility.
Miller said the goal was to create the industry's most technically-efficient facility.
"It's been a roller coaster of technical and structural challenges that we continue to meet," he said.
Miller finds the technology aspect of the business most intriguing, and how the practices that have been put into producing medical marijuana on an industrial scale can be applied to other crops.
"My background's tech, and the family background is agriculture, and that's the interesting thing about our facility is we're blending super high-tech – every kind of pump, light, and emitter is being controlled by a series of computers and servers and network switches," he said. "It's exciting to see the technology being developed – all of the pieces existed, but in this configuration is largely new to the world.
"The industry is developing some pretty cool technology and ways of doing things, which I expect has implications beyond cannabis," he said. "Whether it's producing cannabis, or kale or lettuce or peppers or mint, it's probably something you're going to see more of in the next 20 years."
Last summer, Agripharm became a subsidiary of Mettrum, which already had approval from Health Canada to grow medical marijuana. Miller said it's been a very beneficial relationship.
"The experience of Mettrum really helped inform what we started with in the beginning," Miller said.
The company has developed a colour-coded system for its strains in order to help doctors and patients understand what they're getting. While pop culture generally focuses on the level of Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC – the cannabinoid aspect of the plant typically associated with the physiological and psychological effects of consuming marijuana – it's only one of a number of cannabinoids within the plant that have been found to have medicinal applications.
"In any business you find that 80 per cent of your business is from 20 per cent of your product mix," he said. "We have a phenomenal genetic library; we don't produce all of it, all the time, but we have a very modular production system so if we want to try different strains or reshuffle our product mix."
Miller said the reaction from the general public to the company's presence in the township has been positive.
"What I'm starting to see are the green thumbs and farmers who have experience in one type of plant, are transferring a lot of that knowledge over to this plant," he said. "The public in general has been very supportive, nobody has voiced any real concern. I don't think anyone finds there's anything sinister happening at Cashtown Corners.
"It's just another kind of farm. It's novel, and for a while there will be a certain excitement attached to it."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Second Clearview medical marijuana producer OK'd by Health Canada
Author: Ian Adams
Contact: iadams@simcoe.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Your Halton online newspaper | Today's stories from newspapers in Halton
Agripharm, a subsidiary of Mettrum Health Corp., received the OK from Health Canada in December to grow up to 9,000 marijuana plants at its facility near Cashtown Corners under the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations.
Peter Miller, a 27-year-old with a degree in commerce, launched Agripharm in mid-2013.
While commerce and agriculture may seem like an unlikely pairing, Miller's family roots in the region date back to the early 1850s.
His uncle is John Miller of Miller's Dairy, itself a leader in the milk production industry.
"There's a bit of tradition of innovative agricultural practice," said Peter Miller.
Miller became intrigued with the idea of medical marijuana production while observing the change in laws in Colorado and Washington. When Colorado legalized the plant for (recreational) use in 2012, Miller started to explore what the opportunities were in Canada.
"I was passively aware that medical marijuana of some form was legal in Canada, but I wasn't aware of how it worked, I had no experience with the plant," he said. "It seemed like a really interesting opportunity."
At that time, the rules in Canada were changing from a "produce-for-yourself" model, said Miller, to a highly-regulated commercial model.
He began to do research, and chatted with stakeholders – including local politicians and Clearview's municipal staff – to sound them out on the idea.
Fortunately, the township had already gone down the road with Peace Naturals, which became the first licensed producer of medical marijuana under the new legislation, and was again the first approved for a renewal last fall.
"[Peace Naturals] had done a lot of hard work to explain what this all was, [so] when I called up [the township], they'd heard it all before," Miller said. "They were already the most-experienced township in the country by virtue of the fact they had one of the first licenced companies."
Miller also headed to Colorado to research production practices; his master grower is from the state. When he got back, he and his team began to survey some potential sites, and broke ground in the summer of 2013 on a 15,000-square-foot facility.
Miller said the goal was to create the industry's most technically-efficient facility.
"It's been a roller coaster of technical and structural challenges that we continue to meet," he said.
Miller finds the technology aspect of the business most intriguing, and how the practices that have been put into producing medical marijuana on an industrial scale can be applied to other crops.
"My background's tech, and the family background is agriculture, and that's the interesting thing about our facility is we're blending super high-tech – every kind of pump, light, and emitter is being controlled by a series of computers and servers and network switches," he said. "It's exciting to see the technology being developed – all of the pieces existed, but in this configuration is largely new to the world.
"The industry is developing some pretty cool technology and ways of doing things, which I expect has implications beyond cannabis," he said. "Whether it's producing cannabis, or kale or lettuce or peppers or mint, it's probably something you're going to see more of in the next 20 years."
Last summer, Agripharm became a subsidiary of Mettrum, which already had approval from Health Canada to grow medical marijuana. Miller said it's been a very beneficial relationship.
"The experience of Mettrum really helped inform what we started with in the beginning," Miller said.
The company has developed a colour-coded system for its strains in order to help doctors and patients understand what they're getting. While pop culture generally focuses on the level of Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC – the cannabinoid aspect of the plant typically associated with the physiological and psychological effects of consuming marijuana – it's only one of a number of cannabinoids within the plant that have been found to have medicinal applications.
"In any business you find that 80 per cent of your business is from 20 per cent of your product mix," he said. "We have a phenomenal genetic library; we don't produce all of it, all the time, but we have a very modular production system so if we want to try different strains or reshuffle our product mix."
Miller said the reaction from the general public to the company's presence in the township has been positive.
"What I'm starting to see are the green thumbs and farmers who have experience in one type of plant, are transferring a lot of that knowledge over to this plant," he said. "The public in general has been very supportive, nobody has voiced any real concern. I don't think anyone finds there's anything sinister happening at Cashtown Corners.
"It's just another kind of farm. It's novel, and for a while there will be a certain excitement attached to it."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Second Clearview medical marijuana producer OK'd by Health Canada
Author: Ian Adams
Contact: iadams@simcoe.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Your Halton online newspaper | Today's stories from newspapers in Halton
