Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
The first U.S. public company allowed to raise money on the stock market to produce and sell medical marijuana wants to grow pot in Central New York.
Terra Tech Corp., of Irvine, Calif., plans to apply for a state license to cultivate and dispense medical marijuana in New York, said Derek Peterson, the company's CEO.
"We're looking at Central New York for cultivation," Peterson said. "If you want a retail footprint around the state, you want cultivation and production centrally located adjacent to major arteries to provide access to all the retail locations."
The company has not picked a Central New York location yet, he said. Peterson said dispensaries would be scattered around the state in places such as Ithaca, Albany, Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The state plans to issue five licenses to businesses that will grow and sell marijuana. Ed Draves, an Albany lobbyist and member of the Medical Cannabis Industry Alliance of New York, expects 30 or more applicants to vie for licenses. "The competition is going to be intense," he said.
Cheech & Chong-type stoners are not likely to be among those scrambling to cash in on this budding industry. "Applicants will need a lot of money and sophistication," Draves said.
Retail and wholesale sales of legal marijuana in the U.S. reached $2.7 billion in 2014, according to Arcview Market Research. In New York, the state will set the sales price of medical marijuana. Until that happens, it is impossible to predict the dollar value of sales in New York, Draves said.
Each licensee in New York will be responsible for everything from planting the seeds to selling the medical marijuana. The state's proposed regulations prohibit the sale of raw marijuana that can be smoked. That means licensees will have to extract ingredients from the plants and put them into concentrated oils and other forms. In addition to growing and processing pot, each licensee will operate four retail dispensaries.
Setting up a medical marijuana operation could cost as much as $50 million, Draves estimated.
The state will not accept applications until it finalizes regulations for its medical marijuana program. The state's goal is to have medical marijuana available by January 2016.
Peterson said there are only seven to eight companies, including his, with the expertise and money to make it in New York's highly regulated medical marijuana market.
His company does extraction in a lab attached to a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland, Calif. Terra Tech also is developing hydroponic greenhouses across the country to position itself as a player in the commercial cultivation of marijuana.
The company already grows basil and other herbs and vegetables hydroponically. Hydroponics is the process of growing plants in sand, gravel or liquid, with added nutrients but without soil.
Terra Tech has a 5-acre hydroponic greenhouse in Belvidere, N.J. that supplies herbs and vegetables to grocery stores in New York, New Jersey and other Northeastern states.
"The way we grow basil is the same way we will grow cannabis," Peterson said.
The company recently received approval from Nevada to grow and sell medical marijuana in that state. More than 100 organizations applied for licenses in Nevada.
Profitability will be limited in New York because initially the state will only allow medical marijuana use by people with 10 medical conditions. "New York isn't going to be a get rich quick environment for entrepreneurs," he said.
Pot entrepreneurs coming into New York may lose money for a few years until they can persuade state officials to make medical marijuana available to more patients, Peterson said. He expects New York to eventually legalize marijuana for recreational use.
But that's not expected to happen soon. Gov. Andrew Cuomo added restrictions to New York's medical marijuana law to prevent the state from becoming a haven for unchecked marijuana use.
Peterson worked for a decade in investment banking. In late 2009 he decided to get into the marijuana business after learning a friend's marijuana dispensary in Northern California was clearing $18 million a year, far more than the $300,000 to $400,000 a year Peterson was making at Morgan Stanley.
He launched GrowOp Technology in 2010, a company that sold hydroponic trailers equipped with everything necessary to grow marijuana. Two years later he merged the company with Terra Tech. The company has expanded since then.
Peterson estimates it will cost at least $10 million to build a marijuana production facility and retail dispensaries in New York. The production facility would employ 20 to 27 people, he said.
Terra Tech recently became the first publicly traded company allowed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to use money raised in a stock offering to set up medical marijuana operations in Nevada. The company raised $6.8 million and plans to raise another $15 million, some of which may be used to finance operations in New York if Terra Tech gets a license here.
While the cultivation and sale of marijuana is legal in some states, it is still illegal under federal law. So the SEC in effect gave Terra Tech the green light to violate federal law.
"It's a pretty significant paradigm shift," Peterson said.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical marijuana grower with track record wants to cultivate pot in Central New York | syracuse.com
Author: James T. Mulder
Contact: jmulder@syracuse.com
Photo Credit: Sean Gallup
Website: Syracuse NY Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - syracuse.com
Terra Tech Corp., of Irvine, Calif., plans to apply for a state license to cultivate and dispense medical marijuana in New York, said Derek Peterson, the company's CEO.
"We're looking at Central New York for cultivation," Peterson said. "If you want a retail footprint around the state, you want cultivation and production centrally located adjacent to major arteries to provide access to all the retail locations."
The company has not picked a Central New York location yet, he said. Peterson said dispensaries would be scattered around the state in places such as Ithaca, Albany, Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The state plans to issue five licenses to businesses that will grow and sell marijuana. Ed Draves, an Albany lobbyist and member of the Medical Cannabis Industry Alliance of New York, expects 30 or more applicants to vie for licenses. "The competition is going to be intense," he said.
Cheech & Chong-type stoners are not likely to be among those scrambling to cash in on this budding industry. "Applicants will need a lot of money and sophistication," Draves said.
Retail and wholesale sales of legal marijuana in the U.S. reached $2.7 billion in 2014, according to Arcview Market Research. In New York, the state will set the sales price of medical marijuana. Until that happens, it is impossible to predict the dollar value of sales in New York, Draves said.
Each licensee in New York will be responsible for everything from planting the seeds to selling the medical marijuana. The state's proposed regulations prohibit the sale of raw marijuana that can be smoked. That means licensees will have to extract ingredients from the plants and put them into concentrated oils and other forms. In addition to growing and processing pot, each licensee will operate four retail dispensaries.
Setting up a medical marijuana operation could cost as much as $50 million, Draves estimated.
The state will not accept applications until it finalizes regulations for its medical marijuana program. The state's goal is to have medical marijuana available by January 2016.
Peterson said there are only seven to eight companies, including his, with the expertise and money to make it in New York's highly regulated medical marijuana market.
His company does extraction in a lab attached to a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland, Calif. Terra Tech also is developing hydroponic greenhouses across the country to position itself as a player in the commercial cultivation of marijuana.
The company already grows basil and other herbs and vegetables hydroponically. Hydroponics is the process of growing plants in sand, gravel or liquid, with added nutrients but without soil.
Terra Tech has a 5-acre hydroponic greenhouse in Belvidere, N.J. that supplies herbs and vegetables to grocery stores in New York, New Jersey and other Northeastern states.
"The way we grow basil is the same way we will grow cannabis," Peterson said.
The company recently received approval from Nevada to grow and sell medical marijuana in that state. More than 100 organizations applied for licenses in Nevada.
Profitability will be limited in New York because initially the state will only allow medical marijuana use by people with 10 medical conditions. "New York isn't going to be a get rich quick environment for entrepreneurs," he said.
Pot entrepreneurs coming into New York may lose money for a few years until they can persuade state officials to make medical marijuana available to more patients, Peterson said. He expects New York to eventually legalize marijuana for recreational use.
But that's not expected to happen soon. Gov. Andrew Cuomo added restrictions to New York's medical marijuana law to prevent the state from becoming a haven for unchecked marijuana use.
Peterson worked for a decade in investment banking. In late 2009 he decided to get into the marijuana business after learning a friend's marijuana dispensary in Northern California was clearing $18 million a year, far more than the $300,000 to $400,000 a year Peterson was making at Morgan Stanley.
He launched GrowOp Technology in 2010, a company that sold hydroponic trailers equipped with everything necessary to grow marijuana. Two years later he merged the company with Terra Tech. The company has expanded since then.
Peterson estimates it will cost at least $10 million to build a marijuana production facility and retail dispensaries in New York. The production facility would employ 20 to 27 people, he said.
Terra Tech recently became the first publicly traded company allowed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to use money raised in a stock offering to set up medical marijuana operations in Nevada. The company raised $6.8 million and plans to raise another $15 million, some of which may be used to finance operations in New York if Terra Tech gets a license here.
While the cultivation and sale of marijuana is legal in some states, it is still illegal under federal law. So the SEC in effect gave Terra Tech the green light to violate federal law.
"It's a pretty significant paradigm shift," Peterson said.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical marijuana grower with track record wants to cultivate pot in Central New York | syracuse.com
Author: James T. Mulder
Contact: jmulder@syracuse.com
Photo Credit: Sean Gallup
Website: Syracuse NY Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - syracuse.com
