Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
The sign outside the metal-clad barn in Knutsford declares it is home to Floritto Eggs.
But the smell emanating from the site on Long Lake Road is not the foul stench of chicken manure - it's the pungent aroma of a lot of green marijuana.
"We get lots of calls about it because you can smell it," acknowledged RCMP Staff Sgt. Doug Aird.
On the exterior of the quonset hut building at 40 Edith Lake Road, at the corner with Long Lake Road, are at least 10 air conditioning units.
Next door, at 100 Edith Lake Rd., is a metal-clad barn that formerly housed Floritto's operations.
Thick power cables are visible, as are two air conditioning units.
LEGAL(ISH)
Aird said RCMP confirmed with a special Health Canada telephone line that the operators are protected under the former Marihuana Medical Access Program (MMAR) rules, phased out in 2013 with introduction of a new system for supplying medical marijuana for patients.
Today there are seven companies certified to grow medical marijuana in B.C. by Health Canada, part of 31 nationwide.
Through mail order, they supply patients who have a marijuana prescription from a physician. This is the only strictly legal way to obtain medical marijuana in Canada - though a grey market is flourishing under the eyes of police and governments.
Under the old rules, in B.C. alone about 16,000 licences existed in 2013 for personal or designated-person production. The Knutsford operations exist under these now-defunct licences.
While they are no longer recognized under new law, the old production licences remain in limbo after a federal court judge struck down a prohibition earlier this year against patients growing for themselves.
Citing privacy, a Health Canada official said the agency will not disclose permit holders nor production locations under the MMAR rules.
But through property title and company searches, Kamloops This Week spoke to the owner of one property and a company that has an option to purchase the adjoining lot and is operating as the landlord.
100 EDITH LAKE ROAD
Derrold Norgaard, chief financial officer at Green Sky Labs Inc., said it has a tenant at the 10,000-square-foot metal-clad barn growing marijuana for two people under the MMAR rules. The company is acting as a landlord for the property, which it has a legal agreement to purchase.
According to land title documents, it is currently owned by AQ Holdings, registered to director Quan Anh Le. A phone number listed on AQ Holdings' filings comes back to a Lower Mainland accounting firm. A person who answered at the accounting firm said it has no information on AQ Holdings and does not act as a mailing address for clients.
Green Sky said it is acting in an ownership capacity for the property, even though it is not listed on title.
"The tenant provides us with information on what's happening there," Norgaard said.
"I know what we have: A tenant that's adhering to the rules."
Norgaard said Green Sky currently provides third-party testing for licensed growers and has extraction technology for cannabinoids, a process it licences and is conducting in Amsterdam.
He said Green Sky has a provisional licence with Health Canada as an accredited marijuana lab.
It wants to build on that accreditation by becoming the province's eighth authorized producer under the new rules instituted in 2013, with production at the Knutsford property as well as in Barriere.
"The town [Barriere] is quite comfortable with our program. RCMP is quite comfortable. Health Canada, I believe, will be comfortable with who we are," he said.
While Norgaard said he is unaware of any relationship to what appears to be the larger grow operation next door, KTW contacted Green Sky by speaking with a man who appeared to be residing in a trailer next door.
40 EDITH LAKE ROAD
The owner of the corner property is the operator of the former Floritto Eggs. Dawood Alibhai said his company - which lists son Amyn as a director (he is also a director on the B.C. Egg Marketing Board) - sold the next door property at 100 Edith Lake Rd. several years ago.
He said his tenant has a production licence and is insured. He acknowledged there is a connection with his tenant at Green Sky's property next door but he does not know the exact nature.
"We don't hide anything," he said. "There is our building and we rent it out."
The company still produces eggs at three other properties in Knutsford, but has moved its sorting, crating and packaging to the Lower Mainland.
'AN OPEN SECRET'
Under the old MMAR rules, a Health Canada representative said a designated producer can provide for up to four medical marijuana patients. Courts have struck down any maximum per patient.
"It's an open secret people get licences for way more than one human could possibly use," said city lawyer Shawn Buckley.
"That was the police concern and drove the new regulations."
Buckley said with as many as 16,000 licences still existing under the old rules, including for more than 2,000 designated producers, the obvious conclusion is they are supplying marijuana dispensaries.
"I think a lot of it is ending up in cannabis clubs," he said.
Cheetie Malouin, who operated Kamloops Dispensary Services before shutting down at the end of last month, said her supply came from "LPs" - licensed producers under the now defunct MMAR rules. Licensed producers include the two operations on Edith Lake Road.
"All my stuff was from licensed producers - they're everywhere," she said.
"Every single day I had someone [LP] at my shop: small, big, Vancouver and up North."
The Knutsford operations do not require business licences within the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.
The use is allowed under zoning because the parcels are within the Agricultural Land Reserve.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: A Green Area - Former Egg Farm Filling Demand For Medical Marijuana
Author: Cam Fortems
Contact: 1-250-374-7467
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Kamloops This Week
But the smell emanating from the site on Long Lake Road is not the foul stench of chicken manure - it's the pungent aroma of a lot of green marijuana.
"We get lots of calls about it because you can smell it," acknowledged RCMP Staff Sgt. Doug Aird.
On the exterior of the quonset hut building at 40 Edith Lake Road, at the corner with Long Lake Road, are at least 10 air conditioning units.
Next door, at 100 Edith Lake Rd., is a metal-clad barn that formerly housed Floritto's operations.
Thick power cables are visible, as are two air conditioning units.
LEGAL(ISH)
Aird said RCMP confirmed with a special Health Canada telephone line that the operators are protected under the former Marihuana Medical Access Program (MMAR) rules, phased out in 2013 with introduction of a new system for supplying medical marijuana for patients.
Today there are seven companies certified to grow medical marijuana in B.C. by Health Canada, part of 31 nationwide.
Through mail order, they supply patients who have a marijuana prescription from a physician. This is the only strictly legal way to obtain medical marijuana in Canada - though a grey market is flourishing under the eyes of police and governments.
Under the old rules, in B.C. alone about 16,000 licences existed in 2013 for personal or designated-person production. The Knutsford operations exist under these now-defunct licences.
While they are no longer recognized under new law, the old production licences remain in limbo after a federal court judge struck down a prohibition earlier this year against patients growing for themselves.
Citing privacy, a Health Canada official said the agency will not disclose permit holders nor production locations under the MMAR rules.
But through property title and company searches, Kamloops This Week spoke to the owner of one property and a company that has an option to purchase the adjoining lot and is operating as the landlord.
100 EDITH LAKE ROAD
Derrold Norgaard, chief financial officer at Green Sky Labs Inc., said it has a tenant at the 10,000-square-foot metal-clad barn growing marijuana for two people under the MMAR rules. The company is acting as a landlord for the property, which it has a legal agreement to purchase.
According to land title documents, it is currently owned by AQ Holdings, registered to director Quan Anh Le. A phone number listed on AQ Holdings' filings comes back to a Lower Mainland accounting firm. A person who answered at the accounting firm said it has no information on AQ Holdings and does not act as a mailing address for clients.
Green Sky said it is acting in an ownership capacity for the property, even though it is not listed on title.
"The tenant provides us with information on what's happening there," Norgaard said.
"I know what we have: A tenant that's adhering to the rules."
Norgaard said Green Sky currently provides third-party testing for licensed growers and has extraction technology for cannabinoids, a process it licences and is conducting in Amsterdam.
He said Green Sky has a provisional licence with Health Canada as an accredited marijuana lab.
It wants to build on that accreditation by becoming the province's eighth authorized producer under the new rules instituted in 2013, with production at the Knutsford property as well as in Barriere.
"The town [Barriere] is quite comfortable with our program. RCMP is quite comfortable. Health Canada, I believe, will be comfortable with who we are," he said.
While Norgaard said he is unaware of any relationship to what appears to be the larger grow operation next door, KTW contacted Green Sky by speaking with a man who appeared to be residing in a trailer next door.
40 EDITH LAKE ROAD
The owner of the corner property is the operator of the former Floritto Eggs. Dawood Alibhai said his company - which lists son Amyn as a director (he is also a director on the B.C. Egg Marketing Board) - sold the next door property at 100 Edith Lake Rd. several years ago.
He said his tenant has a production licence and is insured. He acknowledged there is a connection with his tenant at Green Sky's property next door but he does not know the exact nature.
"We don't hide anything," he said. "There is our building and we rent it out."
The company still produces eggs at three other properties in Knutsford, but has moved its sorting, crating and packaging to the Lower Mainland.
'AN OPEN SECRET'
Under the old MMAR rules, a Health Canada representative said a designated producer can provide for up to four medical marijuana patients. Courts have struck down any maximum per patient.
"It's an open secret people get licences for way more than one human could possibly use," said city lawyer Shawn Buckley.
"That was the police concern and drove the new regulations."
Buckley said with as many as 16,000 licences still existing under the old rules, including for more than 2,000 designated producers, the obvious conclusion is they are supplying marijuana dispensaries.
"I think a lot of it is ending up in cannabis clubs," he said.
Cheetie Malouin, who operated Kamloops Dispensary Services before shutting down at the end of last month, said her supply came from "LPs" - licensed producers under the now defunct MMAR rules. Licensed producers include the two operations on Edith Lake Road.
"All my stuff was from licensed producers - they're everywhere," she said.
"Every single day I had someone [LP] at my shop: small, big, Vancouver and up North."
The Knutsford operations do not require business licences within the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.
The use is allowed under zoning because the parcels are within the Agricultural Land Reserve.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: A Green Area - Former Egg Farm Filling Demand For Medical Marijuana
Author: Cam Fortems
Contact: 1-250-374-7467
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Kamloops This Week
