Robert Celt
New Member
Medical marijuana is a growing industry in Massachusetts and no single group may be better prepared to handle the increasing demand than New England Treatment Access, known as NETA. The organization agreed to give FOX25 a tour of its cultivation facility where hundreds of marijuana plants are grown, in all stages, around the clock.
High Security
Upon entering the NETA facility in Franklin, extensive security measures were immediately evident, protecting the building and its contents from both human and other environmental intruders.
All visitors must wear special coverings over their clothes and shoes in addition to passing through an air shower to remove any microscopic contaminants.
"It really is crucial that we have a completely sanitary and clean facility... to be able to avert any issues with contamination," said NETA Standards and Practices Consultant, Norton Arbelaez.
Other security measures include 24 hour monitoring through a network of surveillance cameras, motion and heat sensors, and even a steel vault where the processed medical marijuana is stored before being sent off to NETA's dispensaries.
The marijuana plants themselves are also tracked with unique barcodes that stay with them throughout the process.
"Between the visual security elements that we have, the physical security elements, and the seed to sale tracking through the barcodes, it's virtually impossible for there to be criminal diversion here," said Arbelaez.
Growing in All Seasons
Protected from Massachusetts sometimes harsh weather outside, the indoor growing facility at NETA produces Spring and Summer conditions by controlling light, temperature and humidity in different rooms.
"We don't just have one harvest for the year," said Arbelaez. "We are continuously harvesting."
Rather than starting with seeds, NETA clones varieties of its plants to restart the growing process.
More mature plants are housed in 20 "flowering rooms" covering 40,000 square feet. Arbelaez showed FOX25 Investigates one room that contained more than 160 plants.
"Our goal is to serve somewhere in the neighborhood of 8,000 to 10,000 patients continuously," said Arbelaez.
Economic Impact
NETA says it has hired nearly 160 employees to work in its growing facility in Franklin and its two dispensaries, including one that recently opened in Brookline.
"We're creating jobs, we're renting real estate, we're paying taxes," said Arbelaez.
He told FOX25 the cultivation facility in Franklin is expected to produce more than 8,000 pounds of medical marijuana a year. While Massachusetts law prohibits NETA and others from advertising their prices, conservative estimates put the value of that amount of medical marijuana around $36 million.
While the law currently requires medical marijuana dispensaries to operate on a not-for-profit basis, Arbelaez won't speculate about how that could change if Massachusetts voters approve a ballot measure to legalize recreational use.
"Our mission is world class medical cannabis products at the moment. That being said, we're going to let the voters speak in November and we're going to reassess after," said Arbelaez.
Big Business
While Massachusetts has only allowed six dispensaries to open their doors to patients, so far, competition is already intense. According to state records, there are more than 19,000 patients registered to buy medical marijuana, but Arbelaez estimates the number of patients in Massachusetts could eventually reach 100,000.
NETA isn't speculating how things could change if voters approve a ballot measure to legalize recreational use, but critics are already raising concerns.
"We don't need more medical marijuana in our communities and this is a money grab," said Heidi Heilman with the Massachusetts Prevention Alliance.
Heilman's group says not enough research has been done on the long term effects of smoking marijuana. She worries the industry could go the way of "big tobacco" in the previous century.
"Tobacco was a niche market at one point and it was pushed to mass population use where we had over 50 percent of Americans smoking cigarettes at one point," said Heilman. "What happens when have over 50 percent of Americans smoking marijuana?"
NETA insists its focus is on the medical benefits of cannabis and serving patients who need it.
"For us, our mission is patients and our mission is medicine," said Arbelaez.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Behind The Scenes Of Medical Marijuana In Massachusetts
Author: Eric Rasmussen
Contact: FOX25
Photo Credit: None found
Website: FOX25
High Security
Upon entering the NETA facility in Franklin, extensive security measures were immediately evident, protecting the building and its contents from both human and other environmental intruders.
All visitors must wear special coverings over their clothes and shoes in addition to passing through an air shower to remove any microscopic contaminants.
"It really is crucial that we have a completely sanitary and clean facility... to be able to avert any issues with contamination," said NETA Standards and Practices Consultant, Norton Arbelaez.
Other security measures include 24 hour monitoring through a network of surveillance cameras, motion and heat sensors, and even a steel vault where the processed medical marijuana is stored before being sent off to NETA's dispensaries.
The marijuana plants themselves are also tracked with unique barcodes that stay with them throughout the process.
"Between the visual security elements that we have, the physical security elements, and the seed to sale tracking through the barcodes, it's virtually impossible for there to be criminal diversion here," said Arbelaez.
Growing in All Seasons
Protected from Massachusetts sometimes harsh weather outside, the indoor growing facility at NETA produces Spring and Summer conditions by controlling light, temperature and humidity in different rooms.
"We don't just have one harvest for the year," said Arbelaez. "We are continuously harvesting."
Rather than starting with seeds, NETA clones varieties of its plants to restart the growing process.
More mature plants are housed in 20 "flowering rooms" covering 40,000 square feet. Arbelaez showed FOX25 Investigates one room that contained more than 160 plants.
"Our goal is to serve somewhere in the neighborhood of 8,000 to 10,000 patients continuously," said Arbelaez.
Economic Impact
NETA says it has hired nearly 160 employees to work in its growing facility in Franklin and its two dispensaries, including one that recently opened in Brookline.
"We're creating jobs, we're renting real estate, we're paying taxes," said Arbelaez.
He told FOX25 the cultivation facility in Franklin is expected to produce more than 8,000 pounds of medical marijuana a year. While Massachusetts law prohibits NETA and others from advertising their prices, conservative estimates put the value of that amount of medical marijuana around $36 million.
While the law currently requires medical marijuana dispensaries to operate on a not-for-profit basis, Arbelaez won't speculate about how that could change if Massachusetts voters approve a ballot measure to legalize recreational use.
"Our mission is world class medical cannabis products at the moment. That being said, we're going to let the voters speak in November and we're going to reassess after," said Arbelaez.
Big Business
While Massachusetts has only allowed six dispensaries to open their doors to patients, so far, competition is already intense. According to state records, there are more than 19,000 patients registered to buy medical marijuana, but Arbelaez estimates the number of patients in Massachusetts could eventually reach 100,000.
NETA isn't speculating how things could change if voters approve a ballot measure to legalize recreational use, but critics are already raising concerns.
"We don't need more medical marijuana in our communities and this is a money grab," said Heidi Heilman with the Massachusetts Prevention Alliance.
Heilman's group says not enough research has been done on the long term effects of smoking marijuana. She worries the industry could go the way of "big tobacco" in the previous century.
"Tobacco was a niche market at one point and it was pushed to mass population use where we had over 50 percent of Americans smoking cigarettes at one point," said Heilman. "What happens when have over 50 percent of Americans smoking marijuana?"
NETA insists its focus is on the medical benefits of cannabis and serving patients who need it.
"For us, our mission is patients and our mission is medicine," said Arbelaez.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Behind The Scenes Of Medical Marijuana In Massachusetts
Author: Eric Rasmussen
Contact: FOX25
Photo Credit: None found
Website: FOX25
