Just off Line 7, down the road from Burl’s Creek, a stone’s throw from the heart of Oro Station, a multi-million-dollar medical cannabis operation is sprouting from a secluded tract of long-fallow farmland surrounded by trees.
“We are very excited to be building this landmark facility in Oro-Medonte Township,” said Roey Fishman, the chief operating officer of Nature Care Group and co-founder of Carmel Cannabis.
This week, the cement floor of the sprawling 20,000-square-foot greenhouse was poured; the metal superstructure is already in place.
“The greenhouse should be complete by the end of (September) and we’re hoping to be harvesting by Nov. 1,” said Fishman, who noted work on a 13,500-square-foot building beside the greenhouse – where processing, packaging and trimming of the cannabis occurs – is ongoing and should be complete by the end of October.
The emerging facility is not visible from the road and that’s on purpose.
Fishman said much time, thought and money was invested in infrastructure to bring a road off Line 7, deep into the 150-acre property. “It’s secluded by design,” he said.
He said painstaking efforts, including consultation with local police and fire officials, have been taken over the past year to ensure the property is safe.
Fishman said the entire property will be encircled by an eight-foot high fence, topped with electric wire and outfitted with motion sensors. Entrances and exits will have automatic gates with keypad and key-card systems.
Measures are also being taken, he said, to address light pollution and odour – two things some neighbours were initially concerned about.
“We’ve invested heavily in state-of-the-art technology to ensure there won’t be any odour coming out of our facility whatsoever,” he said, noting exits and mechanical airflows will have special deodorizing rings.
In addition, the greenhouse will be equipped with blackout blinds to eradicate light pollution.
“There will be no light during the nighttime, no odour … there’s nothing to worry about,” he said, noting the company has exceeded stringent Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes regulations from Health Canada.
He said, in essence, the operation is a farm. And the crop is something that can be life-changing for some people.
“It’s a medical, therapeutic product that is really changing people’s lives for the better and ... we’re really excited about what we’re doing here,” said Fishman. “We think we can help a lot of people.”
Some have it in their mind the enterprise is akin to a grow-op and the output is pot that people will be smoking.
“There is a mindset, a stigma about cannabis,” said Fishman. “This isn’t something people are rolling and smoking and (getting) high. Everything we grow here is medical and aimed at helping people, predominantly seniors, with a natural medical alternative that can improve their quality of life.”
Typically, that is in the form of cannabis oil or in capsules. Creams and edible-based solutions are also anticipated to be on the market soon.
He said part of their job is to educate people about what they’re doing and how medical cannabis can help people.
“We’ve been talking with neighbours to make sure they know what’s happening … and everyone has come to realize it’s not a big deal,” he said. “We are farming. We’re building a farm and putting together environmental, security and other controls to ensure our farm is operating to the highest standard possible.”
But education is also needed about the product. That’s where Paisley Shakell enters the picture; she’s the medical cannabis educator for the company in this region.
“I will go into seniors’ homes, long-term-care homes and educate staff, families and patients, themselves,” said Shakell. “My job is to provide education about medical cannabis, our products and services to seniors looking to improve the quality of their life.”
A person can only access medical cannabis with a prescription. That can come from a family doctor or a client could go through Natural Care Group’s intake process and, potentially, get a prescription from one of their on-staff doctors or nurse practitioners.
“One of our physicians can help assess and prescribe and at that point what we are very proud of … we work with top-tier licenced producers across the country whose products are all accredited by Health Canada and licensed. We can give them access to all the different products and our nursing staff and medical team can help them find the right product and provide ongoing care.”
Fishman said the company has used local tradespeople for the project which has a price tag in the “several million dollars” range.
He also wants to hire local people to work on the farm. He anticipates having a staff of 20 with dozens of part-timers. He’s hoping to host a job fair near the end of this month, but details have not yet been finalized.
For more about the product and the company, visit naturalcaregroup.com
