Plymouth – Tall stakes encompass the building at 9 Collins Ave. awaiting chain link. And the framing of a tiny structure at the entrance foretells a security gatehouse patients will have to pass through before being admitted to the dispensary.
After a drawn out process leading to its OK to proceed, Medical Marijuana of Massachusetts has begun full-blown construction of its product growing facility and dispensary in the Industrial Park, and a tour reveals a labyrinth of massive growing rooms with interconnecting hallways.
Medical Marijuana of Massachusetts spokesman Kevin O’Reilly led the way through what is now the skeletal support structure for the business and will soon boast dry wall as MMM steps nearer and nearer an opening date of sometime in the summer or fall.
"People will come through this area after checking in at the front gate with security," O’Reilly said, as he gestures to a wall that will become a doorway inside the building. "Once they’re cleared at the security gate, patients will enter a reception area."
Health care provider-certified patients will visit with an expert in patient education who will discuss the person’s afflictions and what types of marijuana would be most beneficial.
Pixley Richards (Plainfield Pixley Richards Inc.) used to occupy this building, where that company performed its plastic injection molding services. Walls, floors – everything – had to be gutted to make way for the new use, which requires wide open rooms for growing, trimming, and drying the plants and separate rooms near employee entrances for clothing changes. Employees working the growing rooms will don protective coverings and shoes so nothing harmful from the outside, like bugs of any kind, can get inside and harm the plants.
O’Reilly explained that growing facilities have, in the past, been afflicted by infestations caused when preventative measures weren’t implemented. MMM will run a controlled grow facility that will be inspected by the Department of Public Health to ensure the proper protocols are behind followed. Plenty of dehumidifiers will be going throughout the grow stations to prevent too much moisture collecting in and around the plants – a situation that can create destructive mold.
When it is up and running, MMM will offer medicinal oils, flowers, buds and loose marijuana, gel caps and waxes, which are pastes patients can infuse in their food. However, the facility will offer no marijuana-laced candies, cookies, cakes or sodas. O’Reilly said the company wants to ensure that children don’t accidentally ingest marijuana. He noted that in Colorado the number of emergency room visits related to this spiked when recreational marijuana was legalized in that state, largely because of the prevalence of these types of products.
MMM CEO Jonathan Herlihy said his company is focusing on medical marijuana uses, which are many. The drug has been known to help people suffering from seizures, Parkinson’s disease, anxiety and cancer treatments, and a study suggests that marijuana has the ability to turn off a gene that spreads breast cancer. Marijuana is also known to help with Irritable bowel syndrome, slow Alzheimer’s, help glaucoma and more.
The 46,000-square-foot facility is being constructed in two phases. MMM will complete Phase I with 22,000-square-feet of dispensary and grow space first. Surveillance cameras inside and outside the building will help keep the operation secure and the whole property will be enclosed by a 6-foot-tall chain link fence.
"We think it’s a great spot," O’Reilly said. "It’s isolated and out of the way."
It’s not yet clear what the town plans to do about the opening of marijuana stores in town. Towns are allowed to limit the number of these stores to 20 percent of the total of liquor stores, which would come to three marijuana stores in Plymouth. A town-wide referendum is required to ban the stores from Plymouth, and it would take a Town Meeting vote to limit the number and location of the stores.
Meanwhile, the new law allows individuals 21 and older to grow their own marijuana, with a limit of six plants per person and 12 plants per household.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Medical Marijuana Of Massachusetts Facility To Open In 2017
Author: Emily Clark
Contact: 508-591-6623
Photo Credit: Alyssa Stone
Website: Wicked Local Plymouth
