If there’s one truth in life, it’s that weed can grow just about anywhere. Backyards, greenhouses, basements, rolling hills and acres of farms in every state, and even prisons. Well, a former prison, anyway. One of the nation’s leading cannabis operators, Green Thumb Industries will open a modern ‘cannabis campus’ on the site of a former federal prison in Warwick, New York. It’s sort of a full-circle scenario for the industry, says Ben Kovler, founder and CEO. “Today is an example of the next great American growth story in action,” Kovler said at the groundbreaking. “This site used to be a federal prison that incarcerated individuals targeted by cannabis prohibition. Now it will become an economic hub that manufactures high-quality cannabis products, creates hundreds of new jobs, and contributes positively to the local community.” According to Architectural Digest, cannabis companies finding more and more unique locations for everything from retail shops to grow operations is a growing trend as the industry continues to blossom. There’s some poetic justice to some of these transformations. Green Thumb isn’t the first prison-to-pot farm: In 2016, Ocean Grown Extracts purchased a former prison site in Coalinga, California, to manufacture its various products. In Flint, Michigan, Evergrow wants to build its new home in a former police training facility. In New Jersey, Harmony Dispensary set up shop in an industrial complex that formerly housed the pharmaceutical giant Merck.
420 Intel – Marijuana Industry News, 10/18/2021 20:00:00