Login | April 20, 2024
Akron’s first medical marijuana crop begins harvest
RICHARD WEINER
Legal News Reporter
Published: February 14, 2019
The first of many projected harvests of medical marijuana has begun in the Calyx Peak Company’s growing facility on Home Avenue.
In a ceremony attended by Congressman Tim Ryan, Akron Mayor Daniel Horrigan, and representatives of the Summit County Executive’s office, along with numerous representatives of the press and the management and cultivators of the facility, crop director Adrien Alvarez cut a bud off of a mature plant.
From there, he said, the harvest began with about 200 pounds of the plants bound for production and shipment to dispensaries around the state.
Although various newspaper reports have found Ohio medical marijuana in its early stages to be expensive and difficult to obtain, new dispensaries and growing facilities are opening across the state. Adam Thomarios, president of the local facility and executive vice president at Calyx Peak, said that there were currently five dispensaries, with more close to opening.
Medical marijuana became Ohio law in 2016. Certified doctors could begin prescribing medical marijuana in Ohio on January 16, 2019. In order to obtain a prescription, the patient must be a resident of Ohio, over the age of 21, and have a qualifying medical condition. They must also complete an annual registration with the State Board of Pharmacy.
Medical marijuana will only be available from certified retail dispensaries licensed by the Ohio Pharmacy Board.
Ryan praised the facility’s potential job creation, but also made a point of noting in both his presentation and in informal discussions that medical marijuana had the possibility of reducing opioid dependency in pain cases and help in the opioid crisis.
Horrigan said that he was particularly pleased about the positive economic impact the facility would have on the city. From its existence as a “broken down old city garage,” he said that the company had told him to expect more than two dozen jobs would be created. “Not to mention the money that they have already put into this place.”
Thomarios would not say exactly how much money the company had put into the facility, only stating that the amount was “in the millions and that’s all I’m going to say.”
Production
The Home Avenue facility houses about 20,000 marijuana plants in an atmospherically controlled system. It is secured by armed guards and upwards of 100 cameras. Thomarios said that it will harvest about 500 pounds every 4-6 weeks. Every facet of growing and production will take place at the facility, he said, from seeding to growing, harvesting, product creation, packaging and distribution.
Seeds are grown to a certain point in the “mother” room, and then branches are cut and replanted in the grow room to be brought to maturity.
The entire growing, packaging and distribution operation is in the basement of the building. It is painted white, with silver pipes running across the ceiling. Anyone who gains access to that part of the building needs to wear a clean suit. The air is controlled at 77 degrees and 66 percent humidity, and the smell of marijuana is overpowering in the actual grow room.
The harvest will be turned into a variety of products, said Alvarez. “The peak THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) percentage for a plant is about 35 percent. Ours will be about 30 percent.”
Peak THC amounts are found in the mature flower buds, he said, with less THC in the plant the further it is away from the bud. Calyx Peak will be producing products from every part of the plant and will range from smoking products to oils to infused edibles to low-impact products like CBD oil. “We will be using the entire plant,” he said.
From there, branded Calyx medical marijuana products will be showing up at dispensaries across the state.
Calyx Peak
According to its publicity materials, Calyx Peak Companies operates and finances legal marijuana facilities in Ohio, California, and Nevada, with a Massachusetts facility coming online soon. They can be reached through www.calypeak.com.
Qualifying Medical Conditions
The Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program (www.medicalmarijuana.ohio.gov) lists 20 conditions that qualify for a medical marijuana prescription. These are:
AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy or another seizure disorder, fibromyalgia, glaucoma, hepatitis C, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, pain that is either chronic and severe or intractable, Parkinson’s disease, positive status for HIV, post-traumatic stress disorder, sickle cell anemia, spinal cord disease or injury, Tourette’s syndrome, traumatic brain injury, and ulcerative colitis.