Officials at High Park Farms in Enniskillen say it will likely be September or October before the federal government is ready to begin selling marijuana for recreation.
But Zak Hutson says the cannabis operation which is geared to the medicinal market, will have lots to do until then.
The company officially opened the 13-acre greenhouse on Lasalle Line, showing dignitaries and reporters the operation. (See photos on pg. 10)
Hutson told reporters that eventually, operations like High Park which have licence to produce for the medicinal market will be able to produce for the adult recreation market also. “What we are hearing now is it will probably be later in the fall – September or October,” says Hutson.
Hutson says that won’t affect what High Park is doing since there is “a lot of pent up demand for the medicinal product.”
High Park supplies product for six different brands in 10 countries.
While marketers work out the logistics of the emerging recreational market, growers are getting used to their new working environment. Francoise Levesque, the master horticulturalist, says until now the company has grown in very controlled conditions. Using a greenhouse has new challenges – like climate control – but will save the company about one-third in operating costs.
And Levesque has been working on reducing the amount of light escaping from the building. The company uses blackout shades at night to reduce the light migration but didn’t realize the gables at the end of the greenhouse were allowing a lot of light to escape. Levesque says new opaque panels will be installed to reduce the light to neighbours.
For now, she says, High Park is turning on the lights for the young plants at 2 am to avoid disturbing residents.