LAKESHORE — The birth of a new industry for the region was announced Tuesday with a $12-million investment in a high-security facility that could employ 50 people by the end of the year to grow medical marijuana.

“We stand ready to meet every expectation that Health Canada has for the safe, highly controlled, professional management of this medicinal tool for doctors,” said Joe Byrne, board chairman of the WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation and an investor in CEN Biotech, a subsidiary of Michigan-based Creative Edge Nutrition.

Leasing a 27,000-square-foot barn a half-minute’s drive from the Essex County OPP headquarters, CEN Biotech president Bill Chaaban said the plan is to add a 58,000-square-foot growing facility in the spring and have the operation “up and running seven months from now.”

“CEN Biotech is the first out of the gate, but I expect more,” WEEDC CEO Sandra Pupatello told The Star. She said she can’t divulge details, but last month another company, Startup ECGreen, received rezoning approval from Tecumseh town council to set up a similar but smaller commercial grow op in the Oldcastle Business Park.

A Health Canada spokeswoman cautioned, however, that there are more than 380 applications currently being processed, with only three — two in the Toronto area and one in Saskatchewan — licensed so far to grow, package and sell marijuana to registered patients.

Pupatello said CEN Biotech recently obtained a “ready-to-build” letter from Health Canada, which she referred to as a “critical step in the very grueling process” towards being licensed by the federal agency.

Pupatello, who was part of the official announcement at the Jim Shaban farm off Manning Road just south of Highway 401, said CEN Biotech is part of a new growth sector in the local economy, producing goods for the “life sciences” market.

“Walk into any grocery store or pharmacy — natural products are expanding,” Pupatello told The Star. She also said a growing number of doctors are recognizing the benefits and prescribing marijuana to help treat the effects of everything from glaucoma and nerve pain to chemo-induced nausea, seizures and multiple sclerosis.

Also at the news conference was Donald Strilchuck, who retired as a detective after 33 years with the Windsor Police Service and who was introduced as head of corporate security for CEN Biotech.

Byrne, a lawyer, businessman and former town and county politician, said security at the Lakeshore facility will resemble that of a federal penitentiary, with double perimeter fencing, 24/7 on- and off-site monitoring including night-vision cameras, as well as guards, including two former city police officers and an off-duty uniformed OPP officer.

The business proponents have received RCMP clearance, and nobody gets inside without criminal checks, according to the principals.

“It’s just one more crop … with special rules,” said Chaaban. Upwards of 40,000 marijuana plants will be grown hydroponically from seed, with up to 1.3 million pounds of medical marijuana to be produced annually, subject to demand.

The product, all electronically tracked, is grown, harvested, dried and packaged on-site and then sent by  courier to the patient/client.

“It’s interesting to note that Windsor-Essex might indeed be the prime location to marry high level security with agribusiness expertise,” said Pupatello.

Following growing crime and fire hazard concerns, Health Canada set an April 1 deadline for the switch from thousands of individual personal-use growers of medical marijuana to a more regulated and corporate-controlled regime. As of the end of 2012, there were 13,362 registered medical marijuana users in B.C. and 8,617 in Ontario, the top two provinces.

In a Forbes profile last week, Creative Edge Nutrition, an American nutritional supplement company, indicated big potential revenues, with current medical marijuana users paying up to $6 per gram, while the production cost to CEN Biotech was anticipated to cost up to $1 per gram.

Chaaban sees current export potential to such countries as The Netherlands, Uruguay and Israel, while there’s even a potential to branch out locally into commercial hemp production. Given the “onerous” requirements and “hassle” of establishing a safe and secure supply of medical marijuana, Pupatello said establishing such a network here could provide an excellent opportunity for Windsor-Essex County to cash in on becoming a supplier to other jurisdictions.

“This is an opportunity to start a brand new industry,” said Byrne. “Our community houses the continent’s most robust, secure border environment, and as a hub for agriculture expertise, our region boasts the country’s best hub for horticulture,” he said.

“Look at how the greenhouse industry has just exploded in the south of the county … we hope to see this explode too,” Lakeshore mayor and county Warden Tom Bain said at Tuesday’s announcement. “We know we have to diversify,” he said, citing the recent Leamington Heinz factory closure announcement.

dschmidt@windsorstar.com or on Twitter @schmidtcity

 Investor On Lakeshore’s Medical Marijuana Plant (click above image for video)

A group effort ended with the announcement of a $12-million investment by CEN Biotech for the launch of a controlled environment for the production of doctor-prescribed marijuana. Sam Alawieh, left, CEN Biotech vice-president of operations, Bill Chaagan, CEN Biotech president, farm owner Jim Shaban, Jospeh Byrne, CEN Biotech investor, and Sandra Pupatello, CEO WindsorEssex Economic Development Corp., at the future agribusiness operations on North Rear Road Tuesday, January 7, 2014. (NICK BRANCACCIO/The Windsor Star)

ARTICLE SOURCE Windsor Star blog

$12M medical marijuana investment made near Windsor, Ont