Medical marijuana company in Truro buying land to build facility

A medical marijuana company in Truro, N.S., says it has received security approvals from Health Canada and is moving ahead with plans to build a facility approximately 17,000 square feet in size.

On Monday, The Truro Herbal Company, or The THC, will officially acquire 2.5 hectares of land in the town's industrial park, says president Evan Price. He says the company was waiting for Health Canada to finish security checks before finalizing the land transfer.

The company plans to build a two-storey facility with 6.7-metre ceilings.

"You have to build basically a bank that's wrapped in a jail," Price said.

After submitting a proposal more than 2,000 pages long, the company received Stage 3 approval from the federal government this week, he says.

There are half a dozen employees now with the company and a former veteran RCMP officer, Barry Mellish, will be in charge of security. Price says he expects to employ 50 people once construction starts next spring.

The company plans to focus on growing half a dozen house strains of cannabis, with a few main brands and some smaller niche ones, Price says.

"We found the patients right here in Atlantic Canada have been underserved up until this point, so we're committed to levelling the playing field," he said.

Price said the Liberal government's commitment to legalize marijuana won't immediately change The THC's plans to focus on medical cannabis, but the company is closely watching regulatory changes in different jurisdictions.

"There's going to be a great need for expanding production in order to just meet the medical requirements, let alone what future recreation requirements may be," he said.

The proposed building covers less than half of the property, so there's room to expand in the future.