It’s been around four years in the making, but Kapuskasing and CannAssist have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to officially build a medical marijuana plant near the town’s airport.

And new details from CannAssist uncovered that they are already looking to expand the planned 45-thousand square foot facility.

CannAssist CEO Janice Britton—who is also a registered nurse—says she’s seen first-hand what medical cannabis can do for patients with dehabilitating symptoms and terminal illness.

“I’m a big believer in the medical use of marijuana in a responsible manner,” she said.

Once operational, patients would order online—with a physician’s note—from a federally-licensed producer like CannAssist and have it shipped directly.

Britton says the current supply is “nowhere near” where it should be to meet the market demand.

And that’s not even considering the recreational market, which they are open to looking at once cannabis is legalized in July.

“There is going to be a huge demand for this product,” Britton notes, adding the planned expansion would bring this yet-to-be-built facility to 250-thousand square feet.

“We are expecting retail sales after all the recreational legislation gets passed and finalized, retail sales of recreational (marijuana) will likely start in (spring) 2019.”

But that’s not all. Britton says they’re also looking to delve into the international market.

“Canada’s very much looked at as the leader as far as regulations and doing it right and doing it professionally in the best manner possible,” she adds, “So Europe is very much looking to us in structuring their medical regulations closely to what Health Canada has done and we are looking to partner with companies in Europe to export the product and meet the demand.”

“There’s a massive demand for medical marijuana in Europe, but there aren’t very many licensed producers yet…a lot of companies are still working out the regulations.”

Britton says they’re already in talks with a distributor in Germany.

The Kapuskasing building is expected to be operational sometime next fall. Afterwards, Health Canada will move in for inspection and to grant a license afterwards if it’s up to standard.

Mayor Al Spacek told Rogers Radio earlier in December that the plant is expected to generate about 50-60 full-time jobs.

Job applications will be available at a future date on the CannAssist website, and there’s talk of a job fair sometime too.

For more on the economic impact and the town’s point of view, check out our chat with Mayor Spacek below.

Play Pause

POT TALK: Kapuskasing Mayor Al Spacek talks medical marijuana plant development

Originally Aired: December 7, 2017

You can also view the full press conference via Facebook below.

Filed under: Local News, medical marijuana