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Two Calgary companies hope to grow medical marijuana

CALGARY – A Calgary company wants to be among the first commercial medical marijuana growers, amid a revamp of the medical marijuana system.

The federal government will no longer allow medical marijuana to be grown in homes starting on March 31, 2014.

Due to the change, Health Canada is in the process of reviewing dozens of applications from companies across the country who want to help supply an estimated 50,000 patients with the drug.

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Bloom Cultivation is one of two Calgary companies who have applied to Health Canada in hopes of becoming commercial growers of medical marijuana.

The owners plan to retrofit a building in the Foothills Industrial Park, and say they are expecting a ‘ready to build’ notice soon from the federal government.

City officials are in the process of outlining land use bylaws for the sites.

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“There aren’t many problems that we anticipate with these facilities because they are similar to what’s happening in an industrial area anyways,” explains Salma Mohiuddin with the City of Calgary’s Development and Building Approvals.

It’s thought they would only be built in industrial areas, and would have to employ special security.

Officials say they would also keep the sites away from nearby homes, and wouldn’t be able to share space with other businesses because of odour issues.

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