WATCH: Residents of Maple Ridge are up in arms about plans for a massive medical marijuana hothouse in their neighbourhood. John Daly reports.
Residents in Maple Ridge are incensed over construction of a large greenhouse that could potentially become one of the largest producers of legal cannabis in Canada.
“This is a residential area, we have schools, we have a community centre, we have churches and kids.”
Medical marijuana company Tantalus Labs, which is building the greenhouse, hasn’t received a license from the federal government yet. But they’re clearly optimistic about the potential of the Maple Ridge site.
“We’re just really excited to build something in this community that’s unprecedented in the rest of Canada,” he said. “This is the first purpose-built cannabis-designed greenhouse to be implemented at an industrial scale in Canadian history.”
“It’s going to be a piece of technology that the community of Whannock, the province of B.C. and the country of Canada can be proud of.”
Whether the community of Whannock even wants the greenhouse is a matter of debate. Maple Ridge Mayor Nicole Read says that while she’s happy the company has pledged to host a public forum over the issue, it’s a new frontier for the city.
“The federal government has basically told us this is now an industry. The challenge is really about making sure, since we are at the beginning of a journey, that the way that rolls out is safe, and does not cause a problem to our residents living in the areas.”
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