When voters in 2016 debated whether recreational marijuana should be legalized in Massachusetts, most of the attention was focused on whether it was smart to mainstream another intoxicant — whether we could adequately regulate cannabis use like we do the sale and consumption of alcohol.
Even after voters legalized recreational pot, much of the discussion in our town governments has been on how to regulate pot sales locally and how much to tax it. Many townspeople and their civic leaders, while perhaps not personally enthusiastic about legalization, saw the extra retail sales tax as a revenue enhancer, at least.
What hasn’t become obvious until recently, is the economic development potential legal marijuana might bring to some towns. While there has been some interest in growing pot in the fertile soils of southern Franklin County, what we’ve seen lately in the North Quabbin holds out the promise of a jobs boom.
It’s too early to line up at the paymaster’s window, but the possibilities are intriguing.
As of last week, five companies have received host agreements from Orange, mostly for growing operations — some in the Randall Pond Industrial Park.
Three companies received host agreements and letters of non-opposition from the Selectboard this week, joining two other companies that both received similar approvals this summer.
Obtaining a host agreement is just one part of the long process of becoming licensed and does not necessarily indicate that these companies will ultimately grow or sell marijuana in Orange, it’s good to remember.
The latest companies are PHA Industries Inc., a chemical processing company that’s been in business in the Randall Pond Industrial Park for two decades and looks to expand into the area of extracting chemicals from marijuana to sell to other companies; KT Capital Group, which seeks to cultivate and process marijuana at 50 South Main St.; and Diem Cannabis, an Oregon company that wants to build a greenhouse and processing lab at the Randall Pond Industrial Park.
They join Fidelity Wellness Center Inc., which plans a growing operation at the Randall Pond Industrial Park, and Silver Therapeutics Inc., which wants to sell pot on South Main Street but grow the product at 158 Gov. Dukakis Drive.
Yet another company, ELEV8 Cannabi, is expected to receive its host agreement next week.
Michael Koeller of KT Capital Group said he plans to provide retail stores and medical dispensaries with their inventory, “and make that all here.” Koeller said that Orange is an ideal place to cultivate marijuana, because its central location in the Northeast allows easy distribution throughout New England.
Diem Cannabis Production Manager Alex Howbert said the company would benefit the local economy, paying property taxes and creating 20 to 30 jobs.
That’s just one of these new entrepreneurs.
And that doesn’t take into account what’s happening next door in Athol, where the long underutilized former Union Twist Drill factory has been sold to would-be cannabis grower, MassGrow, which spent $1.15 million for the 360,000-square-foot factory — no small investment.
MassGrow’s owner has talked about investing another $18 million to $20 million to retrofit the building to his needs and says he will create roughly 75 jobs initially and as many as 150 eventually, about half of them full-time positions.
If the state is going to allow legal recreational pot sales, let’s hope that all the state rules on sale and consumption of cannabis have the intended effect of keeping this intoxicant from causing problems for individuals and society generally.
If we can do that, and grow scores of jobs for the local economy, that may just be the real payoff.