Ottawa has just approved a medical pot grow-op in the Niagara region – but are insurers prepared to provide insurance for these facilities?
A Health Canada license was approved for Tweed Marijuana Inc. to grow medical marijuana, after that company recently acquired a greenhouse facility in Niagara-on-the-Lake. But so far, insurance companies are either reticent or still looking at the exposures and liability involved in covering a large-scale medical marijuana operation.
One company is already underwriting such farms in North America.
“What we’re doing is specifically in the marijuana liability insurance and risk management area for North America, for licensed producers, dispensaries, grow facilities, and the prescribers,” says Bill Chaaban, CEO of Creative Edge. “We are the first truly Canadian diversified marijuana company with four major divisions including insurance, marijuana, hemp and vitamin nutritional supplements.”
It was back in June that Creative Edge Nutrition announced it was entering into a joint venture with RXNB Inc. to offer exclusive marijuana liabilities insurance for North America through the Wellness Medical Protection Group.
“The Wellness Medical Protection Group specializes in the unique liability and risk management features,” says Edward J. Kuhn, an agent with Wellness Medical Protection Group/Liability Insurance Solutions, “in particularly, the medical cannabis business.”
The Tweed Farms license will allow it to commence growing activities in approximately 10 per cent of the entire 350,000 square foot facility. Tweed Farms will produce the initial crop while concurrently working to expand its growing area and other permitted activities under the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations license. (continued.)
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“I am delighted with the efficiency of the overall organization in bringing Tweed Farms into production thereby enabling Tweed to have industry leading production potential as we ramp to 2015,” said Bruce Linton, chairman and co-founder of Tweed Marijuana Inc. “Tweed is now the first geographically diversified, multi-licensed producer in Canada and will seek to accelerate production from this leadership position.”
Tweed Farms utilizes rainwater harvesting from the roof surface of our glass greenhouse, water recirculation and re-use, and CO2 capture strategies to produce medical marijuana in a very sustainable way. The entire facility is expected to have the potential to produce up to 45 million grams per year of marijuana based upon expanding our licensing to the full square footage of the greenhouse.
There are currently 17 strains in production at Tweed Farms, including Bakerstreet (Hindu Kush), Donegal (Chem Dawg), and High Lands (East Coast Sour Diesel), with an anticipated first harvest in the fourth quarter of this year.
