Medical marijuana facility a win for Greene

Some people might not be happy about marijuana growing in their neighborhood. On the other hand, there are certainly people out there who would be a little too enthusiastic about having it right in their backyard.
This isn’t that type of marijuana debate.
Regardless of your opinions on marijuana, the residents of Greene County hit a figurative jackpot last week when the state Department of Health announced one of a dozen medical marijuana-growing operations to be built across Pennsylvania will be located in Cumberland Township.
Amazingly, AGRiMED Industries of Pa. LLC, which is based in Philadelphia and whose workers have experience with such growing operations, was among 117 applicants to vie for the 12 growing operations. The company will now have six months to construct the 80,000-square-foot growing and processing building on a 61-acre site near Nemacolin.
In the short-term, it means construction jobs will be coming to Greene County as the company plans to invest $25 million in the project. It also means at least 60 new full-time jobs to work at the facility, and that number could gradually increase as production ramps up.
A medical marijuana dispensary also might eventually open in the county.
Cumberland Township officials were ecstatic upon hearing the news, knowing it will improve the tax base and bring jobs to the area.
“They had everything very well thought out,” Cumberland Township Supervisor Jim Sokol said of the company. “We were very impressed with them.”
Most importantly, though, the legalization of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania will widen the availability of treatment options for patients in our area. It’s an important step for a state that is woefully behind the times when it comes to medical marijuana, which is now legal in nearly 30 states.
Under the state’s medical marijuana program, cannabis can be prescribed for 17 medical conditions. However, it won’t come in a form that can be smoked. Medical cannabis can be dispensed as pills, oils, liquids, topical ointments or in a form administered by an inhaler or nebulizer.
Some residents have raised concerns about security, but the company has worked to ease the minds of local officials who raised questions about the process.
Hawthorne Conley, a former state police lieutenant colonel and the company’s security director, spoke to Greene County commissioners and told them the company will make sure the growing facility on Thomas Road is secure.
In fact, Greene County Commissioner Blair Zimmerman recounted that Conley told him it would be secured “like Fort Knox.”
Beyond that, though, the community should not worry that the introduction of medical marijuana will lead to a drug epidemic. As most people already know, that drug epidemic is already here and very real. In fact, maybe medical marijuana is a step in the right direction to turn around the drug crisis.
The influx of prescription opioids as pain medication has helped to push many people to heroin and other street drugs. If anything, the introduction of medical marijuana could serve as an alternative to other forms of pain relief that have led us down this addictive, destructive and deadly path.
The new growing facility is a win for the local economy, but more importantly, it’s a victory for people who desperately need marijuana for legitimate medical reasons.