Pubdate: Fri, 17 Jan 2014
Source: Metro (Toronto, CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 Metro Canada
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/toronto
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3462

MEET(LEGAL)MARIJUANA MAN

Commercial cannabis. Firm genetically testing pot plants to create
ailment-specific strains for new market

Mark Gobuty stands in the middle of the crop, peering out at the
plants that have names such as Happy Face, Sweet Dreams and Holy Grail.

Wearing a white lab coat and hard hat, he looks part scientist and
part-construction worker. It seems fitting for someone at the helm of
a company that is genetically testing marijuana plants to create
ailment-specific strains for a new commercial market.

The former health food producer began growing medical marijuana for
his parents in 2011, inside a century-old barn, nestled in the rolling
farmland of Clearview Township, south of Georgian Bay.

That adventure evolved into The Peace Naturals Project, a federally
licensed producer among the first companies approved by Health Canada
to distribute medical cannabis under new regulations introduced in
October that take full effect on April 1.

"There's an opportunity to shape an industry," says Gobuty of what
motivated him. He wanted to get in early and set the standards on
quality, message and pricing "so the industry would become the new
cannabis versus people selling legally what was illegal before."

Under new regulations, medicinal users can no longer grow their own
pot, nor will the government sell it. Instead, a burgeoning free
market of licensed growers will grow and sell standardized quality
weed at competitive prices to doctor prescribed patients.

Gobuty's journey to pot producer started three years ago, after
peeking inside his parents' medicine cabinet. He was stunned by all
the pain medications they were taking for severe arthritis and other
ailments.

After discussing the idea with his brothers, Gobuty offered to grow
it. A friend is the largest industrial hemp grower in the world so
Gobuty knew quite a bit about growing the cannabis plant. Plus, he
hoped to lure his 70-something snowbird parents back home from
California so they could spend time with the grandkids.

His parents agreed and, as Gobuty puts it, "the adventure
began."

In the fall of 2012, he incorporated The Peace Naturals Project, as
rumblings were growing that federal regulations would be changing and
a new industry emerging. He left Mum's Original, which his wife runs,
to focus on the new venture.

In November, the company was licensed and opened for business. Among
the 29 employees are people who answer client calls, work in the
growing facility and manage the property.

That old barn is now filled with about 1,000 marijuana plants. There
are plans to introduce greenhouses and expand the facility.

Barbed wire fencing surrounds the barn, which is protected by cameras,
motion sensors and glass break detectors. All employees wear a panic
button connected to the OPP in the event of trouble.

Researchers measure the plants' active ingredients daily to produce a
consistent medicine. Currently, they're selling 14 varieties of
marijuana, two have high levels of CBD, meaning they won't make a
person high but will medicate pain. Two full-time researchers are
testing 105 additional strains, and studying genetic differences in
the plants in an effort to produce ailment-specific strains. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D