Cannabis in Clinton County: Two Medical Marijuana Licenses Sought
By John Lipez
LOCK HAVEN—It turns out two entrepreneurs have apparently filed to locate a medical marijuana facility in Clinton County.
A Colorado entrepreneur had announced plans last year seeking to operate a medical marijuana processing facility in South Avis. Word came this week a second prospective developer is looking at a 10-acre site in Lamar Township.
Little is known locally about this latest entrant in the state’s medical marijuana licensing program. Mike Flanagan, chief executive officer of the Clinton County Economic Partnership, has confirmed to The Record that a company called Pure Keystone has obtained an option on “Lot No. 9” at the Partnership’s Lamar Township business park, directly across from the currently defunct Baker-Hughes facility. Flanagan said Pure Keystone and its affiliates are involved in the medical marijuana business in other states, including Colorado.
Monday of this week was the state-set deadline to apply for a grower license under Pennsylvania’s new medical marijuana regulations. The state Health Department so far has not disclosed how many applications have been received; a spokeswoman in Harrisburg said additional applications could be received the rest of this week as Monday was the postmark date.
Pure Keystone’s Lamar Township overture follows one delivered locally last year from Terrapin Care Stations, a Colorado-based company seeking to lease some 40,000 square feet from the Henry Street Partnership, owners of a former modular home building structure along Henry Street in South Avis, Pine Creek Township.
The state legislature last year approved the state’s first Medical Marijuana Program. Gov. Tom Wolf signed the legislation into law in April of 2016. Applicants likely won’t know for some time if they receive state approval. Should that happen to backers of the Terrapin project, they said a new facility could be up and running in 2018. They estimated some 30 to 50 jobs would be created.
The application process is not cheap. Growers have to pay a nonrefundable $10,000 application fee; submit a $200,000 permit fee which would be refundable if not successful; and provide proof of $2 million in capital.
Two such grower licenses are available in the northcentral section of the state.
