Medical marijuana facility proposed near Hebron

Wicomico County farmers grow a cornucopia of crops: corn, soybeans, wheat, watermelons, strawberries, squash, nursery plants, Christmas trees and more.

Could medical marijuana be next?

Of the scores of applicants expected to compete next year for just 15 statewide permits to grow cannabis for medicinal purposes, at least one has set its sights on Wicomico County.

Biocannatix LLC, based in Upper Marlboro, wants to open a growing facility and processing plant on farmland near Hebron. The company also would like to operate one of the nearly 100 dispensaries the state will allow, but the firm hasn’t decided whether that would be in Wicomico or somewhere on the western shore.

The operation just outside Hebron town limits is expected to create 30-50 jobs, said Robert Gonsalves, one of the owners of Biocannatix. The facility is planned for near the intersection of Log Cabin Road and Memory Gardens Lane.

“We definitely would have anonymity,” he said. “It would be an isolated facility. The community wouldn’t have access to it. It would be very secure.”

Two Hebron residents interviewed by The Daily Times said they don’t see any problems with marijuana potentially growing in their backyards.

“Hey, it don’t hurt my feelings,” said Joe Bishop. “If it helps people, that’s fine with me.”

Pete Hurley said he would take it one step further.

“Personally, I think the government should legalize it and tax it,” he said.

Delegate Sheree Sample-Hughes, D-37A-Wicomico, whose district includes the proposed growing facility, said she has met with Gonsalves and his partners. She supports the state’s medical marijuana program but remains in “education mode” on the Hebron proposal, she said.

To that end, she plans to hold a town-hall meeting on it with area residents sometime in mid-September.

So far, 23 states have enacted medical marijuana programs.

Maryland lawmakers passed legislation to set one up in 2013, but the regulations were so tough that the offer had no corporate takers. They have since approved two rounds of fixes.

The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission was created to oversee all licensing, registration, inspection and testing measures pertaining to the state’s medical marijuana program, according to the commission’s website.

The commission is expected to give final approval to regulations for growers, processors and dispensaries in September. The application period will follow.

License pre-approvals are expected to be announced in December or January. Awardees will have 365 days to complete all necessary steps to obtain a license and to request final inspection by the commission.

Medical cannabis could become available to patients in the second half of 2016.

And when it does, Gonsalves wants to be among those offering it to them.

His background is in information technology. His wife, a registered nurse named Jamila, also has an ownership stake. They became interested in medical marijuana after a relative in Michigan found success as a grower.

“Our main platform is to help educate the public about the benefits of medical cannabis as a safe medicine,” Robert Gonsalves said. “We also want to help people understand why it’s the fastest growing industry in America.”

If he gets to cultivate cannabis himself, the marijuana plants would be grown indoors and processed in an adjoining part of the facility, he said. The grounds would be protected by barbed-wire fencing, security guards and video monitoring.

Whether Biocannatix would also open a dispensary on Delmarva would depend on how much demand there is locally for medical marijuana and the community’s sentiment, Gonsalves added.