Jeremy Cox

jcox6@delmarvanow.com

A medical marijuana startup is betting big that it will acquire a coveted Maryland grower license, spending nearly $1 million for a building to house its headquarters in Wicomico County.

The state's medical marijuana commission plans to select up to 15 growers this summer from a pool of nearly 150 companies that applied late last year. Despite those odds, CannaMed Pharmaceuticals paid $950,000 recently for a former manufacturing facility on Route 50 east of Hebron, where it plans to grow marijuana plants indoors.

By purchasing now, the company is "expediting the entire process once the licenses are issued" so it can begin making medical marijuana available to dispensaries by early 2017, said Angeline Nanni, the president and CEO.

If it gets the grower license, CannaMed will pursue approval to process the marijuana on the site as well, she added. It has no plans to open a dispensary.

Lower Shore pot industry begins to take shape

The low-slung building, formerly owned by defense contractor Matech, is nestled among a mix of forests and farm fields on the east side of Route 50. A few hundred yards to the south lies the Springhill Memory Gardens cemetery.

A few hundred yards to the north lies the Farmer's Wife Eatery and Farm Market, where Jon Morcom works most afternoons as a cook.

"To each his own," he said of the proposed facility. "To me, it doesn't bother me at all. It can help people. I think it'll be fine."

CannaMed, which is currently headquartered at the Trump Plaza Office Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, isn't affiliated with BioCannatix, which publicly announced plans to grow pot in nearly the same spot last year. At a September forum emceed by Del. Sheree Sample-Hughes, D-37A-Wicomico, several Hebron-area residents decried the proposal as an invitation for criminal behavior.

The venture collapsed after the company failed to submit a grower license application.

Views mixed on proposed Hebron medical marijuana facility

Nanni deflected crime concerns, saying security will be a top priority.

“The security is some of the tightest in the nation. Maryland’s program is one of the model programs other states are looking to," she said. “I think the likelihood of increasing crime in the area is pretty minimal.”

What's more, since it won't be a dispensary, walk-in traffic will be almost nil, Nanni said.

About 35,000 square feet of the building will be dedicated to growing marijuana while another 6,000 will be for research and development. The company hopes to attract guest scientists to further understanding of marijuana's medicinal uses, Nanni said.

It should also boost the local economy, providing 70 jobs at the outset and 100 at full strength, she said.

The 7-acre site already has the zoning it needs to move forward.

Contact reporter Jeremy Cox at 410-845-4630 or on Twitter @Jeremy_Cox.