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Sheltered in an unmarked industrial building in a Toronto suburb that was once a farmer’s field, MedReLeaf is quietly bringing in the harvest. In a neighbourhood dominated by global technology firms, it’s almost quaint to watch MedReLeaf’s white-coated production staff trim plants by hand on shiny steel tables.

But there’s nothing quaint about MedReLeaf, a pioneer in the new New Economy. It’s one of a handful of Canadian firms beginning production of medical marijuana. Founded a year ago, and expecting to ship its first products later this month, MedReLeaf expects to be serving 10,000 patients by the end of 2014. Within a few years, Neil Closner, the chief executive, hopes to have 10 similar-sized facilities serving 100,000 Canadians.

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He’s not just blowing smoke. Medical marijuana is an instant growth industry created last year by changing federal regulations in response to concerns 400,000 Canadians will be using medical marijuana within the next decade – a tenfold increase from today. This “green rush” has already made paper fortunes for many opportunistic entrepreneurs and speculators. But MedReLeaf is taking a different tack: trying to be the gold standard in an industry still shaking off the stigma of illegality, basement grow-ops and Trailer Park Boys.