The Pro Football Hall of Famer is working with Laurel Green Medical, a group that wants a state license to open a marijuana research and cultivation center on a five-acre parcel of land in the depressed borough of Braddock.

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WEBVTT NEWS REPORTER A SHORT TIME ABOUT - AGO ABOUT WHY HE CHOSE BRADDOCK. >> FRANCO HARR AND HIS BUSINESS HARRIS ARE HERE IN BRADDOCK TO FINALIZE PLANS FOR THAT PROPOSED MEDA RE-MARIJUANARESEARCH CENTER HERE. THEY'RE COMPETING AGAINST TWO OTHE GROUPS TO OPEN SIMILAR FACILITIES HIKE RIGHT HERE IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. MEDICAL MARIJUANA MIGHT BE THE NEXT GREAT THEM FOR PAIN MANAGEMENT. FRANCO HARRIS WANTS HIS NEW COMPANY TO BE AT THE CENTER OF RESEARCH. >> COLLEAGUES AND FORMER ATHLETES REALLY HAVE A LOT OF ISSUES WITH PAIN MANAGEMENT AN AS WELL AS PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEENIN CAR ACCIDENTS OR SOMEONE FALLING OFF A ROOF. >> A FACILITY OFF THIS L IN BRADDOCK WOULD CREATE UP TO 70 NEW JOBS AND WOULD CONDUCT MARIJUANA CULTIVATION AND RESEARCH TO COUNTER OPE BUDDIESAND -- OPEN ADDS AND PAIN MANAGEMENT. >> OUR WHOLE THING IS TO RESEARCH AND STUDY CANNABIS AND THE MEDAL BENEFITS OF CAN BILLS IN PAIN MANAGEMENT AND WE THINK THAT THIS WILL HELP IN THE PROBLEM WITH OPEN OIMEDS. >> A STATEMENT OF THE ART MARIJUANA RESEARCH FACILITY WOULD BE A SHOT IN THE ARNOLD TOTHE DEPRESSED BRADDOCK COMMUNITY.>> THE DECLINE OF THE INDUSTRY STEE DRAGGED IN THIS AND THE EMERGENCE OF THIS FACILITY COULDBE THE THING THAT PULLS US OUT OF IT.>> IT'S GOING TO SIGNAL TO PEOPLE THAT YOU CAN MAKE SUBSTANTIAL DOLLAR INVESTMENTS HERE IN TOWN. >> BURROWS LIKE, THAT THEY'RE OFTEN LEFT BEHIND OR LEFT OUT OFTHE ECONOMIC BOOM THAT'S BEEN HAPPENING IN PITTSBURGH AND AROUND OTHER AREAS OF PITTSBURGH. >> HARRIS SAYS HIS GROUP WILL COMPLETE THEY APPLICATION FOR THE FACILITY BY MARCH 20 AND THEY HOME TO HEAR ABOUT WHO IS

Advertisement Braddock Borough and Franco Harris try to land medical marijuana facility The Pro Football Hall of Famer is working with Laurel Green Medical, a group that wants a state license to open a marijuana research and cultivation center on a five-acre parcel of land in the depressed borough of Braddock. Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Pittsburgh Steelers legend and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Franco Harris has put his sights on 5 acres of land in the borough of Braddock. Harris is co-founder of Laurel Green Medical, a group that wants to open a medical marijuana research and cultivation center in the depressed borough. Harris believes that medical marijuana can be an effective alternative to opioids when dealing with pain management. "Our whole thing is to research and study cannabis and the medicinal benefits of cannabis in pain management, and we think that this will help with the problem of opioids," Harris said Tuesday. Laurel Green Medical is competing with several other groups for licenses to open two such facilities in southwestern Pennsylvania. A total of 12 will open across the state. If Harris' group is awarded a license, the facility would be built on a parcel of land on Talbot Street between 9th and 11th streets. Mayor John Fetterman said it would provide the town with a big financial boost, estimating that tax revenues combined with a community benefits agreement could double the annual budget of $1.9 million. "The steel industry dragged us into Act 47, and the emergence of a new industry -- medical marijuana -- could be the thing that pulls us out of it," Fetterman said. Harris said Laurel Green Medical's bid application will be completed by the deadline of March 20. The state could award licenses by the summer.