Date : Feb. 21, 2014
WeedMd is going to be setting up in the old Imperial Tobacco plant in Aylmer, ON and is set to become Canada's biggest legal grow op.
Aylmer, is a small town in southern Ontario, where hundreds of tobacco jobs were snuffed out when the tobacco processing plant closed down, back in 2007 and jobs moved to Mexico.
There is a future in pot, even the mayor in Aylmer says "it's a win win situation", and with Health Canada's regulations set to kick in April 1, WeedMD is joining others across Canada and competing to set up medical marijuana production facilities. There have been some delays, but their main priority is hiring local people.
It's expected that 100 people will be employed over the next two years and part of the reason I choose this story is because, I know several people from Aylmer, ON and the surrounding area and over the last few years they have been hit extremely hard with job loss. Thousands of jobs were lost in the tobacco industry in 2008, when the government bought out farmers, pretty much shutting down the tobacco industry. I'm a good example of a lost farm labor job. (I worked on a Tobacco Farm for 11 Seasons) As well as tobacco jobs Aylmer has also lost jobs at local plants with Freightliner, Ford, Timken, Kellogg, Caterpillar and Magna. It's no wonder the town has been warm and respective, with the prospect of new jobs in the production of Medical Marijuana, they are very fortunate.
http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2014/02/20140221-210047.html
It is probably going to stir up some controversy but the fact that they are so focus on hiring locals will definitely ease things over. It is nice to see people seeing this change in a positive way so it is going to be interesting to see how things will turn out.
ReplyDeleteI think that an increase in jobs in this area is fantastic! So many jobs have been cut in the area in the past years that this new plant can only do good for the economy of the area. Although there are not as many jobs being produced than have been lost, I feel that it will soon change. One company moving into the town will boost other companies and businesses in the surrounding area, and perhaps even encourage other companies to follow suit. Medical Marijuana appears to be creating a lot of jobs lately in many different areas; I think this is such a good business for towns and cities who have since become ghost towns.
ReplyDeleteThis topic certainly could be a good one to debate! More jobs = happy people. Available MJ = happy people for some, and not so happy for others. On the flip-side, although the whole idea is for the MJ to be used for medicinal purposes, this may not be the full practice. With the availability for MJ to smoke (for medicinal purposes or not), let's hope that there are rules being followed. Should people with a prescription of MJ be limited to smoking it in the privacy of their homes, somewhat like people being able to drink alcohol in the privacy of their homes? Should people be allowed to smoke it in smoking sections of businesses where smoking cigarettes are permitted? Should people be allowed to smoke MJ on the streets where others walk? Are people allowed in Canada to walk on the streets with a beer in their hand? If not, would smoking MJ be in the same category as a beer? Lots of discussion could be stirred from this post Kelly!
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