JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – The hope is by this summer, Mississippi patients can legally obtain medical marijuana. That is the goal of Mockingbird Cannabis.
It is the state’s largest and, company leaders say, the most experienced medical marijuana producer.
We talked with the company’s chief executive officer at their Raymond facility Thursday afternoon about the mission of the company and their plans in Mississippi.
Mockingbird CEO Clint Patterson is a former prosecutor. He says he has seen both sides of the debate on medical cannabis.
Patterson said, “I was on both sides of this and I really saw the benefit. As a prosecutor, people were trying to use this plant to help their situation medically and so it was really difficult to prosecute people for that and so that’s how I got into this industry.”
Patterson says Mockingbird will bring economic progress and jobs to the state.
“We wanted to raise the money that we knew we were gonna have to raise for this capital spend. This building is going to cost us around 30-million dollars. We wanted the money to come from Mississippi. From people that were every day people that were working in Mississippi. Because what we saw in other states were out of state people that got their money from California or other countries and all the profits left, right? Because those are the people who own the shares,” Patterson said.
One of the company’s missions is to bring relief to patients who receive a medical recommendations for more than 20 debilitating illnesses, including seizures.
Patterson says his daughter suffered from seizures.
Patterson said, “What we work on as a company is to give parents and people that are suffering different vehicles to use this plant.”
The plants will be grown here with every safety measure in place.
“We have very rigorous standards about how we grow stuff. You can see the facility. We almost grow in Yeti coolers. We control every part of the environment. And so you’re not going to have pesticides on your product,” Patterson said.
Mockingbird has also partnered with Nandy’s Candy in Jackson to make sure that candy products are produced, stored and distributed properly.
Patterson said, “We’ll have a full beverage line, we’ll have candies. We’re partnering with Nandy’s Candy, who is a staple here in Mississippi and we’re really happy to be working with her. She’s gonna teach us all the ends and outs of making sure our chocolate doesn’t melt in the heat of Mississippi.”
Progress is being made quickly at the facility.
“Our facility here is about 70 percent finished, and I would guess that we would be finished in late April or early May and be ready for plants. And so that coincides with the Department of Health and their estimate that they’re going to look at issuing licenses in June,” said Patterson.
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