Medical marijuana: Homegrown entrepreneurs

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a series of stories on medical marijuana, which was passed into law in Mississippi on Feb. 2. Part I, published in the Feb. 6 edition, focused on what medical marijuana users will need to know. Today’s story focuses on manufacturing and distribution of medical marijuana. Part III will look into the economic impact of medical marijuana.

Seven years ago, Deneisha Glenn was a kindergarten teacher at Sale Elementary School in Columbus.

While she enjoyed working with the children, Glenn felt an irresistible urge to become an entrepreneur. Together with her sister, Amber, they started their own human resources firm, providing services that ranged from performing background checks to recruiting to drug testing.

“But even as we were starting our HR company … I was always looking for the next opportunity,” Glenn said. “We started thinking about medical marijuana probably four or five years ago.”

That was about the time the first medical marijuana legislation was introduced in the state legislature.

“There’s been a lot of ups and downs along the way,” Glenn said. “There were definitely times when it seemed like this was never going to happen, but we kept doing our research and putting together our plans.”

What previously felt like a pipe dream at times is now a tangible possibility.

On Feb. 2, Gov. Tate Reeves signed Senate Bill 2095 into law, establishing a medical marijuana program in the state.

Deneisha Glenn, 36, and Amber Glenn, 30, plan to hit the ground running, building their own grow facility on family-owned land on Hairston Bend Road in east Lowndes County while opening a dispensary at the old Tuesday Morning storefront in the Jackson Square shopping center, space they’ve been renting for more than a year in anticipation of the legalization of medical marijuana.

The Glenns hope to start selling medical marijuana products grown at their own facility in January 2023.

“When the governor signed the legislation, it hit us: ‘This is really happening,’” Deneisha said.

The industry

There are four major components to Mississippi’s medical marijuana operations: grow facilities, processing facilities, testing facilities and dispensaries.

Joe Max Higgins, CEO for Golden Triangle Development LINK — which leads the region’s industrial recruitment — has been working with groups interested in building grow facilities and dispensaries since Mississippians voted to amend the state constitution to legalize medical marijuana in November 2020. That amendment was voided by the Mississippi Supreme Court in May.

“We had a group looking at a building for a grow operation in West Point the day the Supreme Court announced their decision,” Higgins said. “It was a really hot idea at the time, and we’re seeing an interest now, too. We probably have a half-dozen groups looking at existing buildings in all three of our counties. We got another group just last week. We gave them our inventory. That’s in the works now.”

Higgins said the interested groups include some big-scale plans.

“We’ve talked to people who plan to have grow facilities in the 100,000 to 200,000 square-foot range with capital investments from $10 million to as high as $60 million,” Higgins said.

Higgins said to date there have been no inquiries from groups hoping to process or test medical marijuana.

A sigh of relief

As the Glenn sisters began researching medical marijuana, they took note of how programs in other states operated. It dawned on them that even if Mississippi were to pass medical marijuana, they might not have a seat at the table.

“We went to a medical marijuana conference and there were probably a thousand people there, but we only saw about 10 Black people,” Deneisha said. “What we realized is that in some states it is so expensive that a lot of Black people really don’t have a chance. Some states said you have to have $1 million in the bank and application fees were ridiculous, $100,000 in New Jersey and Maryland. We came away more determined than ever, but at the same time, we didn’t know if barriers would be too high for us to meet.”

That was also a concern for Ken Newburger, executive director for the Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association, who lobbied legislators as they crafted Mississippi’s program.

“We were really committed to making the industry accessible to smaller operators,” Newburger said. “I have to give a lot of credit to Sen. (Kevin) Blackwell and Rep. (Trey) Lamar for their work, especially in this area. The legislation has a sliding scale of fees based on the size of the operation. That allows for companies of all sizes to have an opportunity.”

The application fee ranges from $1,500 for grow facilities less than 1,000 square feet and increases incrementally to a high of $60,000 for a facility with more than 100,000 square feet. Similarly, the annual licensing fee ranges from $2,000 to $150,000 along the same scale.

Dispensary fees have not been established yet.

“We wish we could be like Southern Sky (a group that broke ground on a large facility in Canton last week) and have a 20,000 or 30,000 square-foot facility, but we’re a small operation,” Deneisha Glenn said.

The Glenns haven’t decided on how large their grow facility will be. Between that and their dispensary, they expect to hire 25 to 30 employees.

The Glenns said they’ll begin clearing their land for the growth facility in the coming weeks. They are also working on signage for their dispensary, bearing their company name “Holistika.” They’ve hired an attorney experienced in medical marijuana and are working on financing for what Deneisha says will be a capital investment of about $3 million.

Obstacles along the way

If the past five years are any indicator, the Glenns understand there will be ups and downs.

“When the Supreme Court ruled against medical marijuana, we just sat down and cried for a day or two, then we went back to work,” Deneisha said. “We just weren’t going to give up.”

Some unresolved obstacles are now coming to the forefront.

In the days after the law was signed, the Tennessee Valley Authority issued a statement that created some doubt as to whether TVA can provide electricity to medical marijuana businesses. As a federally-owned power provider, TVA said it must comply with federal law, under which marijuana is an illegal substance. TVA has since softened its language, and the general consensus is that medical marijuana companies will have access to TVA power.

Another possible obstacle is the law allows counties and municipalities an “opt out” to prevent medical marijuana businesses from operating in their jurisdictions.

That does not appear to be an issue for the Glenns so far.

Lowndes County Board of Supervisors President Trip Hairston said he’s not heard any supervisor or county citizens ask for the county to opt out.

Deneisha Glenn said after speaking with Columbus Mayor Keith Gaskin and city council members, she’s optimistic the city won’t opt out, either.

“I talked to the mayor and he was very supportive,” she said. “I also talked to (Ward 6 Councilwoman Jacqueline DiCicco) because our dispensary would be in her ward. She was awesome, and Councilman (Rusty) Greene was very nice, too.

“We really feel good about how things stand,” she continued. “We were a little worried about what would be in the law and how it would affect us. But, really, there weren’t any red flags. We’re ready to roll.”

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected]