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Stiff security planned for North Battleford cannabis retail and production sites

Aug 4, 2018 | 8:00 AM

Tight security will be the modus operandi for a North Battleford company’s new cannabis retail outlet and separate planned production site currently in the works.  

Curativa Cannabis, a division of Envirosafe Chemicals Canada, was awarded one of two permits allotted for retail outlets for North Battleford from Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) of the Government of Saskatchewan in June.

A condition of the SLGA permit is that the retail permits won’t take effect until cannabis is legalized, and outlets must be operating within 12 months of legalization.

Curativa Cannabis CEO James Davey said the new retail outlet will be located in the commercial area on 114 Street.

“We [Curativa Cannabis] should have our retail store open by the end of August, we hope. We’re starting to construct it now,” he told battlefordsNOW Friday, adding the company plans to open in time when cannabis is expected to be legal in Canada this October.

He said the SLGA requires the retail site to have a number of security features that will be implemented.  

The SLGA is imposing specific requirements around physical security and monitoring to ensure that inventory is kept secure, according to its report.

Approved retail outlets will be allowed to display cannabis in their store as long as it is kept secure, such as in locked containers or behind a counter accessible only to staff. Cannabis cannot be visible from outside the store.

Davey said security cameras will also be installed and further technology to ensure the site is fully protected.

Production site awaiting licence 

Davey said the Curativa Cannabis separate new production site planned for the Industrial Park in North Battleford will be developed after the operation receives federal approval from Health Canada for a production licence. 

The company’s current plans are primarily to produce medicinal marijuana.   

“[We] won’t be able to open it and produce until such time as we get a medicinal marijuana licence from Ottawa,” Davey said. 

However, he said eventually Curativa Cannabis plans to also produce cannabis for recreational use after it becomes legal. Davey said the production operation needs to meet strict security and storage requirements to keep the site safe.

“There will be full security; we will probably have to have it locked down,” he said. “We’ll probably have a security guard on full time.”

Plans are also to install security fencing around the property.

When it becomes an authorized licensed producer, the company will be producing marijuana and cannabis oil.

Davey said the existing facility on Thatcher Avenue, where Envirosafe Chemicals Canada is located, will be expanded to 30,000-square-feet in size to accommodate the cannabis production facility. The Curativa Cannabis production site will take up three-quarters of the space when the project is complete.  

Davey said architects are currently working on the design for the site that will be presented the City of North Battleford at a future date.

He said the cannabis production facility planned for the city’s outskirts will employ 36 new staff, while about 10 jobs will be created for the retail site which will be  located in the business corridor of North Battleford.

Davey said initially the retail outlet will sell cannabis product obtained from elsewhere in Canada until the production site in North Battleford has been developed and is ready to open. Curativa Cannabis is also developing an online store.

  

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW