Build It And They Will Come: The cannabis industry in Mesquite

By JIM CANFIELD

Moapa Valley Progress

Most retail outlets in any industry vie for the most visible and accessible area for their venue. That is not the case for Deep Roots Harvest. It sits in an isolated area on a small hill on the outskirts of Mesquite, NV.

It appears at first to be an unlikely spot for the third medical and recreational facility to be licensed in the state of Nevada. But, perhaps the company already believed in their own version of the often-misquoted phrase, “If you build it he will come.”

Regardless of where they are located, customers have no problem finding this facility. Ryan Breeden, Deep Roots’ Chief Marketing Officer said that “we do very little advertising, most of our customers hear about us through word of mouth.”

When asked about the locals view of the industry, Rayan said, “there have been nothing but positive support from the locals. Mesquite has been a great place to operate.”

When Deep Roots Harvest (DRH) opened its doors for business in the summer of 2015 they were licensed to serve the patients of Nevada for medical use only. But since July 1, 2017 DRH has served all customers 21 years of age and older. This has meant rapid growth for the company.

Jobs, Jobs and More Jobs
DRH operates a dual licensed (medical and adult use) vertically integrated cannabis company. This means that the company actually holds three licenses. These licenses include a cultivation license which allows for marijuana to be grown at the facility; a production license which allows for processing the plant into final goods for sale; and finally, a dispensary license which allows for the sale of cannabis retail products in the Deep Roots Harvest dispensary.

“Our team at DRH comprises a really diverse and talented group of individuals,” Breeden said. “Our company is segmented into 12 departments, made up of 65 specific job descriptions, all filled by more than 100 team members.”

According to a member survey conducted by the Nevada Dispensary Association the industry has created an estimated 6,700 jobs in the state of Nevada. The Nevada Department of Taxation has also issued over 8,000 agent cards for marijuana establishment employees.

In states that have legalized the use of medical and recreational marijuana there is no doubt that jobs have been created. A January 2017 report by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana (normal.org), an organization that is working to reform marijuana laws, shows the marijuana industry has created 123,000 full time jobs in the US. A glance at states that led the country in marijuana-related job creation, shows California (43,374 full-time jobs), Colorado (23,407), and Washington (22,952). The 2017 cannabis industry’s annual report put out by, New Frontier Data, claims that the marijuana industry is projected to create more jobs than manufacturing by 2020.

Recreational vs medical use
With the emergence of adult use marijuana in 2017, medical marijuana has found itself under the weight of the explosive adult use market. In some cases, patients have been confronted with long lines, limited menu offerings and higher prices.

In addition, medical marijuana patients in the state of Nevada are required to renew their medical marijuana card and there is a $100 fee for the card. This is putting a lot of pressure on the medical program and causing patients to not bother renewing their medical cards.

“The legal marijuana program in Nevada was built on safe access for patients,” Breeden said. “So we have to do what we can to ensure we are continuing to offer safe, affordable access to cannabis, even under the pressure of the adult use market. We want to make sure that our patients are not forgotten and that we are still providing a high level of service to them. After all, they need these products the most, and we have an obligation to serve them.”

Brenda Snell, Director of Human Resources at DRH, said that the company has taken several steps to show its commitment to our medical patients. “Patients at DRH are not subject to the 10% Nevada retail tax, and we offer our patients an additional 15% off of their purchase,” Snell said. “So it is significantly less for patients than it is for adult use customers.”

In addition, patients don’t ever have to wait in line, Snell said. Rather they can simply notify store staff and go directly to the register if they know what they want. “Our patients order off the same menu as our adult use customers,” Snell said. “So they can always choose from our dispensary’s full array of products.”

Legal levels in the system
Working and driving while under the influence of marijuana is illegal in all states, even those that have passed recreational marijuana laws. But there is a particular concern by law enforcement of people driving while impaired. That is because, right now, the only real tool police officers have to determine the levels of marijuana within a driver’s system, is the “Standard Sobriety Test.”

Because of the potential increase with public sales of marijuana, some police forces now hold extended training to enhance the detection ability of officers and are teaching better means to detect impairment for those under the influence of marijuana.

Detecting it within the workplace can be problematic and most managers can be unaware that an employee is under the influence unless he/she shows a substantial loss of cognition. A urine test does not indicate intoxication or impairment but does detect the presence of drugs. That is why most companies have a “zero” tolerance policy and use a urine test for any recent use of drugs.

From Farm to Body
Just how is cannabis grown? It is cultivated by a process known as asexual reproduction. This is the process of cutting and rooting a healthy “shoot” to create an exact copy of the parent.
During the growing stage, plants are placed in a controlled environment with eighteen hours of light and six hours of darkness.

The next phase is ‘Flowering’, where the plants are subjected to lighting for 12 hours and 12 hours of darkness. It is during this time that the plants begin doubling or even tripling in size and produce a bud or ‘flower.’

Just before harvesting, the plants are flushed with plain water to remove any minerals and nutrients present in the soil. This flushing helps increase the flavor profile of the plant.

After the plants are removed from the soil, and roughly one week before the harvesting of the buds, there is a process called Wet Trim where all the large leaves are removed.

Then the plants are hung upside down for a relatively slow drying process. This is all done in a climate-controlled room.

Once the buds are removed from the drying racks they are placed into barrels so that potency, flavor and smell can be optimized.

A sample from each batch is sent off to a certified lab for testing. Nevada has stringent testing requirements to qualify cannabis. Samples are tested for things like strength, moisture, foreign matter and terpenes. Each product is packaged in heat sealed tamper evident and childproof bags that are flushed with nitrogen and vacuum sealed.