Cedar Rapids cannabis plant delays opening till August

May. 2, 2019 9:24 pm, Updated: May. 3, 2019 12:37 pm

A medical cannabis manufacturer opening a plant in Cedar Rapids is delaying its opening until Aug. 15.

The state granted the extension to Iowa Relief, a subsidiary of Acreage Holdings, a New Jersey-based company. It initially intended to have its operation open by July 1.

Patrick Doherty, senior operations association for Acreage Holdings, told The Gazette on Thursday the extension allows the company to time to complete construction and to meet state requirements.

The extension was granted April 11, according to a letter from the Iowa Department of Public Health, which oversees the program.

The letter warns that delays beyond Aug. 15, though, could result 'in action by the department” on Iowa Relief's manufacturing license.

Doherty said the harsh winter slowed construction - the company broke ground in December - and the company wanted to allow extra time for obtaining permits, undergoing inspections and testing of their products.

Iowa Relief is the second company to be awarded a manufacturing license under Iowa's fledgling medical cannabidiol program.

Construction of its Cedar Rapids facility will continues after it begins cultivating its cannabis plants, Doherty said.

'Iowa Relief is building a modular facility, and we know that several modules have arrived and are being connected to utilities,” the Department of Public Health said in a statement Thursday.

' Comments: (319) 368-8536; michaela.ramm@thegazette.com

Cedar Rapids Mayor Brad Hart (l-r), Patrick Doherty, Iowa Relief Director of New Development and Applications, Tyler Olson, Cedar Rapids at-large city council member, and Rep. Kirsten Running-Marquardt (D-33), gather around shovels at a groundbreaking event for Iowa Relief LLC, a cannibidiol manufacturing plant that plans to produce medical marijuana starting in July on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. The company is the second facility to be awarded a state license to manufacture medical marijuana. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)