Reaction In Carmichaels Mixed To Approval Of Medical Marijuana Facility
CARMICHAELS, Pa. (KDKA) -- One of three new medical marijuana farms in our region will soon be springing up in Carmichaels, Greene County.
Carmichaels is a town where coal mining was once a thriving industry. Now, it's a new industry sprouting up.
The farm will be built on a 61-acre site along Thomas Road. The Pennsylvania Department of Heath granted the building permit for the Carmichaels location and 11 others statewide.
The farms will grow and process marijuana to treat people with serious medical problems.
Townspeople in Carmichaels had mixed reactions to the news out of Harrisburg.
Kent Armstrong told KDKA-TV's Ralph Iannotti, "I don't know. I don't see how it's going to help me any."
Karen Harr, who was shopping with her grandson, said, "We're a depressed area, it'll help with the jobs, but I don't know, I don't feel strong one way or the other."
"Jobs are always good news, I guess. But I have two kids - teenagers, boys - anyone would be concerned about [a marijuana farm], I guess," Ariel Walters, of Carmichaels, said.
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State Rep. Pamela Snyder said the farm will be a big boost for Greene County, which will create good, sustainable jobs. She said she thought the medical marijuana would ease some of the pain and suffering of people with serious illnesses.
"Hopefully, it will help alleviate some of the devastating effects of the opioid epidemic," she said.
Besides the obvious construction jobs, which the new medical marijuana facility will produce, it's expected that 70 to 80 permanent jobs will also result in the Greene County area alone.
The other two local sites given approval by the state on Tuesday are in McKeesport and in New Castle.
