Southern University’s contracted marijuana grower Advanced Biomedic plans to build a 40,000-square-foot facility featuring a 6,000-square-foot laboratory and 18,000 square feet of growing space, according to building specs released by Southern University through a public records request.
Along with the laboratory, there will be three 6,000-square-foot “flower rooms” and a similar sized space for the “mother” plant, cloning and vegetative growth. A mother plant exists solely for cuttings, or clones, to be taken from it, according to Oregon-based Fullbloom Hydroponics, which sells marijuana growing equipment. The clones are then vegetated, or grown, as a separate plant.
The school has remained tight-lipped about the project, declining to answer questions about the facility or Advanced Biomedics, the licensed grower for the university’s medical marijuana program.
LaKeeshia Giddens Lusk with Southern University did tell Daily Report in early October that the facility would be built near highways 61 and 964 and that the school’s Ag Center had submitted its standard operating procedures for the growing facility to the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. Southern has also completed mandatory criminal background checks and the fingerprinting process, she said.
“Construction will begin immediately following the LDAF’s approval of the facility plans and the (standard operating procedures),” Lusk said. “Products are slated to be available in approved dispensaries in early 2019.”
Lusk, Southern spokesperson Janene Tate and Carrol Castille, with Advanced Biomedics, were unable to be reached for comment before this morning’s deadline.
