Jake Romphf
Thousands of marijuana plants set to kick-start Sarnia-Lambton’s legal recreational pot industry arrived last week after making an extraordinary journey from British Columbia.
The young plants were ferried from Nanaimo, loaded into a specially chartered Boeing 757, and, after being packed into a series of transport trailers, gave whole new meaning to the term rolling down the highway.
The 36-hour, 4,100-kilometre trip ended when the precious crop arrived safely at High Park Farms, a 13-acre, $30-million state-of-the-art greenhouse operation in Enniskillen Township.
The marijuana picked to grow here is the West Coast’s finest, said the company’s chief marketing officer.
“British Columbia is known around the world for its rich cannabis culture and the quality of its cannabis genetics,” Adine Fabiani-Carter said in a release.
High Park was granted a federal licence in April to grow an array of branded marijuana products for the adult recreational market, which is expected to become legal July 1.
After arrival, the plants were transplanted to larger pots and arrayed in rows in the greenhouses on LaSalle Line, with the first harvest of bud expected in June.
The carefully choreographed journey involved a team of drivers, pilots, growers, production managers and security personnel.
The plants were first loaded on shelving units in Nanaimo, wrapped in clear plastic, and caught an early morning ferry ride to Horseshoe Bay.
After being trucked again to Vancouver International, they were loaded into a Boeing 757, a mid-size twinjet reconfigured to hold cargo.
The jet lifted off with thousands of potted marijuana plants instead of the 200 passengers it normally holds.
Upon landing at Hamilton International, they made the final leg of their journey to the former Enniskillen Pepper Co. turned marijuana grow-op near Petrolia in more climate-controlled tractor-trailers.
High Park has secured exclusive rights to produce and distribute a portfolio of adult-use cannabis brands and products, with trademarked names like Marley Natural, Dutchy, Headlight, Goodship and Wallops.
“We’re proud to bring high-quality cannabis genetics from British Columbia to Ontario.” Fabiani-Carter said.