Iowa Officials Work with Medical Marijuana Manufacturers to Control Smell

CEDAR RAPIDS — Occasionally teased for being the City of Five Smells, Cedar Rapids is taking steps to make sure another scent doesn’t become a problem when a new medical marijuana manufacturing plant starts operating.

“The strong smell of cannabis can often escape cultivation buildings and processing centers into the outside air,” said Phil Hague, director of cultivation for Acreage Holdings, the New Jersey-based company awarded a state license to manufacture medical marijuana in Cedar Rapids. “These telltale smells of growing cannabis are not always welcomed by neighbors or municipalities.”

In some states and Canadian provinces where marijuana has been legalized, the funky, skunky smell coming from cultivation facilities, both indoor and outdoor, has grown so strong residents have complained and nearby businesses have considered moving.

Two plants in Iowa

Iowa has been more cautious than other states, expanding its medical marijuana law in 2017 to allow ultralow tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, products to be sold to patients with conditions that include cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS or HIV, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and more.

Iowa has licensed just two medical marijuana manufacturing facilities—in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines—and five dispensaries that eventually will sell oils, creams, suppositories and other products to those who have state-issued registration cards.

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Top Image: © aleksander kamasi | Adobe Stock