Budding Buchanan medical marijuana business continues to grow

BUCHANAN, MI. --  The area's first medical marijuana grow facility is now preparing to open in Michiana. 

"This is our baby. This is our first grow facility, this will be the first of three in Buchanan," says Redbud Roots President, David Murray. 

"We'll be growing about 1,500 plants here. All we do is cultivation in this building, the other buildings will have additional steps put in place," adds the Director of Science, Hunter Mischler. 

The crisp white interior of this Buchanan grow facility is a symbol of a startup business in a startup industry. 

When ABC57 News first came to this location in February, it looked a little different.

"I'm proud to say we're pretty much at the finish of our build out now," says Mischler. "All of the security measures are in place, all of the growing environmental controls are in place. Almost everything the plants need, except for the plants." 

A group of men, including Mischler and Murray, make up Redbud Roots, a medical marijuana business rooted in Michiana. 

In just a few short months, they blossomed.

"We currently have three growing facilities, one processing facility and we have contracts on four dispensary facilities and we're looking to add to that," explains Murray. 

They're anxious to get started.

With permits, city approvals, and the equipment all in check, there's just one hold up.

"We're waiting for the state of Michiana, we're currently under review," says Mischler. "We're waiting for them to finish up the process and then it'll take about 30 days to get up and run at full production."

It's a bit of a process.

"It's a huge, huge overtaking for the state to take on," adds Murray. "We've submitted over 2,500 pages of paperwork alone."

It's a passion project they strongly believe in.

For them, it's personal.  For some, it's health problems, but for others, it's to do their part to help the opioid crisis.

"My roommate in college died from an opioid overdose. I think the current state of medicine is in disarray right now," explains Murray.

But they're confident, and hopeful that their budding business will be growing and blooming soon. 

"We've positioned ourselves well to be the first in the market ideally," adds Mischler. "And we're excited to provide patients with the medication we know we can give them."