Coulson's Cannabis founder Cody Coulson at one of four Stop and Smell the Roses locations.
Hub Staff
Renovations are now complete and Coulson's Cannabis is awaiting approval to their Health Canada application for a cannabis processing facility.
In a May 21 phone interview, Cody Coulson, founder of Coulson’s Cannabis (CC) and Stop and Smell the Roses, said that work is completed on the Doll Sideroad extraction facility east of Saugeen Shores and upon obtaining their licence, CC will be able to accept cannabis from Licensed Producers (LPs), perform an extraction process and return the cannabinoids to the LP for a processing fee. CC has named the facility a Solvent-less Extraction Facility.
“We don’t use things like butane or propane or things like that to pull the cannabinoids from the plant,” explained Coulson. “We just use natural processes like heat and pressure or dry sifting or ice water hash techniques. This is basically what differentiates us from a Solvent Extraction Facility,” he said.
The property acquired for the facility was previously owned by a family friend of Coulson's and CC was able to negotiate a deal bringing them on as a shareholder, making the operation more economically feasible. The barn was a concrete building, explained Coulson, and provided the foundation and structure required. Renovations included drywalling, new floors, doors and reinforcement. The finished product is more like a hospital setting than a dairy barn, stated Coulson.
Although Coulson couldn’t give an exact opening date, he hoped to be up and running in two to three months. Initially they will be looking to hire about 25 employees for training in the short-term and another 50 employees once they reach full operation. Coulson reported they received over 200 applicants from a job fair held in Port Elgin last December. “We’re really excited to be a part of this community," he said.
When Coulson's father was diagnosed with cancer, Cody said he used medical cannabis to ease the side effects of chemotherapy. Sadly his father lost his battle but cancer and years later Cody found himself fighting his own battle against epilepsy and said he found tremendous benefits using CBD.
When asked how he envisioned his life had these occurrences not been a part of his history, Coulson declared that he wasn’t really a believer of destiny but admitted that without these significant life events he wouldn’t possess that intense passion and determination that has proven a catalyst to his success.
“Without that connection, it’s just business; and with that connection it’s much more than business,” expressed Coulson. “I truly want them to get the benefits that we received.”
