Montevideo man ready to grow marijuana

A Montevideo man says he's prepared to build and run the state's first medical marijuana manufacturing operation if the state can't get the drug elsewhere.

Jeremy Pauling's daughter, Katelyn, suffers from a degenerative brain disease and her family thinks medical marijuana could help her. Pauling told MPR's 'Morning Edition' he won city and county support for building an indoor growing facility to provide the marijuana extract legalized by the state earlier this year. His family runs a grain storage equipment business.

"If you had talked to me 10 years ago about medical cannabis, I wouldn't have stepped forward, I wouldn't have done nothing," he said. "I would have said, no, I don't agree with it. But when I seen these other kids that this drug is helping, and my daughter, her life expectancy is age 12. I would do anything for my child. Anything. I don't care if I do it or somebody else does it, as long as its done right."

Pauling says the business could be a boon for more than just his daughter.

"There's pretty strict regulations, as far as security issues and the people working there. I mean, you're looking at a facility that's going to supply medical cannabis for roughly 2,500 people is what the state's thinking right now. And you're going to have 30 to 40 jobs in Montevideo."

The Minnesota Office of Medical Cannabis has until Aug. 1 to determine if the state can rely on the federal government to supply the medical marijuana it needs when the drug becomes legal next year. If not, the marijuana will be grown and manufactured here in Minnesota.