Goodblend Texas, a medical marijuana company, has started to build a cannabis cultivation, production and retail facility in San Marcos, with plans to open early 2022.
The $25 million, 63,000 square-foot facility will be located at 2850 Leah Avenue near Interstate Highway 35. Goodblend is a state-licensed medical cannabis dispensary, legally allowed to serve patients across the state with a variety of medical conditions such as autism, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy cerebral palsy and more.
According to goodblend Texas President Marcus Ruark, prescribed citizens can buy low-level tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis, marijuana from stores such as goodblend through the state’s Compassionate Use Program.
“To be a participant in the [Compassionate Use Program], to be a patient, you have to get a prescription from a registered doctor, and a prescribing doctor has to be registered by the state,” Ruark says. “Specifically, a doctor has to be, of course, licensed to practice medicine in Texas, but he or she also needs to be a board-certified specialist. So, we’re not talking about general practitioners, but rather someone who might be an oncologist and neurologist, endocrinologist, a specialist in family practice or emergency medicine, and, if you have that board certification, you can be registered to prescribe in Texas. Then, as a patient or potential patient, you then find a prescribing doctor.”
After being prescribed by a registered doctor, patients can purchase from companies like goodblend, either by visiting the store in person or shopping online. Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra believes goodblend will be beneficial to those who need medical supplements. He adds the company is a chance for the city to invite more opportunities for research and employment.
“I supported it because so many people have proven direct benefit from medical marijuana,” Becerra says. “It is a real blessing that they chose us because that’s going to draw in a lot of research dollars. It’s going to draw in a lot of university partnership potential for internships and research and, ultimately, jobs. It’s going to also be a huge economic engine, where we will have either other subsets of the industry moving in to complement the facility, and so, we stand to gain economically, hugely, and it’ll raise the average wage for people, one company at a time.”
Becerra feels as though accepting goodblend into Hays County is a great jumpstart, allowing the county to show its support for other supplemental medical companies interested in settling down here, as well.
“That will always be a big plus for us, especially because we have everything — military in San Antonio with all the military bases and all the health facilities and Houston is not far so we can easily start creating that spooling up medical support right here in the middle of the whole show,” Becerra says.
Norman Holveck, owner of Lazydaze, a cafe and smoke shop in San Marcos, sells CBD and hemp at his business. CBD and hemp are cousin strains to marijuana, but unlike medicinal marijuana, are legal to purchase by any citizen without a prescription since they do not contain strong THC levels. Goodblend coming to San Marcos, according to Holveck, could hurt Lazydaze’s business.
“They have a parent company, they have subsidiaries, they’re huge,” Holveck says. “They’re bringing in $25 million to San Marcos to build this facility, and what’s going to hurt us is the fact that they also are not only growing their product, they’re going to build a 63,000 square foot facility to grow the product, they also have their own retail.”
However, while Holveck might have worries, he does believe goodblend can help those who need it by allowing citizens in need to buy medicinal cannabis.
“When I was 18 if you smoked, we called it ‘weed’, ‘grass’, we called it all kinds of things. But if you smoked it, you were considered a dope head,” Holveck says. “Now, if you smoke it, you’re considered intelligent, because you’re relieving pain, your anxiety level goes down, your appetite goes up. So the older you get, your appetite slows, slows down, obviously, because you’re not, you know, burning calories like you used to. So those are the three things that I see that it does for people.”
Goodblend will not only provide supplementary medical solutions to community members, but Ruark says the company plans to hire employees for various positions, ranging across agricultural-based work, office positions and manufacturing jobs.
“We’re actively hiring right now and growing the business and looking forward to having folks from the San Marcos employment base joining the company,” Ruark says. “It’s just a really exciting opportunity, and I think there’s a lot of talent from the San Marcos area that we’re going to build and take advantage of, and help our business and, in turn, help us help Texans with their treatable conditions.”
Goodblend chose San Marcos due to its location and welcoming community, and Ruark says after a long search to find the best location for the business, is thrilled to have finally found it.
“It’s just amazing to get to help so many Texans with their conditions, and the testimonials we get to hear after they’ve been taking our cannabis-based medicine is really rewarding,” Ruark says.
For more information about goodblend visit its website.