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Core Topics => Drugs => Cannabis and Cannabinoids => Topic started by: Chip on July 13, 2015, 07:02:23 PM
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http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/smoke-and-the-city-marijuana-matriarchs-of-new-york/story-fnu2q2e9-1227437109106
Smoke and the City: Marijuana matriarchs of New York
THE Peckham women are your typical attractive, well-educated New Yorkers from a wealthy construction dynasty.
But the family has had its share of sadness, most recently when Frances Keeffe, mother of Amy Peckham and grandmother to Hillary and Keeley, died two years ago after a painful battle with Motor Neurone Disease.
It was soon after that tragedy that Amy made a bold suggestion to her daughters — they should go into the marijuana business.
The women had the money, thanks to family business Peckham Industries, a titan of road construction and maintenance with a 92-year history. They also had determination and an eagerness to help people living with chronic illnesses.
After Frances’s diagnosis five years ago, the family had watched her suffer through a terminal decline until she could not move her mouth, the cocktail of drugs she was prescribed making her even sicker, and giving her C.difficile infection.
“Doctors recommended medical marijuana,” Hillary, 24, told news.com.au. “She was adamant that was something she didn’t want to try because it was illegal. And we couldn’t have procured it because she would have needed an extract, since she couldn’t use her mouth.”
Hillary had an extra reason to be interested. While studying music and biology at Hamilton College, she lost the use of one of her legs for two years after failed hip surgery, and was prescribed nothing more than painkillers.
Amy Peckham recruited her daughters to the business.
"It made study very hard,” she said. “I wish there had been an alternative. I was already focused on music therapy but I became interested in other alternative therapies.” She interned with doctors and chiropractors and became fascinated by research on ways of coping with constant pain. With new laws allowing medical marijuana in several US states, and arguments for it reaching around the world, Amy, who sat on the Peckham Industries land board, saw an opportunity. “As a mother of four children, she was willing to try anything to help anyone,” said her daughter.
Amy recruited Hillary and Keeley, a 26-year-old horticulturalist, and Etain was born. Named after a heroine from Irish mythology, the women-owned firm is one of 43 applicants short-listed from 1800 to produce and sell medical marijuana in New York, who will be whittled down to five winners in the next two weeks.
Etain looks like a strong contender. “The competition is mostly male businesses and venture capitalists,” said Hillary. “We spent 18 months building a team and my mother and I worked for 18 hours a day.
“The properties are established with base agreements and we’re fully capitalised. The construction diagrams are ready to go.
“We have to have one main site and four dispensaries. In terms of a start-up, that’s an immense amount of locations.”
The women were able to find underused property through Peckham Industries, and hired a team of 500 staff across the state of New York. The trustworthy reputation of their family business gives them an edge, too.
Growing and manufacturing cannabis sounds like a highly unusual project for a well-to-do business family, but the Peckham women have been surprised at the groundswell of support.
“At first I was hesitant to tell people,” said Hillary. “But we’ve got support on every level, from our two brothers and our dad, from the counties and at every town meeting I’ve been to, and from local and state politicians.
This family’s ambitious vision could change lives. :Everyone in our family is extremely different, and has different personalities and passions, but we’re close-knit.”
Communities have welcomed the proposal as “something patients should have the opportunity to try,” added Hillary.
Their product, should they get the opportunity to start selling it, will have to be tested and held to pharmaceutical standards. Hillary believes medical marijuana should be “available to everyone, but in a highly regulated manner.”
There are challenges in making the transition from an illegal to a legal market. Etain is bringing in sellers from Colorado, who have grown cannabis there since it was made legal, to train its workers.
It’s a new and unfamiliar road for the Peckhams, accustomed only to a more traditional field of business. But these women think it’s high time they showed the world how it’s done.
Photo: The Peckham women have spent 18 months preparing their masterplan for submission to the state of New York.
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I really like that it's a family, women-owned business. Moreso that they're accustomed only to traditional business models. It shows their dedication and ingenuity to expand their horizons. I hope they're approved.