The institute’s mission will be to conduct research on plants, specifically cannabis, to “maximize scientific, medical and societal benefits while minimizing harm to individual users and humanity,” according to the filing with the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program.
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Central State University is partnering with a Buckeye Agriculture, LLC, a Springfield company operated by Argeri and Yianni Lagos, to provide up to $2.5 million in funding to build out the laboratory and provide working capital, according to the university’s application.
In June, state regulators gave the green light to Central State University and Hocking Technical College to set up medical marijuana testing labs. The two were the only public institutions to apply for testing lab licenses.
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The proposed location for the Central State Institute of Medical Marijuana is a building on the far north end of campus that has “a variety of natural and man-made defenses,” according to the application. The institute will share its western wall with the CSU police headquarters, “which protects the institute from any attack taking place on that side of the building,” the document reads.
To transport marijuana samples from cultivators and processors, the plan shows CSU procuring a Lenco BearCat, an armored vehicle often used by SWAT teams. The application describes the vehicle as a “seamless steel vehicle that can withstand up to a .50 caliber attack.”
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Initially, the institute will create 16 jobs.
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