This article originally appeared in the February 2017 print edition of Cannabis Business Times. To subscribe, click here.
Growing up in Seattle, Jian Malihi, co-owner at Clarity Farms, experienced first-hand what he calls “an important epicenter” for the marijuana movement. Just after turning 18, he got involved in growing medical cannabis with some friends and began gaining some expertise in cultivation.
At about 19, he was working with the Center for Palliative Care, a Washington dispensary, which opened his eyes to a whole different side of the industry, establishing a business creating unique, consistent products.
“They were at the forefront of interacting with patients and providing consistent supplies to them,” he says. “They had a pretty impressive list of patients who really relied on them. So I … started learning a lot about the business side of marijuana production, too.”
When Washington’s Initiative 502 passed in the 2012 election, legalizing cannabis cultivation, Malihi knew it was time to act. He worked with a few friends to apply for (and win) one of the first 40 licenses awarded by the state toward the end of 2013, and had grown Clarity Farm’s first crops by December 2014. Clarity Farms covers 30,000 square feet of outdoor canopy, the largest license available in the state, and now also includes 12,000 square feet of high-tech greenhouse, as well as a distribution and oil processing facility.
The focus of Clarity Farms is on applying sustainable, organic practices to the 30,000-square-foot outdoor cannabis grow. But the unique Washington soil also incites comparisons to the wine industry, where a regional profile can shine for a connoisseur.
Cannabis Business Times’ Kyle Brown talked with Malihi about what it means to build his farm’s regional profile and how to implement sustainable practices on a larger scale.
To read the full article in Cannabis Business Times' February edition, click here.
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