'Marijuana Municipality' Nipton: What Pot Company American Green Will Offer

This time the gold will be green. A marijuana company has bought the gold rush town of Nipton, California, and plans to develop it into a “marijuana municipality.”

Phoenix-based American Green bought the town in San Bernadino county for about $5 million last week. The 120-acre purchase comes with a general store, a hotel, a school building, solar farms and mineral baths.

The company said it intends to spend another $2.5 million in the next 18 months to shore up the existing infrastructure of the town, and turn it into the “country’s first energy-independent, cannabis-friendly hospitality destination.”

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“We are excited to lead the charge for a true ‘Green Rush,’” the President of American Green, David Gwyther, said in a press release. “The Cannabis Revolution that’s going on here in the U.S., has the power to completely revitalize communities in the same way gold did during the 19th century.”

So let’s see what American Green has on the cards:

The company plans to transform the town “into an effective hub for the production of various cannabis-based products, as well as possible fully-licensed cultivation which includes a safe and appropriate approach to consumption. ”

For starters, the company plans to start by infusing local water with Cannabidiol (CBD) ― the cannabis component typically associated with reducing pain and inflammation and doesn't get you high ― and distributing it throughout the state.

The project, on completion, would offer a variety of commercial and recreational attractions including CBD and mineral baths, cannabis-product retail outposts, artists-in-residence programs, culinary events, and bed-and-breakfast lodgings.

American Green has in the past sought to expand sales by building a vending machine that ensure customers are of age by using biometric scanners, and plans to implement similar measures in the proposed town.

The company said Nipton will be completely powered by renewable energy, setting a standard for “energy efficiency and environmentally responsible tourism.”

The project will catalyze development and job creation in the town, said company officials, making Nipton a model for the cannabis industry's role in stimulating and accelerating the rebuilding of struggling small town economies, where cannabis products are legal in the US.

“We thought that showing that there was a viable means of having a cannabis-friendly municipality and further making it energy independent could be a way of really inspiring folks to say, ‘Why can’t we do that here?’” said project manager Stephen Shearin, Bloomberg reported.

The decision by the company comes in the wake of a Cowen and Co. report last year that predicted the legal marijuana industry will grow up to $50 billion by 2026.

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However, it is yet to be seen whether the company brings its plan to fruition, given the antagonism of the Trump administration to marijuana consumption.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has already taken a stand on the issue, saying “It’s not a healthy substance.”

American Green is keeping its fingers crossed and hoping for the best, with Shearer expecting “the company’s investment will be returned and the town will be profitable.”

“The Gold Rush built this city,” Shearin said. “The Green Rush can keep it moving the way people envisioned it years ago.”