It may look like an ordinary Langley, B.C. garage, but inside a budding business is blooming.
“This is the Hotbox,” BCIT student turned entrepreneur Kyle Richardson explains, gesturing to a trailer glowing neon green and wired with state of the arc technology.
The aptly named Hotbox is a mobile grow-up on wheels, engineered and designed by the company Hotbox.farm Ltd to help medical marijuana users grow pot easily, safely –and from just about anywhere.
It’s all the brainchild of Graham Ford, a cancer patient who has been using marijuana to treat pain for years. He says the mobile greenhouses could help customers avoid the excessive red tape involved in growing pot inside a building.
“I experienced all the pitfalls many personal growers do,” Ford said. “You would require building permits, electrical inspections, possibly a fire department inspection… but because [Hotbox is] on wheels, because its plug and play – there’s no safety concerns.”
Hotbox is outfitted with LED lights, a watering system, a dehumidifier, fireproof insulation, ventilation, and has a 40 plant capacity. It’s also been designed to fit into a standard residential garage.
The intrepid grow-op is already being tested, and could soon be available to purchase for a cost of $18,000.
On Wednesday, the company got a big gift from the courts: a B.C. judged ruled medical marijuana users should be allowed to grow their own pot at home, striking down legislation implemented by the previous Conservative government.
Gurvir Dhaliwal is a member of the Hotbox team, and believes the timing for the company couldn’t be better.
“I love it: it’s exciting, it’s fun, it’s new,” Dhaliwal said. “People don’t know how to really take it when they see it… but we just have to open their eyes as to what it can be like, and what the future is going to be.
“We just have to push it – and people will follow.”
With files from CTV Vancouver’s Scott Roberts
