5th Meridian fills niche in medical marijuana field

Coming from law enforcement, public safety and military service backgrounds, a career in cannabis seemed unlikely for a pair of Cape Girardeau firefighters.

Yet that's where Michael Allen and Andrew Juden find themselves as founders and owners of 5th Meridian Group Inc. The company is one of a handful in Missouri licensed to provide transportation and security services to the state's new medical marijuana industry.

Allen and Juden, both captains in the Cape Girardeau Fire Department, began planning 5th Meridian even before Missouri voters approved the use of medical marijuana in November 2018. By that time, they were networking with others in the industry and establishing contacts with potential clients throughout the state.

"We looked at other states from the West Coast to the East Coast and watched (marijuana) markets open up," said Allen, the company's chief executive officer. "We could see how the industry was coming together and that there would be a need for third-party ancillary transportation and security providers."

In the beginning, Allen and Juden didn't tell many people about 5th Meridian Group, not even their co-workers in the fire department.

"We kept it real quiet at first because we weren't certain how the city would react to it because essentially, we were working in something that's still federally illegal," Allen said. Besides, he said, there was a chance 5th Meridian's application for a state license would be denied.

But when the company received one of the 20 transportation licenses, "the cat was out of the bag," Allen said, "so we ran it up the chain of command through the fire department and it went to City Hall."

City officials did not object, "so now we've got two full-time jobs," said Juden, who serves as 5th Meridian's chief operating officer.

"There are a lot of entrepreneurs in the fire department," Allen said. Creating a niche in the state's cannabis industry was just another form of entrepreneurship.

"Also, we work on different shifts at the fire department and we manage 5th Meridian during our time off," Juden explained.

The company is headquartered in Cape Girardeau and has a second office in Fenton, Missouri, as well as district managers in Southeast Missouri and the St. Louis region and the Springfield area and the Columbia/Jefferson City region.

"We are equipped, prepared and insured to provide armed security throughout the cannabis industry across the State of Missouri," Allen said.

Both Allen and Juden have military backgrounds. Allen is a U.S. Army veteran and aviator who flew Blackhawk helicopters for the Missouri Army National Guard and Apache helicopters for the Tennessee Army National Guard. Juden served 13 years in the U.S. Air Force with several deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan as a load master on the C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft.

"This is a veteran owned and operated company and actively seek out, recruit and hire veterans through our veterans outreach program," Allen said. "We've also tapped into our resources from the connections we have working in the public safety field."

Tax revenue generated from Missouri's medical marijuana is earmarked for veteran services.

"Our efforts are not only protecting medicine for the public that needs it, but they're also providing revenue for veteran programs such as health care and job placement services," he said.

The company currently has about 20 employees and is working with approximately two-dozen medical marijuana license holders representing cultivators, manufacturers and dispensaries. More employees will be added as the industry ramps up and product is harvested, processed and distributed to dispensaries and authorized patients throughout the state.

As of last week, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services had approved more than 57,000 applications from patients and caregivers, certifying them to legally purchase medical marijuana products once they become available later this year.

"It's estimated eventually 4% of Missouri's population (or about 250,000 people) will qualify for medical marijuana access," Allen said. "When it goes recreational, it will jump to about 40%."

That could mean huge growth for 5th Meridian, which Allen and Juden say can expand as necessary to meet patient and provider needs.

"We even have a home delivery model that we'll offer in select locations, providing deliveries from dispensaries to qualified patients," Juden said. "With the (COVID-19) pandemic going on, people have gotten used to home deliveries of groceries or whatever, and this is just another way to get medications to patients who need it."

Regardless of destination, 5th Meridian's transport assignments will be subject to the state's "seed to sale" tracking system, commonly referred to as METRC (Marijuana Enforcement Tracking Reporting & Compliance).

"It tracks product essentially from seed to the point of sale," Allen said. "When we transport cannabis, we scan it, we take the chain of custody and, as the van moves, its GPS tracked." Vehicle drivers, passengers and cargo are also kept under video surveillance

The vehicles themselves are unmarked.

"Very plain wrapper, so to speak," Allen said.

The name "5th Meridian" comes from Allen's aviation background.

"I'm map oriented," he explained, "and if you look at meridian lines on a map, the 5th one runs through Missouri, Illinois and Arkansas."

Speaking of other states, Allen says 5th Meridian has the potential to expand beyond Missouri.

"We're willing to expand and we're looking at the Illinois and Tennessee markets, but we want to do Missouri really well first," he said. "Then, if we have the bandwidth to expand into other states, we will."

Allen and Juden say they are "well suited" for the medical marijuana industry.

"We're accustomed to working in a variety of conditions and supervising people under unique, challenging, stressful and dangerous environments, and with tax revenue benefiting veterans, it's a perfect fit," Allen said. "And if you think about it, everybody in this industry is making history. Our grandkids can say that when they first legalized marijuana, our grandfathers helped protect the first legal crops in the state."

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