Mike Tyson to open 40-acre marijuana farm called ‘Tyson Resort’

CALIFORNIA CITY, Calif. — Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson is becoming a California marijuana entrepreneur.

TheBlast.com reports that Tyson and partners on Dec. 20 broke ground on a plot for a cannabis resort in California City, a remote Mojave Desert town that’s about a 110-mile (177-kilometer) drive north of Los Angeles.

Partner Robert Hickman tells the website that the undeveloped lands are primed to be cultivated and that Tyson Ranch will be an oasis.

In a video of the event, California City Mayor Jennifer Wood thanks Tyson for his commitment to the community, saying the industry will provide medical marijuana to people in need, revenue, jobs and income for residents.

Calls and emails from The Associated Press to a Tyson representative and the mayor were not immediately returned Tuesday.

Tyson was fined in 2000 for testing positive for marijuana, and he admitted in his memoir that he got high before major fights. Tyson also said he used marijuana when he was sentenced for cocaine possession in 2007.