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The power of purpose in the cannabis industry

Home » The power of purpose in the cannabis industry

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

The CEO of Medical Marijuana Inc – the world’s first company to manufacture a CBD product – talks about the power of purpose-driven initiatives in the cannabis space.

Graciela Elizalde Benavides was diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome as a small child in her home country of Mexico. A punishing course of strong pharmaceutical drugs and brain surgeries provided no respite from her debilitating condition. But, like many children across the world with severe forms of epilepsy, she finally found relief with CBD. 

At the time, cannabis-based products of any kind were illegal in Mexico but thanks to the determination of her parents Raul Elizalde and Mayela Benavides Arriola, Graciela was able to lawfully receive CBD-based treatment. Now aged 14, she has reduced her epilepsy attacks by a staggering 90 per cent while CBD has since been legalised in Mexico, provided it contains less than 0.1 per cent THC. 

Instrumental in the legalisation of non-psychoactive products in Mexico was Medical Marijuana Inc, the company that provided the life-changing CBD products to Graciela and her family via its subsidiary company HempMeds. The American firm continues to offer monthly donations to the charity set up in Graciela’s name, Por Grace

Read more: Industry responds to new ACMD CBD product advice

For Blake Schroeder, CEO of Medical Marijuana Inc, this is what the cannabis industry should be all about. 

We’re the movement committed to taking action and driving positive global change,” Schroeder says over Zoom, speaking from his offices in San Diego. “With everything we do, we look back to that purpose statement.

“Medical Marijuana Inc was really built on the backs of five or six families. You would be blown away by the leadership and courage that it took from these parents to be able to make a change.

“They had severely disabled children and couldn’t find any answers. All of a sudden, they found some relief. Once you get to meet some of those families, you can see that the whole world needs to have something like this.”

A company of firsts, Medical Marijuana Inc became the first company to manufacture a CBD product in 2012. It later became the first company to sell legal cannabis-based products both in Europe and Japan in 2018 and 2020 respectively.

The cannabis sector is one of the fastest-growing industries in the US, while other parts of the world, especially Europe, are starting to catch up. According to Prohibition Partners, global sales of legal cannabis-based products reached US$37.4bn (£28.68bn) in 2021 and are expected to hit $102bn by 2026. 

However, as the sector grows, it continues to face difficulties with regulation and quality control. Many companies have identified an opportunity to capitalise on the rapidly growing market and in some cases, prioritise profits over purpose. For Schroeder, this is a “big problem”.

Read more: Could having a charity focus be good for CBD businesses?

“We value clarity, so we want to educate the world,” Schroeder says. “This isn’t just about selling a product to an individual then forgetting about it and making a few dollars. No, this is really about driving massive, global change. 

“Our company works hard to make sure that we have a solid supply chain [and] reputable testing going on in the field and on our finished goods. We’re talking about kids with some real serious challenges and our products provide benefit to them. Safety and quality come from where you source and what kind of product you’re working with.” 

As the cannabis sector has expanded, regulators have struggled to keep up, particularly in the non-psychoactive cannabis industry. Much of what can be found on the shelves are produced from CBD isolate. This chemically separated compound is deemed by many in the industry to be less effective than products that contain the broader spectrum of compounds that are naturally found in hemp, such as CBG and terpenes. 

“You find most of the products on the market today are made from CBD isolate,” Schroeder continues. “Who knows where it came from or how it was extracted and whether it was made in someone’s garage or in a certified facility. I think it’s a big problem. Let’s bring something good into the market and let’s make it safe.

“In order to advance the cannabis industry in the right direction, we need to have good players in this space who know and understand the framework and are willing to operate within it.”

Medical Marijuana Inc was founded in 2003, 15 years before the 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from the federal list of Schedule I controlled substances. After the launch of its first CBD product in 2012, the company received letters from its customers who were facing issues with the police over their CBD products. Until hemp was legalised, Medical Marijuana Inc dealt with each issue individually, calling up local district attorneys to explain that their products were legal and compliant. 

“This helped us to develop a mindset that what we’re doing is 100 per cent legal,” Schroeder says. “People all over the world deserve free access to cannabis-based products; they shouldn’t feel embarrassed about it, they shouldn’t feel that it’s illegal. This is important work.”

Medical Marijuana Inc later presented before the World Health Organisation explaining the safety and efficacy of cannabis-based products. Its team did the same in the US as one of the first organisations to present to the FDA to help inform its regulatory oversight of cannabis-based products following the launch of the 2018 Farm Bill. 

Over the past several years, Medical Marijuana Inc has been taking this approach to other parts of the world, especially regions where CBD is less mainstream such as East Asia and parts of Africa. Its subsidiary company Kannaway recently opened offices in South Africa, adding to its bases in Mexico and Poland. From Johannesburg, Kannaway plans to expand into other areas across the continent this year as some African countries begin to adopt more progressive legislation. 

“It’s not always the easiest work. It’s not easy to be first and it’s not easy to make the change, but we’re committed to doing that,” Schroeder says. 

“What we’re trying to do is be the world’s first truly global cannabis company. If you look at the cannabis business, it’s mostly a micro-business where you’ve got a farmer in a small town and then you’ve got a manufacturer who’s making products in small facilities – maybe compliant, maybe not – and selling products in their local area. 

“What we’re trying to be is the company that’s going to change not just the United States, not just Europe; we’re going to change the entire world.”

As Medical Marijuana Inc makes inroads into new markets, it starts by importing its CBD products from the US. However, Schroeder says as the company becomes more established in a new region, it will reach a tipping point at which it becomes viable to use local growers and manufacturers – creating jobs for the local cannabis industry. 

Looking forward to the next 12 months, the company will be embarking on further expansion into the African market. Meanwhile in East Asia, the firm has its sights set on Chinese-speaking countries as it opens a new warehouse in Hong Kong. There is still work to be done in advancing legislation in countries like China, but Schroeder says Medical Mairjuana Inc will aim to be at the forefront when this huge and untapped market begins to open up. 

“There’s still a massive amount of work to do but there’s also going to be a massive opportunity in the end,” Schroeder adds. “We’re passionate about changing the world and that’s why it’s in our purpose statement.

“We can be part of driving positive global change and changing people’s perceptions of cannabis for the better.”

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