Forty-seven-year-old Mike Hodgson of London, Ontario has
turned an intimate familiarity with the marijuana plant into a
promising business in the booming cannabidiol trade. Having
honed his business skills in the creation of two successful start-
up companies, Mike now occupies an invaluable position on
several crucial fronts.
Mike manages GreenLeaf Productions, the mother company
of ThreeFourteen CBD. Mike’s dedication to understanding
and optimising the many sides of hemp down to the smallest
detail is reflected in the brand name: 314 is the molecular weight
of CBD.
Having kept a close eye on Canada’s view of hemp, Mike
made strategic moves when the time came for legalisation. He
remains well-informed of this evolving, sometimes turbulent
relationship between the government and the plant.
“I’ve always had my eye on the industry, and when the authorities
started to embrace it, I wondered how I could fit into the new
landscape. It takes a lot of big money to get into the growth
side of marijuana, so I decided my best fit was in CBD and oils.
In Canada, the marijuana industry was worth approximately
seven billion dollars before legalisation. The government
is trying to flip that over and convert the cashflow from the
black market to the legit market in the hopes of protecting the
average citizen, so they know exactly what they’re smoking.”
Like many who have quickly risen to a place of prominence in
this business, Mike’s motivation is as personal as it is professional.
“My father has had Parkinson’s for ten years now. I was able
to introduce him to CBD almost five years ago and it’s really
changed his life. You hear a lot of anecdotal evidence of what
CBD can do and I can confirm it works – his neurologists were
fascinated with the results.”
Mike believes these properties are key to the product’s appeal.
“Despite recent marijuana legalisation, I think on a global scale,
CBD is really where the true growth potential lies due to its
versatility and better image. People will quickly embrace the
physically altering properties of this plant. Once we have an
aging population, and once older people realise CBD works,
this industry could be truly massive. When the US gets hold
of something, they know how to do business. I think the new
Farm Bill will be great for their CBD industry. The US has also
got a lot of southern growing states and vast amounts of
fertile land. There are very few regulations there compared to
Canada. I predict Europe’s future will be similar to ours.
“As a business, ThreeFourteen is going to be focused on CBD
isolates and being able to get certain supplements to the
market, like protein and pre-workout powders. Products like
that blend well with its muscle recovery properties. Our initial
business model is extraction. Once we extract from hemp, we
can refine it into a full range of hemp products.”
Though in most matters of business, the US is often in the lead
as the default. Mike senses a distinct advantage Canadian
products currently have: ‘the entourage effect.’
“In Canada, because we’re allowed to deal with THC, our hemp
varieties will eventually contain a strain of it too, whereas
everything in America needs to be 100 percent THC-free. In
order for CBD to be fully optimised, it needs some THC in
there as an activating ingredient. Researchers call this the
entourage effect. Until the US goes completely pro-weed
across all states, we won’t see that quality of product yet.”
CBD is still finding its feet as an integrated global market, and
every entrepreneur needs to know the hurdles, hindrances
and other growing pains that come with such maturation.
Mike provided an impressive rundown of what he’s observed
at home and abroad.
“I’ve said this for over a year now: if the Canadian government,
Health Canada in particular, don’t get things sorted out
quickly, this whole industry has the potential of sliding by and
losing its edge. It’s not just the US and UK markets that are on
the rise, there’s a lot of South American companies that are
coming on fast and furious. Canada is very heavily regulated
and the amount of hoops businesses need to jump through to
get licensed by Health Canada have really become harmful.
Also, I don’t think CBD should be a Schedule One narcotic
or listed as something illegal in any context. Even the World
Health Organisation is against listing it as any kind of drug.
Canada has taken a position of legalising but closely watching
over product quality and ensuring patrons are safe, it’s one of
the reasons our Prime Minister was able to sell the public on
legalising it.”
With this in mind, there are ways for the hemp and CBD
industry improve its image overall.
“It’s fairly straightforward: we need a clearer division, we need
to separate the “high side” of the plant, so to speak, from the
CBD side. If the line is drawn, CBD can flourish under looser
laws. We don’t have to worry about people driving under the
influence or behaving anti-socially on CBD. If we let the THC
side run its own course and let the people involved sort out
their issues, we’ll see both prosper. Fortunately, the black
market has never really been involved with CBD and I think as
the industry opens up, there won’t be a chance for criminals
to really grab onto it.”
With the experience and encyclopedic knowledge on their
side, ThreeFourteen CBD is ready to take flight.
“We’re looking to be fully licensed by Health Canada very
soon. We’re built up with our own lab and production facilities.
We’re just waiting for Health Canada to clear our license and
we’ll be ready to go. There is opportunity everywhere.”
VAPOUROUND CBD MAGAZINE
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