1
Cannabis
B U S I N E S S
The Real
Cannabis
16
Edited by
James E. Ellis and
Craig Giammona
● Forget weed. The big winner
of the cannabis craze is hemp
and the CBD trove it’s unlocking
Mention legal cannabis, and many people think
of the weed stores that have sprung up in Boston,
Denver, Seattle, and other major U.S. cities. Inside,
infused brownies and vape pens are sold next to
branded joints and neatly packaged bags of mari
juana presented in a way that wouldn’t be out of
place in any American mall. In Canada you can
even order pot through the mail, and some of the
world’s alcohol giants have set up shop there to
develop weed beer.
But the business of getting people high is only
part of the cannabis craze. Marijuana is still banned
Bloomberg Businessweek July 22, 2019
for recreational use across much of the world, and
even medical access, while expanding, is restricted
inmostcountries.Soplayersinthe$340billion
globalcannabismarketareturningtheirattention
toweed’slessregulated cousin, hemp.
Hemp is a strain of cannabis whose fibers have
traditionally been used in textiles and rope, and
farmers can grow it even in countries with strict
drug laws because it has different properties from
marijuana. Most important to law enforcement offi
cials, it’s low in THC, the compound that gets you
stoned. But businesses are buzzed about its other
defining characteristic: a higher concentration of
cannibidiol, or CBD, a nonpsychoactive chemical
atthecenterofa wellnesstrendsweepingtheU.S.
andexpandingworldwide.
CBDisbeingpitchedasanallnatural way to
alleviate ailments including pain, inflammation,