NIE contacted Dr. Jason Mitchell, co-founder and co-CEO of HempFusion, which is based in Denver, CO (hempfusion.com), and asked him, “What kind of future do you envision for CBD and hemp?” Here is what he had to say:
“I would tell you that there is an amazing, brilliant, vibrant future for hemp-derived ingredients of all kinds, not just cannabinoids.
Like with just so many other things we have, CBD is only one of roughly somewhere over 113 cannabinoids that have been scientifically identified today. Imagine how valuable CBD is and what these others might be, and what their value might be.
I mean CBD is literally just scratching the tip of the iceberg. I think that there are a million other possible permutations of combinations of things that happen in nature that could be of value.
I think that hemp science, which is just now starting to be worked on and developed, will unlock the mysteries that have eluded medical professionals for a very long time.
And that there might actually be a food-version alternative that people can utilize to support their health and well-being.
You know I always remind people that Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, said “Let food be thy medicine.”
He did not say, “Let a singular isolated compound that was identified in a laboratory, double-blind placebo-control-studied for some specific distinct disease state or condition, and with these parameters of side effects and risks associated with taking it.”
He didn’t say that’s what medicine should be. He said, “Let food be thy medicine,” and the more that we can embrace this plant holistically, the more value we’re going to find.
And I think that it could erupt into the multi-billions of dollars overnight. I don’t think a company will be measured on its success by how many millions it has; it will be measured on its success in billions.
This will be one of those industry-leading entrants that will still maintain all kinds of different levels of specialty that, I will tell you, could feed this industry financially, as well as support consumers nutritionally, and from a health perspective, for decades to come.
