E9 Demystifying Cannabis
Five years ago, Giadha DeCarcer, an expert in emerging markets, noticed the potential boom in the global cannabis market. At the time there were no industry reports on cannabis, so she seized the opportunity and founded New Frontier Data. Now, she and her team are providing data on the cannabis industry to investors, growers, and regulators to enable them to make informed decisions about its potential.
In this interview, Giadha draws on data to discuss the vast potential of the cannabis market. She talks about the shift in opinion on cannabis products, user profiles, and future uses of CBD for medical treatments. Giadha also defines the demand for cannabis on the global market and investment opportunities in legal cannabis.
Over the course of her career, Giadha has worked in banking, the intelligence community, and founded and run multiple businesses. She was born in Rome, speaks five languages, and offices in Washington D.C.
Giadha DeCarcer:
In the United States, per se, nine out of 10 individuals today are for the regulation of medical cannabis. That is a massive shift in public opinion, in a very, very short period of time. In fact, the only other shift comparable to this would be the LGBT movement. Really, even just since I started the company, I've seen a massive shift just around me, like it's palpable.
Don MacPherson:
If you have ever wondered what separates top performers from everyone else, you probably discovered it is just a couple differentiators that determine wild success from average results. My name is Don MacPherson, and for two decades, I've been working with executives to help them optimize performance at the individual, team, and organization levels. Now I interview exceptional people from all walks of life so we can all learn from them. Welcome to 12 Geniuses.
One of the most surprising shifts in public opinion, over the last quarter-century, has been the support for cannabis legalization. Colorado and Washington were the first states to legalize recreational use. Since then, eight more states have followed suit, with many more allowing it for medical purposes. Our guest today is Giadha Aguirre DeCarcer. She is the CEO of New Frontier Data, a firm focused on studying the legal cannabis market. Giadha is going to help us all understand the market opportunity, the risks with this market, the profiles of cannabis users, and how this shift in public opinion toward legalization will change the way we live and work.
Giadha, welcome to 12 Geniuses.
Giadha DeCarcer:
Thank you.
Don MacPherson:
Let's get started by talking about your background and, eventually, how you became to be CEO and founder of New Frontier Fata.
Giadha DeCarcer:
Absolutely. Happy to. Let’s see, I was born in Italy. My mom is Cuban, so I'm half Italian, half Cuban. I was raised in quite a few countries, Italy, Spain, France, and Switzerland. I was a diplomat brat, and came into the U.S. around the age of 16. It was an interesting change, needless to say, cultural shock for me. But to make a long story short, I went into banking, straight out of college. I went to University of Pennsylvania undergrad. 9/11 occurred. And unfortunately, people in my office passed that day, but I was spared, and so I decided that maybe the universe was telling me I needed to do something different than corporate banking. So, I moved to DC, went to Georgetown, got my master's in international security, and ended up doing some work in intelligence collection. The reason I say all this is because it's going to give you a little bit of how and why New Frontier Data was born.
It really actually incredibly comes together perfectly at the end. So, I did that for about three and a half years, but I did get exposed to pretty amazing technology. And also, I learned the protocols and the process on how to turn data or information into actual intelligence. When I left the organization I was working for in the U.S., I found myself sort of at a loss of what to do next. And so, I decided to give the entrepreneurial journey a shot. I launched a company called GNI International. It has the first patent pending on what today you know as Snapshot from Progressive, and Hum, which is Verizon's tool. They both are technology-based means to ingest information in real time and turn that information into a risk indicator. On the Verizon side, it will be to check where your kids are. Are they driving too fast?
Are they going somewhere? They shouldn't be going. On the progressive side, it literally monitors driving behavior so that they can figure out how much of a risk factor you are on your insurance. I think that really gave me credibility in terms of being a female tech entrepreneur because I didn't really have a formal tech background, but it was in 2007, 2008, so not exactly the best time to come up with a tech idea. So, my investor's pocket went out pretty fast. I went on to the safety net, I went into consulting. And so, I did that for seven years.
I focused in emerging markets during that time. I speak five languages because of my upbringing. So, I took advantage of the fact that the economy was a mess in 2008, 2007 here in the U.S., and large companies that I had worked with in the tech space and defense space were looking for opportunities in the BRIC nations. On year seven, or so, I got a call from someone that wanted us to look at a different emerging market, the cannabis industry. You should have seen my face. It was like, what? Pot? But we did do our due diligence and, very early on, realized that this was an industry where we could not find any industry reporting, we could not find any viable research. We couldn't even get access to any data, even going back to the Netherlands who had had a market for about 30 years.
The light bulb went on again, and I realized that there was no data being collected. There was no data collection aggregation in this industry, an industry that had the plant that had a medical, recreational, and also industrial application via hemp. So, I literally shut down the consulting firm, almost overnight. August 15 to 2014, New Frontier Data was born as a big data company focusing in this emerging market.
Don MacPherson:
Maybe you can break down just the differences. You talked about pot and…
Giadha DeCarcer:
Yep. We call it cannabis.
Don MacPherson:
Yeah, that's right. And so, for the layperson, they may not know the difference between what's hemp, what's CBD, what's pot, marijuana.
Giadha DeCarcer:
Sure.
Don MacPherson:
Can you talk about what the differences are between these different terms?
Giadha DeCarcer:
And believe me, it's not just the average person. I would argue that there are people in the regulatory environment today that still don't understand the difference. There's a lot of misinformation about the plant. So, cannabis, the cannabis plant has obviously various chemicals, but the two of the most known and most pertinent properties are CBD and THC. THC is what provides the psychotropic effect of the plant. So, think of the little hairs in the plant. CBD is another component that does not have a psychotropic effect, but it has been now found to have quite a few medical effects. So, that's what's basically been treated for medical purposes.
There's some research that says that you need both, CBD and THC, but for the most part, when you hear about medical cannabis, it's CBD based, meaning it will not get you high. Okay? Hemp. Hemp looks exactly like the cannabis plant. It's because the difference is the hemp plant does not produce any THC or very, very, very low levels of THC. So, a hemp cultivation, up to today, outside of the U.S., candidly, primarily in China, which is the… China is the largest producer of hemp in the world, who has used for textile. Think, literally, just textile. But right now, there's now reawakening of the China cultivation. And of course, as you know, in the U.S., we just passed the Farm Bill, whereby hemp is going to begin being cultivated for production of CBD.
Don MacPherson:
Public opinion on cannabis has really shifted over the last three decades. Can you talk about how it has shifted?
Giadha DeCarcer:
Absolutely. And I'm going to stick to facts, right? New Frontier Data, at the end of the day, there's a reason there's the word data at the end of it. So, I'm going to try to keep a very sort of fact base. We’re based on various surveys in the last three years, some of which we did, and some of which were done by other nonprofit and large organizations in the U.S. and abroad, but in the United States, per se, nine out of 10 individuals today are for the regulation of medical cannabis. That is a massive shift in public opinion in a very, very short period of time. In fact, the only other shift comparable to this would be the LGBT movement. Even just since I started the company, I've seen a massive shift just around me, like it's palpable.
Why is that? Well, there's quite a few reasons. The biggest one is there's more information about it, right? California was first to sort of legalize from medical use, it was born of a movement, and this is in the ‘90s. But since, once Colorado entered and we began to see sort of some larger numbers in terms of sales and opportunities, then you also began to see more research. In fact, New Frontier Data was born around that time. So, more information has definitely helped with the shift in public opinion. And also, when you look at the states, and even countries, that have legalized to date, 100% of the time, the shift was made because of children with some condition, so really medical purposes.
It's very difficult to argue with the child being sick, wanting the plant. The child does not want to get high; the child needs medicine. In the United States, it was Charlotte. In Canada, it was a little boy. In France, it's a little boy. Literally, it's been born of trying to help children with usually some kind of form of epilepsy. That also has elevated the discussion around the true medical application, and really, I think, made the recreation of the adults’ use discussion sort of secondary.
Don MacPherson:
New Frontier Data has identified a number of cannabis user profiles. Can you talk about those different profiles and who is contained in these groups?
Giadha DeCarcer:
Absolutely. In fact, we did just put out the first study on consumer archetypes for the industry, and even we were surprised in terms of the findings. One interesting one that I would like to talk about is one that I believe Martha Stewart really nailed recently. I'm sure that you saw the news that the Martha Stewart is coming into the industry and is going to launch a product line, specific of CBD products. When you look at Martha Stewart audience, it’s primarily women, probably, I would say ages 30s to 40s, maybe upward of that. Well, guess what? That is the largest, the fastest moving demographic in terms of use of cannabis today.
Don MacPherson:
Women.
Giadha DeCarcer:
Women.
Don MacPherson:
30 to 40.
Giadha DeCarcer:
30 to 40. And they actually crossed a few categories. There's what we call, sort of the discrete user, which is the soccer mom that has just shifted from the glass of wine at 4:00, to cannabis, or at night, before going to sleep, has a CBD product that’s some kind of edible. And then we have what we call the weekend users. Again, also similar demographic, more male dominated, but also very, very experiencing fast growth. Even, though, today, male are the primary users, and it's primarily use of flower, so smoking the plant, women are shown to be the fastest-growing segment in terms of use, also in terms of diverse use. So, not just smoking flower, but really trying beverages, edibles, vape pens.
And they also are using it to help their elderly, right? Think about the mothers and sort of the family nexus, they also are the caregivers for elderly parents. We do know that there are many, many benefits in terms of some of the conditions associated with aging that can be treated by CBD. So, we're also seeing them as not only purchasing for themselves, but purchasing for others, for the family.
Don MacPherson:
Medical use is certainly leading the way in terms of shifting public opinion. You've talked about using it for epilepsy, for children. What are some of the other ways in which it's being used for medical purposes?
Giadha DeCarcer:
I can actually tell you the exact top 10 reasons for cannabis consumption today. Number one, by a lot, relaxation. And that goes across gender, ages, you name it. Relaxation is really the number one. Interesting enough, that will be, just so you know, it will be a CBD based or an indica-based product, which is the… Indica would be the type of strain or family of strains that is more of a body high and it is a relaxation. Number two, stress relief. Number three, anxiety reduction. Number four, improving sleep quality. So, as you can see, the top four are kind of related.
Don MacPherson:
They seem very related, yeah. That’s exactly right.
Giadha DeCarcer:
We're all very stressed out. Then, at number five, you start getting to more, sort of, what I would expect more physiological, so pain management. Number six is again, falling asleep is not just so much improving quality of sleep, but literally, just getting to sleep. Enjoying social experiences. That's actually all the way down to number seven, what we call the recreational users. Increasing stimulating creativity and increasing overall wellness. So, we're beginning to see much more use in terms of, especially on the sativa part of the plant, which is the energizing part of the plant, people that are using it to sort of wake up, to be focused, to be more creative. In the entertainment industry, right? Musicians have said they use it to sort of be inspired. And then the last is actually making boring things more interesting. I kid you not, that was one of them as well.
Don MacPherson:
That's a category.
Giadha DeCarcer:
Yep. That is a category.
Don MacPherson:
That's number 10?
Giadha DeCarcer:
Yep.
Don MacPherson:
Okay. Are there any other areas where cannabis can be used in the future for medical purposes that it's currently not being used?
Giadha DeCarcer:
Depending on where geographically you are, I would actually answer it a little differently. Every state that has legalized today, of the 33, so 33 states are legal for medical use, only eight are legal for adult use, right? Each medical state has specific approved conditions for which cannabis is approved to be prescribed. And those vary tremendous things. Some states have over 50 conditions that are approved. So, there is quite a bit that has been done today. Anything from migraines to menstrual cramps, joint pain, obviously things like epilepsy, or in some states, lupus. So, really, a large variety, so I don't want to understate that. In terms of future applications, the things that we are seeing outside of the United States research, really driving forward, are things like cancer treatment.
Not just symptom treatment. I mean, cancer, curing cancer. In Australia, there's a lot of research being done, particularly on breast cancer, treatment of Alzheimer. That's another one, and MLS. Those are some of the more complicated, sophisticated application of cannabis, but there isn’t yet, truly statistically meaningful research to say one way or another, but certainly the initial research and the observational studies that have been made seem very promising.
Don MacPherson:
The U.S. government has been passive when it comes to enforcing federal drug laws, both during the Obama administration, and so far during the Trump administration, there seems to be an implied consensus since the first states began legalizing cannabis. However, recently, attorney general, William Barr, during his confirmation hearing, said the current situation is untenable and has to be addressed. How do you expect the federal government will change its position, if at all, under the new attorney general?
Giadha DeCarcer:
It's a very interesting question. And while I don't have a crystal ball, I will say that I do know there are many efforts today. One of which we actually support in terms of being a data provider, an effort that is led by the liaison group, whereby they're trying to understand how to transition, or the impact of transition, or the challenges of transitioning from a state regulated industry towards a federally regulated industry. So, the question has been asked and the people are trying to answer it in an educated and fact-based manner. That's what I can really speak to is that efforts are being made. Now, what's going to happen? I don't know.
I think that there's a lot of uncertainty in terms of the industry regulatory system, specifically under this administration, and there's still what we consider volatility.
Don MacPherson:
Assuming that the federal government did legalize it, and only two countries to date have legalized it at the federal level, is that correct?
Giadha DeCarcer:
That's correct. Australia will be next.
Don MacPherson:
Okay. So, two going on three countries have legalized it, but what would happen here in the United States to those incarcerated for cannabis-related drug convictions?
Giadha DeCarcer:
Well, if California is to be an example, it could very well be expunging of records, and sort of retroactively, to do actions retroactively to clean folks’ records. Florida is interesting where I know it wasn't particularly related to cannabis, but whereby they allowed now people with criminal records to vote. So, I think it will be a combination of things that would occur in order to have, sort of, a playing field. I don't know that those would be the first thing that would occur after federal legalization. Mind you, it would probably be for… Depending on the offense, there is a difference between going to prison for possession versus going to prison for…
Don MacPherson:
Trafficking.
Giadha DeCarcer:
Trafficking, etc.
Don MacPherson:
You had mentioned that China is the leading hemp producer in the world, and the U.S. has not legalized on the federal level. What does that do in terms of the US’s competitiveness in this market?
Giadha DeCarcer:
Well, this year they did pass the Farm Bill. And the farm bill, at least, from a standalone perspective, would indeed federally legalize hemp cultivation. That said, shortly thereafter, there was also a memo introduced that would put into question exactly the application of hemp cultivation for CBD production. When the Farm Bill was passed, we did very quickly see big agro, as we like to call it, right? Beginning to look into this. One of the unknowns about hemp, hemp, as I said, to date, has only been used primarily for textile. So, that's for China's production, which is, by the way, 95% of the world production. That's where the hemp goes to.
But we've found, and we actually have a publication that is solely in a division that is solely focused on hemp. Hemp industrial advanced industrial applications are anywhere from battery life extension, fuel generation, soil regeneration and cleansing. Mercedes and BMW are actually using it as a replacement for plastic on the interior of cars, even semiconductivity. There's little, not statistically meaningful, but there is initial research that was done in Asia, that seems to indicate that it would provide a thousand times faster conductivity than silicon, at a thousand times less the cost. These are the types of things that could have a pretty material impact on many economies if the research was there to support it.
When the farm bill was passed, I believe that we actually did see that again, there was some excitement around the potentiality of beginning to really do some research around that, which we haven't been able to do in the U.S. because it's federal illegal, and as well as the entry curiosity from large cultivators, right? To big agro trying to figure how to come in.
Don MacPherson:
Our guest today is Giadha Aguirre DeCarcer, CEO of New Frontier Data. When we come back from this short break, we will discuss the global cannabis market and its risks and opportunities for investors.
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We are back with Giadha Aguirre DeCarcer, CEO of New Frontier Data. There has been an incredible shift in public opinion in the United States when it comes to the use of cannabis. Giadha shared her knowledge about why that shift has occurred. Now, we're going to dive into the future of the cannabis market in North America and throughout the world. Giadha, could you talk about what the current U.S. retail market for cannabis is and how it has grown over the past few years?
Giadha DeCarcer:
The epicenter of the global industry, and I can't stress this enough, it is global. There are over 60 nations around the world that are either decriminalizing or legalizing. It's incredible. But the epicenter continues to be North America, so U.S. and Canada. Since 2016, we've tracked U.S. and Canada. U.S., in 2016, the market was about 7 billion. The Canadian market was less than a billion. When you fast forward to 2018, so last year, we had a total market between U.S. and Canada of almost $12 billion. Now, when you project that over to 2025, we're looking at a combined market of 32 billion, with the U.S. representing about 25 billion of that. So, North America, and U.S. in particular, still represents a very large portion of the overall market.
Now, mind you, now we have Europe coming online with some pretty aggressive consumption. Interesting enough, when you look at the overall global population, in terms of estimated cannabis consumers, we're looking at over 270 million consumers with the largest concentration of consumption, mind you, self-reported, so these numbers are probably very conservative, coming from Africa and Asia. North America only being third. Which means that yeah, North America will still be at play, but it'll be very interesting to see what happens in Africa and Asia because their consumption is much greater based on at least the earlier results.
Don MacPherson:
That's incredible. I think you have a very strong math background. And so, correct me on this, but from 2016 to 2018, that's about 50% growth…
Giadha DeCarcer:
Indeed.
Don MacPherson:
… in North America. And from 2018 to 2025, maybe 260% growth.
Giadha DeCarcer:
It’s insane.
Don MacPherson:
It's unbelievable.
Giadha DeCarcer:
It’s unbelievable.
Don MacPherson:
And the investment market seems to be following suit, so it's been very hot in 2019, so far, and it's March 27th right now. And it's been hot over the past several years. Do you see continued growth for these companies or is there an indication that the investment market will start to slow down?
Giadha DeCarcer:
Well, let me address the first question. We did some research in partnership with the Viridian Capital Advisors Group, tracking 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 investment. We saw, so in 2015, we were talking about, I would say less than a billion in investment. In 2018, it's almost 14 billion. That now you may ask, “Wait, what happened?” 2017, it was only 3.5 billion. Well, something did happen in 2018. There were two large deals that occurred in 2018. Constellation’s investments in Canopy Growth, which was a 4 billion transactional on its own. And then Altria's investment into Cronos, which was 2 billion. That alone, so basically big alcohol and big tobacco coming in alone was almost a 6 billion jump in investment.
That's what drove the material change between 2017 and 2018. We expect that number to continue to be high in this year. In fact, we've already seen some very large transactions occurring. What will be interesting to see is where those transactions will occur. Will it be public market transactions or will it be in the private space? These numbers, by the way, are global, that I just gave you. This is not just North America. Other interesting factors that we will continue to track is we are seeing a lot of Latin American investment into Europe and vice versa. We're seeing a lot of Canadian investment into Latin America and Europe. Now you're seeing a lot of transregional transactions because there are more regions and more target markets. That should also continue to drive growth. I don't know that it will be the type of growth that we saw between 2017 and 2018.
Don MacPherson:
The huge agricultural firms seem to have been on the sidelines so far. Is there any indication that that might change in the next couple of years?
Giadha DeCarcer:
Absolutely. Yeah. And I'm not at liberty to say exactly why, because, well, I'm just not a liberty yet to say why, but yes, big agro is definitely looking. And maybe not necessarily in the United States, mind you. Maybe I would say we're seeing… Well, actually, I can say this, we are being approached by some of them in Latin America and Europe. I'll just say that. And they are very curious to understanding both the risks and opportunities in terms of transitioning some of the crop dedication into producing hemp and CBD. Remember that the rest of the world is really interested in the medical applications of cannabis, less so the adults’ use.
Until the research substantiates that THC is a needed element of the medicine, a lot of these, both agro and pharma, are looking at sort of CBD production.
Don MacPherson:
What should cannabis investors be paying attention to in terms of potential headwinds or accelerators for the industry?
Giadha DeCarcer:
Well, it goes without saying federal legalization would be one of them. Right now, GW Pharma has the only drug that is actually FDA approved. If we begin to see more medical, sort of FDA-approved cannabis-based medicine, I think that would be also an indication. Big universities doing research, whether it's on the CBD side, medical side or other, I think those are good indicators to look in terms of the opening and also more data, more information would be good. It's a good thing for the entire industry. One thing that we haven't talked about is import, export, right? And this is less pertinent to the U.S., unfortunately.
Because being federally illegal, the U.S. really cannot get involved in import, export. The Farm Bill would and could open up import, export transactions on the hemp side. But certainly, when you look at opportunities outside of the United States, the import, export phenomena is going to have an impact on sectors that we haven't thought about like shipping. So, opportunities will be born of not just things that touch the plant today, cultivation, processing, and retail. Investors should really think about, what are the other ancillary services that will need, and will be needed, to support the growth and the scale of the market, not just in North America, but abroad as well?
Don MacPherson:
Can you summarize the top two or three ways in which legal cannabis will change the way we live and work?
Giadha DeCarcer:
I mean, listen, I'll give you an anecdote on this one most than anything else. I'm a woman, right? I usually take some kind of ibuprofen, over-the-counter drug once a month. Guess what? I no longer do that. I now take CBD, why? Because it's just better for my stomach. It doesn't have some other… With ibuprofen, you can only take so much. It could lead to an ulcer. CBD doesn't have that. And it literally has the same impact, at least on me, I'm talking about myself, I've seen it.
We know for a fact that opioids, that the huge opioid addiction in the United States has been, not only a huge detriment to lives, but also a huge burden on our healthcare system. Massive burden. Continued research around cannabis becoming an alternative to opioids would certainly have a massive effect on people's lives in terms of addiction, but also on healthcare spending, which is something we're trying to figure out.
I have my mother there as an anecdote. Again, I can't give you the exact facts because this is still ongoing. But in the example for my mother, my mom has had chronic pain for 30 years. She had a horseback riding accident about three years ago. It's only gotten worse and worse. And finally, about three years ago, her doctor said that she needed to get on opioids. She couldn’t no longer function. She did not want to do that. She was terrified. And while she thought I got into the drug business, and she wasn't really happy about it, I did finally convince her to take some CBD pills. It changed her life.
She woke up one morning crying saying to me that she had forgotten what it was like to not feel pain. So, those are the types of shifts that when you look, especially at the opioid addiction in the United States and globally, if we see more research that substantiates the shift, that could have some serious material impact.
Don MacPherson:
There's a huge HR audience that listens to this podcast, and I'm sure they're very curious about if it's against company policy, but it's legal in our state, what can we do, or what should we be doing? Do you have any thoughts on that?
Giadha DeCarcer:
It's a tricky question. And it's a question that I would strongly suggest your audience check with a local attorney that understands the regulations around this. But I do know that compliance varies from state to state. And even within the state, it may vary from state level, to county level, to city level. In California, in fact, that is the case. So yes, please do check with an HR expert and attorneys, because those are things that would absolutely have an impact in your business.
Don MacPherson:
How are police testing for cannabis in impaired driving cases?
Giadha DeCarcer:
There are a variety of handheld devices that have been tested for, in order to give, to sort of law enforcement, for them to test in real time. The perfect solution, I don't know if it has yet been totally validated and approved. There've been issues with each of these handheld devices and the speed that which they can give an answer. I think it remains to be determined, but certainly efforts are being made.
Don MacPherson:
This industry is not only growing in terms of revenue and in terms of investment, but number of employees. Can you talk a little bit about the volume of employees who are going into this?
Giadha DeCarcer:
Oh Lord, hundreds of thousands.
Don MacPherson:
And that's globally?
Giadha DeCarcer:
I was just talking about the U.S.
Don MacPherson:
That's incredible.
Giadha DeCarcer:
Yeah. That's just in the U.S. the exact number escapes me right the second, but we do actually have that number. What we've seen is very interesting. And let me tell you a little… In 2015, 2014, 20 15, when I started, when I came into the industry, this was an industry that still was considered movement-driven movement born. Women like me that may have experienced, hitting that proverbial glass ceiling, certainly were attracted to the industry because guess what? There was a clean canvas. There was no predetermined, where you needed to look, or sound, or anything like that. There was no preexisting boys’ club. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but just wasn't, right?
The barriers to entry was much lower. So, you did see large numbers of women enter the industry between 2014, 2015, 2016. In 2016, which is what we like to refer to as cannabis 2.0, in terms of investment shift and sort of the types of folks that came into the industry, you began to see sort of the beginning of more seasoned, and I want to be… But yes, more seasoned traditional business folks and entrepreneurs. And when we began to see the need for ancillary services, to apply to this fast-growing industry, not necessarily just from within, but from outside in. By today, whether… Unfortunately, we're seeing a large shift in, first of all, the makeup of the business owners and executives in the space.
Now you see a lot more white males and many, many fewer minorities and women, which is unfortunate because I am both a woman and a minority. But what's happening is again, because the industry's growing so fast, now people are paying attention, right? So, CPGs, consumer package goods type enterprises are looking in larger investors. We call this now cannabis 3.0. we're not talking about $25,000 checks that were written when I started. We're talking about tens and hundreds of millions of dollars checks, right? That's a whole other level. And with it comes then the more traditional business owners and executives.
This industry is quite unique. I remember, when I started coming in, when it was still… There was a huge stigma around it and people literally thought I was going into the drug business. People said, “Oh, it's probational over again. It's going to be just like alcohol.” And others were, “No, it's going to be just like tobacco.” And then, even others were like, “No, it's a crop. It's going to be commoditized.” It's all true. All of it. This plant has all of these applications, and more, and yet, it's completely unique. So, it certainly is an industry that doesn't cease to surprise. There isn't a day when we did discover something new that we didn't expect.
Don MacPherson:
Let's say it became legal federally in the United States, where would this be grown? What sort of climate or what's the best environment in the U.S. for it to be grown?
Giadha DeCarcer:
That's a very good question. I mean, it goes without saying, there's a reason why California is right now, I mean, obviously it's a huge consumer market, but California climate, just like, wherever you would want to grow wine is where you would want to grow cannabis. That said, especially for medical use, we are seeing a lot of indoor grow. It's a more controlled environment, it can be a little more energy, inefficient because obviously the controlled environment will call for more electricity. Also, the plant needs a lot of water, which could become, and it's beginning to become a challenge for the infrastructure in California State that already experiences droughts.
But the short of it is wherever where you would want to cultivate wine and you have vineyards, that's pretty much where you would want to grow cannabis. That's another reason why countries like Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico are so perfectly suited for it, and why large money and large enterprises from Canada are now investing there for their cultivation.
Don MacPherson:
Where can people learn more about you and New Frontier Data?
Giadha DeCarcer:
I don't know if they want to learn about me, but newfrontierdata.com, we provide a lot of free information. Our mission at the end of the day is to elevate the discussion through fact-based research. And so, a lot of our reports and research is free. So, you can go check it out, again, at newfrontierdata.com. We're on social media. We're everywhere. So, please do come, learn more. Knowledge is power, as they say.
Don MacPherson:
Giadha, thank you for being a genius.
Giadha DeCarcer:
Oh, it’s such a pleasure. Thank you.
Don MacPherson:
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