AACE INTERVIEW: Philip Kwong
PHILIP KWONG
My journey started as a transition. When I was 23, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). When I got my first attack, I was put on 1250mg of prednisone. I've never felt so mentally and physically incapacitated, and I never wanted to feel like that again. So, each time I experienced a relapse, I refused the high doses of prednisone that was recommended.
Philip is a warrior, he has taken control of his health and his life through cannabis. On the front lines up in Canada, he educates and has been bringing to patients a system of clean medicine through his company 3 Carbon.
About 3 Carbon: 3 Carbon is the industry solution to healthy, compliant, and safe hydrocarbon cannabis and hemp extraction. We offer the best in class hydrocarbon extraction equipment, design premium extraction facilities, and provide tested and secure extraction solutions for responsible, controllable, and practical botanical extraction needs. Our platform brings together service, regulation, education, training, experience and science to provide a safe and holistic approach for hydrocarbon extraction. 3 Carbon
How has your views on cannabis changed?
To be completely honest, not much. As a teen, cannabis had always been around me and it was socially acceptable with my circle of friends, and I always loved everything about it. There was a lot of stigma about cannabis being a gateway drug, and that is what I was taught in school. But I was fascinated by all the characteristics of the plant from the different aromas, bud structures, varying effects of cultivars. My love for cannabis turned into a passion, and that passion only grew as I got older.
I was really intrigued by the concentrates market as the products were unique and provided a great feeling. I began doing my first extractions when I became a medical patient using cannabis – which charted the course of my career.
How did you enter the cannabis industry?
My journey started as a transition. When I was 23, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). When I got my first attack, I was put on 1250mg of prednisone. I've never felt so mentally and physically incapacitated, and I never wanted to feel like that again. So, each time I experienced a relapse, I refused the high doses of prednisone that was recommended.
Besides the relapses, I struggled with the day-to-day side effects and was looking for something more natural that I felt gave me my quality of life. It was at this point that I began producing cannabis concentrates as an r&d experiment for my health. When I found a THC:CBD ratio that helped my relapses, and an approach to product development that worked for my side effects, I never looked back.
I founded my first cannabis company, 3 Carbon, and began my transition from a patient to working in the industry. My vision was to have a company that could help develop a new standard for cannabis extraction; a health standard whether the extract was used for medical or adult use products. 3 Carbon is super proud to to be a company that believes that in life, and in cannabis, there are no shortcuts.
Did you do research into cannabis before entering?
Not really. I researched cannabis as a medical alternative, read various studies, spoke to different Health Canada labs about extractions but I didn't research the industry directly. I knew what I wanted to do, and at that time, nothing would have stopped me.
But that is also my personality. If I believe in something and I have made up my mind on doing it, I no longer have the question of – should I do this? It becomes a question of how am I going to do this? And what is the strategy.
How does your family feel about your cannabis businesses?
I'm pretty lucky to have parents like mine. They have always stood behind me no matter what I did growing up, and the support never changed when I decided to make a career in the cannabis industry. My dad has always been very entrepreneurial, and he was proud to see me create a business and work on solving a problem, and for my mom, she was so happy to see my health quality increase that nothing else mattered to her.
What is the most frequent question you are asked about cannabis?
I usually get a rotation of questions, but the most common question these days I get is – “Oh, you do extractions? What’s an extraction?”
What is your favorite way of ingesting cannabis?
There's so many different ways of consuming or using cannabis now, but my favorite consumption method is smoking joints or dabbing concentrates. I find it is the quickest way to feel the effects and get what I am looking for.
Where do you see the cannabis industry in five years?
I think we will see a larger shift of consumer habits as cannabis becomes more socially acceptable and more people are comfortable using it. Extraction will play a massive role in being the lynchpin of the industry into new product development and consumer packaged goods, with less flower usage. But as cannabis continues to emerge globally, I see it continuing to accelerate into four areas.
1) Research and Medical: As more research is done and we learn more about the different cannabinoids and chemical compounds of the plant, we will see more cannabis-based remedies become alternatives to other mainstream pharmaceutical drugs and treatment approaches.
2) Recreational: We see the adult-use continue to expand across North America. As new global sectors continue to emerge, I think we will see recreational markets grow - as alcohol did. Cannabis doesn't have to be only medical, and we see adults make personal choices to enjoy themselves and cannabis will not be different.
3) Community Funds: Taxes from cannabis have been massive factors in parts of North America. It's paid for progressing school systems, enhancing neighborhoods and more.
As legalization and regulation continue to progress, we will see new markets apply similar approaches as areas in legal jurisdictions in the US did.
4) Hemp: Currently, hemp is looked at for the extraction of CBD. In my opinion, this trend will eventually stop, and hemp will become one of the largest economic solutions globally.
Why do you think some Asians are against cannabis?
Cannabis has been in prohibition for so long, and it has carried a lot of stigma because of this. It is difficult to understand change when there is a lack of education, and in parts of Asia like Korea students are taught that cannabis is as bad as heroin.
Also cannabis as a medical alternative can be hard to understand. Currently, there isn’t enough research yet to support the anecdotal evidence we see. For a lot of Asian communities (and other communities), until cannabis is able to be prescribed similar to other drugs or a pattern is discovered on how to create a consistent desired effect – we will continue to see differences of opinions on cannabis.
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