Anthony Wile on Becoming a Dominant Player in the Cannabis Industry: According to the Arcview Group’s State of Legal Marijuana Markets comprehensive report, worldwide spending on legal cannabis will climb to $57 billion by 2027 and approximately 33% of that amount will be spent on medicinal cannabis–this is a market that will expand and mature in the next several years.
Anthony Wile on Becoming a Dominant Player in the Cannabis Industry
Anthony Wile, co-founder and former CEO of PharmaCielo Ltd., is a recognized leader in the global cannabis industry. He earned his start in the investment sector with Scotia McLeod and Nesbitt Burns. Before establishing PharmaCielo, he served as a private equity investor and supported the launch of enterprises in several global markets, including Colombia. In 2018, Anthony Wile was made a citizen of Colombia by decree from Colombia president Juan Manuel Santos, while also maintaining his Canadian citizenship.
In the interview below, Anthony Wile talks about PharmaCielo, the industry, and the future of the market.
How did you become involved with the cannabis industry?
When I was doing research for my 2013 book, “Financial Freedom,” I saw the potential in the burgeoning Canadian cannabis industry and I had the realization that the global expansion of that market would soon follow. I decided to establish PharmaCielo to achieve this goal, and based the global parent company in Canada due to the country’s high standards of financial accountability and because of Canada’s leadership in creating a well regulated medical cannabis industry.
What made Colombia such a perfect place for PharmaCielo?
I worked and lived part-time in Colombia for more than 15 years, so I knew it would be an ideal location for PharmaCielo. The Colombian climate allowed for open-air greenhouse propagation of cannabis. What that meant was that PharmaCielo could grow cannabis without using simulated conditions or artificial pesticides. PharmaCielo’s cannabis is grown using natural sunlight and rainwater. Colombia has wonderful soil and a balanced day-night cycle; it’s one of the best places in the world to grow cannabis–and that’s what made it ideal for PharmaCielo.
PharmaCielo’s core facility features 1.3 million square feet of open-air greenhouses for cultivation purposes, meaning that the company’s yearly flower capacity stood at 5.53 million kilograms. After processing, medicinal-grade oil extracts and products were developed to provide standardized and dependable relief for patients in need.
How do you think growing cannabis outside impacts the environment vs. growing it inside in Canada?
The facts speak for themselves. PharmaCielo commissioned a study by Global Footprint Network to evaluate the impact of the cultivation model on global warming. In the report, the authors concluded that cultivation in an open Colombian greenhouse was about 370-times more energy-efficient than growing the same crop in a closed, artificially lit warehouse in Colorado. Even though shipping practices add to the carbon footprint, it was still a fraction of the environmental impact demonstrated by cannabis grown indoors.
Where do you see PharmaCielo going in the next few years?
While I no longer maintain an active association with the company or its management team, I continue to see PharmaCielo as one of the leaders in the global market who continues to want to be the best it can be. The medical cannabis market is going to continue to grow and PharmaCielo will be a part of that growth. PharmaCielo is well positioned to be the leading global supplier of naturally grown and processed, standardized medicinal-grade cannabis oil extracts.
