There is no denying the fact that the cannabis business is here to stay. It’s almost impossible to turn on the television or access news on the Internet and not see an article or video talking about either medical marijuana, recreational marijuana or cannabidiol (CBD) and how many people have found success using all these different substances to better their health. Thanks to the new and booming market that has been created around cannabis, there have been a few business opportunities spring up that promise to help you jump on the bandwagon. One such opportunity that I came across recently is Kannaway. In this Kannaway MLM review, we’re going to see if Kannaway is your best option for creating a business around CBD in the medical cannabis industry.

Kannaway Mlm ReviewWhat Is Kannaway?

Kannaway is a company that was founded in 2014 and sells a variety of different health related products. They operate in a multilevel marketing or MLM structure that focuses on recruiting people into downlines who then sell their products and business opportunities to other people. The company was bought by medical marijuana Inc. in 2015 and added to a large profile of different medical marijuana, CBD and hemp websites. This is important and we’ll discuss this in more detail in the review below. People who sign up as “brand ambassadors” to Kannaway for $54.98 per year and buy enough products to keep them in specific commission tiers earn money by selling products and recruiting other people to sell Kannaway products under them. This cycle continues and those who are at the top of the downline tend to make significantly more money than those further down the list.

Kannaway’s Loss in Popularity

So, if you were able to get into Kannaway in 2014, when times were really booming, you would probably be far more successful than you would be now. As you can see in the image below, there were a lot of people really interested in Kannaway in 2014. Kannaway Mlm Review Popularity From late 2014 to mid-2017, interest in the company dropped significantly and while it has rebounded some, the overall interest in the company is still at a loss, according to MLM rankings as you can see below. Kannaway Mlm Review Mlm Rankings In Kannaway’s defense, it may have been possible that the decrease in interest was because they were switching hands as this was during the same timeframe that they were acquired by Medical Marijuana Inc.

Pros and Cons of Kannaway

Pros:

  • Appear to Have Good Products Very few people say anything negative about the products available at Kannaway. The only thing most people complain about is their prices.

Cons:

  • Your Success Depends on People You Recruit Just like many other MLMs, the overall success you have depends on how successful the people you recruit are at recruiting others and selling the products available at Kannaway.
  • Oversaturation in the Market As more laws continue to be passed allowing additional people access to medical and recreational cannabis and CBD oil, there are more and more products available every day at local retailers making an MLM version of the same product very challenging to promote, in my opinion.
  • Price While most reviews online agree that Kannaway has quality products, there are a lot of people who complain about the prices of those products. That’s understandable, we’ll talk a little bit more about that below.
  • Legal Challenges While hemp and hemp products are federally legal, there are still some gray areas that you may run into depending on your local area and their stance on marijuana and hemp laws.
  • CBD Is A Supplement Even though him and CBD oil extracted from hemp is federally legal in the US and Canada, the United States FDA classifies these products as nutritional supplements. Unlike the medical marijuana industry, claims can’t be made as to if they are beneficial to your health or if they could be used to help treat any disease processes.
  • Confusing Product Category The cannabis industry is still a very confusing arena. If you’re uncertain about any local laws in your area, you should proceed with caution and do your due diligence before starting any kind of hemp or cannabis related business.
  • Confusing Website Navigating the Kannaway website is very confusing, in my opinion there are countless membership options with different product combinations and price points. Also, there were a few glitches when I was on the site that resulted in items being added or removed to my cart that I never clicked on.
  • Confusing Commission Structure Kannaway has a very long document and explanation video that goes over how their commission structure works. Basically, you make around $15 for every person you sell a product to regardless of how much money they spent. The way you make money with the company is to sign other people up for monthly subscriptions and have them sign additional people up below them.
  • This Is Not Medical Cannabis It’s very important that you realize the products offered at Kannaway are not medical cannabis. Hemp oil is extracted from the seeds of hemp plants while CBD oil that is typically sold in medical cannabis dispensaries is extracted from the buds and flowers of different medical cannabis strains. More information on this topic in the review below.

Kannaway MLM Review – I’d Stay Away

After doing a bit of a deep dive into Kannaway, it’s an opportunity that you may be better off avoiding, in my opinion. There are a few different reasons that I’ve come to this conclusion.

Hemp vs Medical Cannabis

Many people argue that CBD oil from hemp plants is the exact same thing as CBD oil from medical cannabis. This isn’t the case. First, the extraction process is completely different in acquiring CBD oil from hemp versus acquiring CBD oil from medical cannabis. In medical cannabis, CBD oil is extracted by taking strains that are specifically grown to have higher levels of CBD and low levels of THC after these strains have been specifically cultivated, hemp oil is extracted by putting hemp seeds and stalks under pressure and extracting oil from them. When acquiring oil from hemp plants, the flowers or buds must be discarded, per federal law, as these parts of the plant are considered marijuana and thus federally illegal. On the flipside, when CBD oil is processed in areas that allow medical or recreational marijuana, it is created by using multiple areas of the plant, including the flowers or buds. This creates what is referred to as Phyto cannabinoid-rich hemp oil and is responsible for most of the studies that have been done showing its medical benefits. There is a popular theory among medical cannabis researchers called the “entourage effect” that basically states that more medical benefit is gained by using the entire plant. Yes, this includes the THC components of the plant as well. When using whole plant CBD oil, the THC is so low that psychoactive effects aren’t observed, but it is still present and is suspected to play a part in the overall effectiveness of the oil. THC is stored in the flowers of cannabis plants, meaning that hemp extracted CBD oil does not contain enough THC to create the entourage effect in most cases. [wd_hustle id=”5″ type=”embedded”/]

Different Strains Do Different Things

There are thousands of different cannabis strains already available on the market with more being created every day. Every individual strain does something a little different. For example, a doctor who advises patients on which medical strains to use would recommend one strain for an elderly patient with arthritis and a completely different strain for a pediatric patient suffering from epilepsy. Some strains that were originally bred for medical cannabis fall under the criteria required for industrial hemp due to their low THC content. However, companies selling industrial hemp products typically don’t list what strains their products contain. This is the case with Kannaway as well. Since all strains are not created equally, even though the products offered by Kannaway are listed as containing CBD, no mention is present as to what strains have been used to acquire the CBD. This is important information to know when using CBD for medical purposes. I’m not saying that hemp derived CBD oil isn’t effective for things, there are a lot of people out there who have found relief using hemp derived CBD oil products, and

Medical Marijuana, Inc Is Creating More Competition

As I briefly mentioned above, Kannaway was purchased by Medical Marijuana Inc. in 2015. Normally, this wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but in this instance, it is in my opinion. That’s because as you can see in the images below, the company offers similar products on their other website, HempMeds. The reason that this is such a big deal is that the Kannaway product is almost $50 more expensive than the product available on HempMeds. In a recent blog post over at HempMeds, the company stated that their product had been featured in the Prescriber’s Digital Reference as a dietary supplement. As you can see in the image below, it is in fact listed in the Prescriber’s Digital Reference and shows that the two products shown side-by-side above are, in fact, the same product priced $50 more expensive for Kannaway customers. Kannaway Mlm Review Prescribers This is very important to note because HempMeds has whole sale options available where they will sell products to retailers. For your business, this means that you may be trying to sell products that are available right down the street for almost $50 less.

MLM’s Are Tough Enough without More Competition

The final reason that I will stay away from Kannaway personally is that the MLM business model is very hard to succeed with on a good day. It becomes even harder to succeed with when the company that owns the company who you’re partnered with and sells the products significantly cheaper. Many people find that with MLM businesses, they may be able to initially recruit a few friends and family members. Sadly, after that they struggle to keep up with the commission tears required to keep getting paid and finally run out of people to promote goods and services to. Since your success is determined by how well the people you have recruited are doing at recruiting their own leads, you end up becoming a sales team manager for the MLM you’re promoting rather than a business owner.

So, What’s Better Than Kannaway?

As mentioned above, being successful with an MLM is more about how well your team performs rather than how hard you work. What if there was a way for you to be able to create an online business that would pay you for years to come and its success would be determined by the amount of work you put into it? Thankfully, there is a place that you can learn more about creating your own online business that will pay you well into the future. Head on over to my top recommended resource and check it out. Once inside, you can learn how to create an online business that can provide you with a full-time income. It’s the way that I learned how to create my first full-time online business and I’ve been a member of the community for many years.
Top Recommendation
Wealthy Affiliate

This is where I learned how to get started in online business and it is the only community that I trust for honest top level training on how to make money online. I highly recommend Wealthy Affiliate for its training, tools, live support and included hosting.

Get a Free Starter Account Read the Full Review

Leave a Reply to Jay Neill Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

11 Comments

  1. Hi Jay – thanks for the information, but some of it regarding medical cannabis and hemp is inaccurate.
    “In medical cannabis, CBD oil is extracted by taking strains that are specifically grown to have higher levels of CBD and low levels of THC after these strains have been specifically cultivated, hemp oil is extracted by putting hemp seeds and stalks under pressure and extracting oil from them. When acquiring oil from hemp plants, the flowers or buds must be discarded, per federal law, as these parts of the plant are considered marijuana and thus federally illegal.”
    We are a Hemp farmer who is licensed by the state of NY and are cultivating plants for high CBD…which we get from the flowers/buds. Federally legal at levels of THC less than 0.3% by the 2018 Farm Bill, is considered Hemp.

  2. This company sucks! I have been a distributor for them for over a year. The comp plan is not understandable, even by my upline. The shipping is $14.99 for a standard order and $9.99 for a “Smart Ship” order. I have received so many boxes that were almost completely smashed. They charge tax on the RETAIL amount even for personal use. Plus they use some sort of an “algorithm” to calculate sales tax. So basically I pay 15% taxes. You have to purchase at least 110 in volume personally to even earn your commissions. And that, with tax, shipping and the products is about $200.00 a month. Customer service SUCKS and they just pass the buck to someone else. If you call and try to get an issue resolved, you will call a few times at the least and may wait on hold for over 20 minutes, then they cut you off. Good luck if they owe you a refund or if they short you on your order. It will take MINIMUM 2-3 calls to get the issue resolved. And it will take WEEKS for them to refund you. They are minimally staffed and can not handle the growth in my opinion. They just launched a new back office and website that looks great on the outside, but is so complicated I just give up trying to place my team members. A simple “tree view” would be to easy for people and they may succeed better. I have been a part of other great MLM’s and this company, by far, is way behind on the professional side. I don’s care how good a company is, if corporate and customer service and the shipping department can’t function at a higher level they are going to fail.

  3. This is a vastly misleading review. The products are of the highest quality from seed to sale, the company is at the forefront of education, research, and innovation. Corporate is responsive to the needs of customers and brand ambassadors. I have personally been using the products since December, and decided to partner with the company because the products are excellent and the company’s mission aligns with my own. It is unfortunate that the person that wrote this article is putting a negative spin on a great company to re-route people to his own “program”.

  4. The information about  kannaways company  is well detailed and complete. Following the fact that both their loss of popularity;their down fall and their lifting as at when they were acquired by medical marijuana Inc. And also there product are spelt out, some will really not make good sales in some areas and countries were there are laws on these products. The sources of the products are stated also, given its audience that knowledge about their products, like the hemp oil which is extracted from hemp seed. 

  5. Interesting Kannaway MLM review, Jay. I thought CBD oil was CBD oil, but you sure schooled me! Besides that, I am absolutely FLOORED that Medical Marijuana, Inc. has another company that sells the same products for $50 less. That is crazy! 

    Although, I understand why this is. I know that in MLMs, the prices HAVE to be higher to pay the distributers. Oh yes, I was in an MLM recently. You CAN make good money. But, it’s not easy. The people at the top have to put in a LOT of work. I spent a lot of money and got nowhere fast. 

    I do think there could be some great benefits to CBD oil, but I’d rather wait for the “good” stuff – and pay less for it! 

  6. Hi Jay, thanks for the detailed review.  First let me just say, that MLM always flashes red flags for me especially if the compensation plan is as unclear and not straight forward as Kannaway’s seems to be from your report.  MLM companies are notorious for making money from the people who are supposedly working to promote their products, in my opinion, a company where you have to pay for a monthly autoship for their products in order to stay active is not worth joining.  

    In the case of Kannaway, the product seems to be overly priced and mislabeled as the strain of Cannabis or Hemp the product is derived from is not clearly documented nor is it clearly stated what part of the plant is extracted to create the end product.  Even though, clearly, it seems people love the product, the support and overall experience seems pretty shoddy.  I may not know much about CBD oil or Medical Marijuana yet I would stay right clear of this company as a business opportunity and also as a supplier of supplements.

    Thanks again for the extensive research you have done on this Company and product, it is a very informative review.

  7. Great review on Kannaway MLM! Kannaway is a MLM or multi-level marketing company that was founded in 2014 by Christopher Hussey, who’s now the current CTO, and Jeff Rogers, who’s now the company CEO. That’s right. Hemp. The one that’s associated with “growing different varieties of the Cannabis plant and its products including fiber, oil, and seed. Most people would assume that Hemp is cannabis or vice versa, but in fact, they’re not similar.People get high on smoking cannabis due to its chemical component  called THC or Tetrahydrocannabinol. Hemp has no THC, but instead it has CBD or Cannabidiol. Very few people say anything negative about the products available at Kannaway. The only thing most people complain about is their prices. I can categorically say MLM companies usually pay you to recruit others on top of the sales they make, but Kannaway doesn’t.But I do understand the reasoning behind this compensation scheme.

  8. Hi Jay, very good and informative review of Kannaway MLM program. I actually heard for this program before but I didn`t search for some more info when I saw it`s the MLM company. You described this program very well, there are so many cons that people really need to be aware. With the price and all confusing things on their website you really can`t trust them.I didn`t know all these things about different cannabis strains, this was very helpful, thanks for sharing with us!

  9. Having done some research about CBD oil and similar products ( My wife suffers from ME and Fibro) I am not surprised that this MLM style business has grown over the last few years. I have had experience with other MLM opportunities and all have in a financial lose. I agree with your point about relying heavily on others to make any money. And for it’s parent company selling the exact same product for cheaper doesn’t go down well with me. I think I will be keeping my distance from this one….Thanks  

  10. Thanks for the heads-up on Kannaway, Jay.

    I have dipped my toes into several MLMs over the years and only one was really successful, because:

    1. the product was unique to the company

    2. the product price was very good, (the real money was in the follow-up consumables.)

    3. it was possible to earn money for ordinary agents.

    Unfortunately, the factory burned down and the company could not afford the loss of the products in the fire. They went bust. (I believe they had undervalued the stock with the insurance company.)

    You have confirmed my cynical nose which twitches at MLMs.

    It does amaze me that a marketable product cannot be distributed through MLM without hiking the price. It should cost a lot lest than the traditional wholesaler / retailer model.

    Kannaway seems to be doing this as well, hiking the MLM price over the traditional website one.

    I do like the idea of building a business where I am getting commission without carrying stock, where I can work where and when I want to and get more benefit if I work harder.

    I kind of like the idea of a trip to Vegas, as well.