In this episode, I discuss the potential impact of cannabis being rescheduled and so much more with Chief Content Director of Illinois News Joint, Michael Lasley!
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The auto-generated transcript is available below.
brother cheers my friend thank you for uh sitting back down with me and why don’t right off the top why don’t you just remind folks who you are and where they can find your content online happy to be here my name is Michael lassley I am the chief content director for Illinois news joint uh we post a new Illinois product review every day we also cover the politics and the culture and we have a bustling event calendar um so yeah I’m keeping things right there but also covering all kinds of other things on my own uh social media Instagram Twitter you can find me on there yeah and not to single out origon oregonic or whatever but wow what a name for a product the super boo yeah I only say that because it’s like somebody had to be like that’s a that’s a that’s a it’s having its year man oh is it like a popular straightening okay sorry I was about to make a joke you know people always say Illinois dispensary weed is like boof or not good and I’m like wow they’re really like leaning into that you know no it’s uh that’s that’s a industry name right now super boo came out of California okay originally bred by Blockhead fantastic Trin gotcha yeah as you can see folks plenty of content and it’s all Illinois focused so yeah if it’s Illinois cannabis content you want Illinois news joint is the place we’ll have the link in the description but it’s illino newsj joint.com check us out we post we we’re constantly you know changing stuff we just went through a redesign um big Focus this year on on events and all the stuff that’s coming down so I really do think it’s going to be a great year for the industry and I’m just excited to be here you know I’m excited to be in the industry I think that’s a lot of what a lot of the stuff that’s missing from people’s lives is you know we’ve uh we’ become cynical absolutely and actually I didn’t even think about that since he just brought it up I know you have that upcoming event um that that’s yeah that’s under W still that’s right but but the idea like you said that events could be happening I’m curious I know we didn’t necessarily um plan to talk about this today but I just saw you know people people are starting to talk about their legislative priorities and selfishly I was hoping this issue would go away but it’s not uh people are talking about we need need uh licensing for cannabis events and and cannabis consumption uh here we go I’m curious what’s what are your thoughts on the topic I have some thoughts maybe you already know them but I’m just curious what do you think about this even being a discussion and legislation I mean you know it’s another level of Regulation that we currently don’t need um I think there are a ton of events that are currently being planned or that were pulled off absolutely successfully in 2023 with open consumption outdoors I literally hundreds of people food music all in one place yeah free dabs free I had I was at a place that we went to an event together didn’t we yes yes we went to a couple events together we were at a couple events yeah I I really do this was a great year for that kind of thing I think there is a push I think there is a POS you know I hate to say like there’s a positive push for regulation I think there are people looking for clarity I think that is not from our side it’s not from people creating events it’s from M municipalities counties you know when I go to a county and I say I can bring 2,000 people here but you need to let me allow open consumption they don’t a lot of these folks don’t know the laws yeah I went to a city here in Southern Illinois or you know we went to a city in here in Southern Illinois to work on this and they had to go to their team of lawyers and it took weeks for them to hash out how we would actually do this and to make sure that it’s okay with their city law and county law and Illinois Law it’s not clear there and so we’re operating in a gray area which is awesome for the culture we can do really really cool stuff um but I think there is a level of people that do want access to this stuff there are tourism Boards out there that do want access to this stuff that kind of are afraid of it without that extra ping of uh those regulations yeah like you say I just and you kind of the way you started it is exactly you know where my concern comes from uh it’s like we’ve regulated the [ __ ] out of cannabis already it’s like goddamn this is the one thing where’re kind of they’ve got a hands-off approach on and it’s like as a result it’s it’s been going well you know at least when you talk to the people that are doing it like high-minded events and some of those Southern Illinois consumption lounges they were just able to open up shop you know I mean they did have local politics to navigate but they can deal with that because they know those people you can talk to a County Board a lot easier than I can negotiate with the government of Illinois right where do I who do I go to who do I talk to there’s no place to start for any kind of business owner even if you have a large you know if you have a large Hospitality business it’s still hard for you to go but you can go to a County Board you can go to a City Board and you can make those arguments yeah yeah so like you say I get I’ve heard that before as well it’s people just are it just sounds like yeah they’re they’re hesitant because they feel there’s lack of clarity on it and I don’t know like I say just when I talk to the people that are currently involved in the space they’re like don’t don’t touch it it’s working we’re making money you know but then when you talk to the people that aren’t in the space they say but we can’t make any money because we can’t sell food we can’t s you know they say all these things but then I’m not saying everybody has it figured out but at least Molly’s joint and OK cannabis has a like a restaurant and are selling food on site you know what I mean is yeah for sure it can work in certain places right I think I think a lot of this is enforcement dependent too I think if you ask the health department of some of those places if they really wanted to go in and find a violation with the way things are written I mean they probably could they’re are operating businesses that kind of operated yet again in this gray area we’re not inside the law we’re not outside the law it’s kind of where we’re at right now yeah and to that end I like that the ones down south just let you bring your own food so you’re either supporting other local businesses or they could even strategically like to address that concern you just had because I I definitely thought about that like having a smoke lounge on the same side as a kitchen and like let’s be honest air it permeates everything so like I mean like but come on there’s you know there’s been bars I can go over to Missouri still and there’s bars you smoke inside where there’s been cooking for you know the past Century and a half to you know like forever smoke inside buildings and cooking and people have been fine but I I guess I just wanted to say like on both it seems like there are multiple ways to address that concern either by doing whatever okay and Molly are doing or by right splitting exactly or by just yeah encouraging people to go to other businesses and be like hey bring your food here type of thing I think that works better down here especially because the you know okay cannabis could you know they have a great bakery they could they survive with their food you know with the traffic they have down here a lot harder to do that right so anyways I was just curious because especially if you guys if you are getting into the space Illinois news joint like there’s nothing and I know you can’t speak completely on Illinois news joint you know maybe Jason would want to be here for that conversation but you know you get my drift you get where I’m going I I hope it’s like just to complete the thought you’re getting in and there’s nothing stopping you right now but if people are talking about this [ __ ] like it’s possible that it could get more complicated I just want to say that you know I’ve already been mulling this idea over it’s a lot of cheap property in Southern Illinois as all I’ll say for now there’s a lot of cheap property with very easy County boards my entire count the entire County I live in 5,000 people that’s it the entire County yeah I me that’s pretty crazy yeah you go and talk to some folks and it’s easy and especially if you’re down here on the border where you can get you know have these other states that you can kind of ring in there’s a business argument to be made yeah so anyways again I didn’t really uh plan to bring that up but I just I saw some somebody make a post and they were talking about legislative priorities and one of the things they mentioned I was like oh it’s back is a [ __ ] up events yeah events and consumption so it’s like the idea that again I don’t mean to dwell on this any longer but the idea that it’s there’s not enough Clarity on how to open up a smoke shop it’s like but there is though look at the Luna Lounge look at three mile Hideway just get a tobacco retailers permit let them smoke you know yeah yeah but anyways uh it is interesting that I feel like I just wonder what that’s going to look like I know I just said I didn’t want to dwell on that any longer but my last thought is because somebody has been asking why a lot of people have been asking why do you need a tobacco retailers permit and it’s like because that’s the one thing they figured out that they could tax in this consumption equation is the paraffin Alia you use because they can’t if you’re not selling cannabis there you know you can’t tax them by the minute so it’s a I I think that there’s Illinois especially in this has this this mindset of extraction where yeah you know we have to get something out of everything every transaction you know the government’s got to have their take and so yeah I think that that’s that is baked into every single layer of the law and so that’s kind of how they’re getting away with it is yes yet again the government’s getting their take I I’ve you know I’ve seen events at like like breweries and stuff you know where obviously the government’s getting some getting a tax benefit there there’s a separate tax benefit to to running a brewery and stuff there’s a separate tax benefits are there but they allow smoking in there so it’s kind of this thing that yeah that’s how it happens yeah yeah so um I felt like I just thought of a relevant clip that we can close the loop uh on that uh topic and then maybe we can move on to uh rescheduling um let me just toggle this here yeah yeah this is perfect to close this topic so it’s I know it’s just a joke and I’m not trying to make more out of this than it is but it is kind of funny that this is the first line that thank you so much it is great to see everybody here uh how many people from out of town oh yeah love to see that okay so uh first of all make sure you spend a lot of money while you’re here part of my job as Governor uh we have a lot to see by the way we have the best we have the best pizza in the world we do have the best I take for granted sometimes like I I’ve especially in my trip like to Nevada and stuff I was looking around for like best pizza places there wasn’t one I was like no there’s no there’s no good yeah I mean like you know Chicago New York yeah but even even from Southern Illinois like there’s of course the cliche like Casey’s but yeah you got quatros you got I know I’m gonna get some hate for bringing this up after saying quatros it is it is important that quatros goes first uh but after that monal I think monal is pretty good for like fantastic monal is a Midwest Classic yeah exactly an Illinois uh yeah papad Dells and champagne if you’ve ever been there I think that’s better than Chicago any deep dish I’ve had in Chicago oh fighting words oh [ __ ] big shout out to Maran Illinois Benny’s Italian foods is literal right off the square Little Italian place been there since the 40s but they make a pizza that’s like a flat thin crust real crispy fantastic I mean like it’s that or spess for me Benny’s Benny’s Italian foods next time you were in Southern Illinois let me let me know we will go to Benny’s we will have some pizza and some canalone Florentine and hang out in the Square abolutely hell yeah well um let’s talk rescheduling which is kind of why we connected uh we were both on the same wavelength and I was like dude let’s get on here because uh if not my own heart right if not for our for our own sanity also just to like vent you know what I mean oh agreed right so in hopes that maybe somebody sees where we’re coming from but at the end of the day it’ll just feel good to have said these things so my Twitter’s been for a month now is about the [ __ ] Mania thetion yeah what’s what’s GNA happen so anyways let’s just give a little bit of background uh and uh feel free to jump in um so in the past I’m not gonna I can’t remember if it was in the last year but in the last year or so uh President Biden kind of came out and said hey uh it’s kind of crazy that marijuana is in the same schedule as heroin and LSD which wish he wouldn’t brought up LSD but um yeah exactly yeah U we’ll get there um so he’s directing uh HHS to go through the rescheduling process or initiate a process of rescheduling cannabis um and in that in the same breath he also like encouraged uh State the states like Governors and states to decriminalize cannabis which I think some did follow the lead and like do some expungements and stuff and he did something else at the federal level that I don’t believe yielded a ton of results but but still just just wanted to try to include some of the details another thing that you mentioned before we went on the air that I do agree is important to mention is that just to briefly recap before I mention this detail President Joe Biden directed HHS what does that stand for something of Human Services I don’t Health and Human Services Health and Human Services thank you to start the process of rescheduling which includes a I guess some sort of review and then they pass that information on to the DEA and they do their process and determine whether or not actually up in the the leadup to 22 uh the the lead up to the election and which I think kind of ties into what a lot of this is um it’s political maneuvering um and in 22 they kind of initiated that they talked about the big release of prisoners that they were going to do that released zero Prisoners the Federal prisoners that were in jail for possession weren’t any they’re all out now because there weren’t any um but yeah the the uh and then after that now we we’ve we’re leading up to yet again another election here and we’ve decided that uh it’s time to do res we’re going to reschedule now uh but yeah this was initiated back in the beginning back a couple years ago where they were going to uh he actually just told them to to look at it he never said reschedule right that was you know there was a possibility that you know deschedule and stuff I remember how elated some folks got that like we could completely you know we could do all kinds of crazy things or all kinds of wonderful ideas floating around because he didn’t actually say anything he just had them look at it review it and so he came back through and now we’ve decided the HSS released their documents after some prodding and after a really roundabout way of doing it uh the DEA has stepped in now they’ve said we have the final Authority on marijuana because it’s part of the Controlled Substances Act they’re totally right they do um and and so they will get to they they have to release theirs um but yet again Biden appointed this head of the DEA and so I believe honestly this is some political maneuvering that at the right time this year we’re GNA say hey we’re rescheduling and I’ll tell you why I I really am reinforcing that idea there was polling released today I believe or at least in the last couple of days that says that this will folks that were informed about this and what this will achieve even though it’s not much um are going to see well Biden saw an 11o increase in likability and favorability in the polling and so people see this it looks like something it looks like something you haven’t seen any movement in federal marijuana you know we have the call Memo hey shout out um we have R Barker fire Amendment but there’s not a ton of real actionable movement so this looks like something uh but as I’m sure we’ll discuss it’s not really much yeah yeah and I guess just for you know uh the sake of doing it and since it’s not that long let’s just take a moment to watch what Joe Biden did say I found the minute 32 second clip um and by the way the the detail that you did mention that I thought was important for folks I just want to underscore it in case it flew under their radar President Biden did appoint as you said uh the the what is it the lead person and mgram head of the DEA head of the DEA yeah so here is the clip as I said when I ran for president no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana it’s already legal in many states and criminal records for marijuana possession have led to need need L barriers to employment to housing and educational opportunities and that’s before you address the racial disparities around who suffers the consequences while white and black and brown people use marijuana in similar rates black and brown people are arrested prosecuted and convicted at disproportionately higher rates so today I’m taking three steps to end this failed approach first I’m announcing a pardon for all prior federal offense Federal offenses for the simple possession of marijuana there are thousands of people who are convicted for marijuana possession who may be denied employment housing or educational opportunities as a result of that conviction my pardon will remove this burden on them second I’m calling on all governors to do the same for State marijuana possession offenses third the federal government currently classifies marijuana as a schedule one substance the same as heroin LSD and more serious than fentanyl makes no sense so I’m asking the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to initiative process to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law even as Federal and local regulations of marijuana change important limitations on trafficking marketing and underage sales should stay in place too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana it’s time that we write these wrongs so right he did not say rescheduling or descheduling as you said which is why for a while there was a little bit of hype on like which one is it going to be yeah you know it’ be nice which can we just really quick and I want to give you the floor but I just want to start this with just briefly recapping the first like six words he said as I said when I ran for president no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana so maybe we start there how does this address that so it’s uh it does not I mean yeah let’s be honest it really doesn’t rescheduling by itself uh currently won’t change much of the regime that’s in place it’s easier probably to talk about what it will change than what it won’t um we will see you know research will probably become easier there are some severe restrictions on schedule one substances that researchers that for years have had problems getting around there’s been some allowances in the last couple years to allow them to buy medical cannabis and certain things but we’re still not there and so schedule three that would really be fantastic for universities uh it’s a lot easier to get that kind of DEA license where you can and you know handle and use schedule three substances part of studies than it is a schedule one that you know it’s almost impossible to do that took Maps you know you think about almost 30 years now just to get a little movement on that kind of idea idea and so it will help that and then there’s the federal tax benefit and so current Mar marijuana operators and every state in the country that have legal recreational legal medical fall under something called 280e the IRS will not allow them to DED deduct their business expenses as part of their marijuana businesses and so like let’s say that you you and I we start up a marijuana shop we get you know blessed by the Illinois government they give us a license they said you guys are just so cool here’s a cool license and and so we are going to spend a million colon Mike’s weed and we’re going to build out an operational facility we can’t deduct anything on the inside there that we build out which a normal business can they say these are expenses they go against our profitability and so at the end of the the year you really shouldn’t you know tax us on this because it’s we’re paying out on that and so marijuana businesses do not enjoy this so what this will do is reduce the amount of federal tax money that is received from marijuana businesses because schedule three substances will not have the same kind of protection um it also will open up the floor for safe banking could be a lot easier to pursue one of the biggest restrictions there has been the way that the federal government recognizes schedule one substances and so this will allow for that to be passed a lot easier um and then outside of that there’s really not much that’s going to change there was even a congressional study that was just released we were talking about that earlier that that says that this will still still be federally illegal the pharmaceutical companies cannot come in and and take this over and say you have to go to a pharmacy to get it now you have to get a doctor’s prescription people believe that I I don’t understand why because you have to get a drug FDA approved typically there’s almost no plant medicines that go through the FDA approval process because of the way because of how strict it is because of how stringent it is that allow for that to happen and so yet again we’re left in this kind of gray area but what this does achieve is it’s a great big thing for Biden to try it out on the campaign Trail and say we we got them boys I’ve made those promises four years ago when I ran for president a and here we go I’m delivering kind of you know we’re not actually doing anything at the end of the day what really you know I think what’s going to burst so many people’s bubble is that this is what progress looks like it’s incremental and it’s slow and it’s tiny and it’s just little pieces but this is progress what’s funny is that there’s not going to be any competing candidate other than like I don’t mean to like throw name out there but like maybe like Robert F Kennedy that could like intellectually counter this idea and I don’t even know if he could honestly I’m just assuming he could because it seems like from my perspective he’ll get some of those issues at a deeper level than most politicians would but I could be completely wrong there so I’m just making [ __ ] up honestly but like my what I’m trying to say is that like he could trop that out and I don’t think anybody would be able to challenge him on that and like really get into the Nuance of what we’re discussing right now like you just said there’s not really there are differences for if you’re in the business or want to be in the business there’s already polls polls out saying this is going to help him with voters there’s already polls that say this is a positive for Biden even when people are told how restrictive it is what it really doesn’t achieve much they still see it as progress people who do not spend every day talking about marijuana and reading about marijuana and thinking about marijuana and the industry and and plant all this other stuff they they really just see this kind of slow moving Iceberg you know that that you know few years ago it was legal here and a few years ago it and then it was legal in Colorado and then it was legal in Illinois and then it was LE kind of slowly moving and the federal government’s slowly making their decisions that’s what most of the people who shop at dispensaries most of the people that’s what they see it as they don’t have time to think about the intricacies of the federal government or or law concerning marijuana at all you know I I’ve worked behind the counter in dispensaries I actually currently have a little job right now taking a little part-time job just to get back behind counter I I miss that and so uh I work with people all the time who who come in and ask basic questions about what’s happening don’t understand you know rescheduling at all because it it in the end it doesn’t really affect them you can come in and get your marijuana it’s the people in the industry who are going to have to push this forward and who are going to have to make a big deal about about how this is not a big deal yeah and in some respects it is nice to see some energy uh regarding these topics but as you said I don’t know there’s a lot of like um a lot of people are scared and the argument that I’ve that I’ve made that I saw you shared was like we’re already disregarding the Controlled Substances Act so why are you worried at all about your state run program rooms if that’s what you’re worried about if that’s what you’re worried I think there’s there’s I think there’s always a fear yeah especially from people in the Cannabis industry and back to your back to your point about FDA approval and all that stuff I don’t think there’s ever going to be and if there will I don’t think there’s ever going to be like um a plantbased well there already has been there you know that’s what people don’t know we have a pedx we have we have these T that are like just a THC spray right I to say there’s not going to be like a flower that you get and grind up and the reason I say that is and there might be though there might be I could be wrong cuz just like there’s like uh we were talking genetic modifying right like we were talking about before the show like there might be as just like there’s Roundup Ready corn it does that doesn’t prevent you from growing corn or consuming corn it’s just that whatever company owns that Roundup Ready corn right um so the problem with that is is like even plants we’d have to get to such a level of sameness such a level of uniformity across products and that’s why there are products that are derived from marijuana we’ve had Marinol for since 1988 that is a synthetic THC it was created by the pharmaceutical companies this is what they can create you know given the freedom to do it this is what they can make it does not compare to what the plant medicine is and so I don’t see the threat that’s your threat it’s been there for years right and that’s kind of the point I was trying to work around to is like what they are able to make is a homogeneous solution that is standardized but when you’re talking about experience and if you know what the if you know what the original cannabis experience is which is what a lot of these people seem to be upset about and afraid that we’re going to lose um you know that yeah those solutions that they come up with I don’t know this like from a first-person perspective but I’ve heard about what I’ve think you just alluded to that like Marinol for example is not great like You’ think oh 100% THC it’s going to be awesome it’s like no incredibly unenjoyable this is a so there’s a video from like I can’t remember very early very early Vice when they were doing really very interesting things uh you have to go look at it I I’ll find it and send it to you but a woman takes smokes marijuana describes the experience and does it on camera then they inject her with like I can’t remember how much pure th HC and she has just the most absolute freak out react just a super anxiety attack and they had to give her like you know benzo diazines to calm her down it was almost like a some kind of a borderline Psychotic Reaction from the straight THC is that’s that you know the plant has the plant is a full compound the plant is a there 400 plus chemicals that occur inside the plant you’re not going to we’re just not there technically yet we can’t do what mother nature can do yet I believe that someday 50 60 75 years totally possible we’re not even close yeah um I guess the only thing I could see and I don’t know exactly how they’d pull it off because obviously there’s like nuances to this but if I could just try to put myself in a doomsday scenario about this re rescheduling thing the only thing I can like come up with in my conspiracy theory brain is that it won’t be immediate it like okay so pharmaceutical Brands will get involved and slowly but surely they’ll develop these like I say stale solutions that don’t really meet the needs of any consumer maybe maybe they meet the needs of some like medical purposes uh like specific narrowly focused me medical purposes but I think like just to be a conspiracy theorist it would be like a few years and they’d like start Bank rolling a bunch of cash and they’ be like all right now what we’re going to do is we’re going to go after like cannabis like it’s going to T take a little bit but they’re going to be like all right you know this black market it’s so dangerous like use all the tactics that people have been using with like Delta 8 and everything just be like we don’t know where it’s coming from we don’t know what they’re using you know stuff like that but but I just want to acknowledge the shortcomings even in my conspiracy theory like that would require dismantling these ideas of the state-run markets again you’d have to somehow prove that like the testing is bad or I I don’t know like how they’d pull it off but I I just don’t think there’s going to be there was recreational you know uh here’s one of those things that like we’re not going to get to that that marget level people have to start comparing it to alcohol there used to be recreational alcohol you know there during the depr or during prohibition there was medicinal alcohol and that’s how some of these places stayed open it’s like literally it it had this this whole thing and actually there are still uh there are still Hospital codes my mother told me that she was a nurse for years and years there are still Hospital Insurance codes for beer uh to get people out so this stop the DTs stop people from detox to going into detox there’s actually Insurance codes health codes so you can put into people’s insurance for beer wow yeah yeah so I think we’ll get to that we’ll get to that kind of point we’re like yeah in a in a kind of weird about way yeah you can do it uh you can TR to get marijuana in the medical system uh the insurance will kind of pay for it if you code it right eventually um but there’ll still be a thriving recreational Market that has its own thing that does its own thing that is its own world people don’t realize that the cat’s out the back people you know we people do not see there are billions and billions and billions of dollars moves things in a way that people just don’t understand yeah that’s what I think the fear is unfounded I think that you know the government sees the value in this for their own profitability um and I don’t think locking it down is the way to go I don’t think they see a lot of issues with the current expansion and so this is kind of where we’re at yeah yeah it’ll be interesting to see if like do you think these companies will get involved in that space that’s another thing that people say that they like somehow make a Rel like okay now this big company is going to be in big Pharma like do you think they’re just going to kind of stay in the State game or do you think they’re going to try to like make some moves and get a schedule three license because like you say it’s kind of easier to get yet again I can’t get FDA approval on a plant right I can get FDA approval maybe for like a narrow thing for seizures I could 100% see a cannabis based medicine proc seizures that’s based on some oils that could be the same uniform thing every time yeah do you think they’ll do something like that do you think they’ll like yeah get a contract with like a college or some however the hell that works I think 100% that will I think 100% that will happen yeah um but I don’t I don’t know if it’ll be the state guys probably be the pharmaceutical companies yeah they’ll do a a little bit more experimentation but we’re not going to shut down the recreational Market we’re not going to turn off billions and billions of dollars we’re going to shut all these states we’re going to take away all their money because we’ve decided we’re going to FDA restra like it just doesn’t make any sense you know this is what incremental progress looks like it it’s kind of disappointing to be honest but you know this is what it is um it’s going to be slow and it’s going to be painful and yet again people love to use this for for the re-election especially the Democrats especially over the last 20 years since since I’ve been interested in politics that you know we’re always trotting out this idea of marijuana legalization or possible discri you know DCM or some doing something with it but they’re always keeping they’re keeping a little bit so they can always do something in two more years or in four more years when we have to run for president again what do you come out with next time now we’re scheduled five Bros now we made a new schedule we’ve created the marijuana schedule all right now we’re going to put it under the ATF all right you know in in 10 years where are we going to be at that’s what this is it’s it’s keeping a little bit to your chest so that you know you’ve always got a another card to play when it comes to marijuana because they it with the voters it’s a big issue almost 80% of Americans including Republicans almost all AG groups are are pro- legalization at least medical legalization at least some form of much more liberal than what we are now with the plant and so people it has a value politically they’re going to squeeze that one they’re going to get every last single drop out of this issue that they possibly can I really believe that’s what this is yeah and you’re a fountain of optimism tonight uh lley I think we both are this is how I really feel about the industry I’m so positive about the industry yeah I am glowing about it we I I tell people all the time this is a holding period This is a cash grab right now yeah things will get better things will get 100% better read about the time right after prohibition yet again I always tie back to alcohol because it’s an easy comparable Market people who say it isn’t are wrong cannabis is much bigger because of the medical applications and other applications for sure but at least the base explanation of recreational substance use alcohol is a good comparison Market it’s a look right after prohibition there was these giant companies for years and years and years that put out pretty subpar product you know and then during the 80s we had this giant craft boom that that brought smaller more interesting you know that’s where our craft ipas and all this stuff came from that’s eventually what our Market will look like we’ll have a big hourglass shaped Market with a bunch of big ass players up top you can go down to the gas station get a pack of maror greens or whatever that are 4% THC or something and you can also go down to the cannabis club or or the grower Co-op and meet a farmer who grew this this strain that he’s been taking care of for years we’re just not there yet this is part of the you know the March progress It’s Gonna be slow I I just think that’s you know when I got to Colorado in 12 I realize how restrictive things were and how slow it was gonna be you know yeah there’s a there just a misnomer to the word green you know this term green Rush all the money comes rushing in but then hit this wall and that’s where we’ve been for a long time and you know to be honest it’s nice to see a little Federal progress yeah I also just love seeing as you say this is a holdout period and uh you know this just like me it’s hilarious to see these operators squirm because of hemp because as you say they’re holding out they want to make they want to like keep this like artificial system going on where they’re protected and then all of the sudden people start selling like thca and they’re like hey what the [ __ ] are you doing you’re just selling weed like I don’t even have my shop open yet bro as somebody who like you know inside reporting on [ __ ] on the industry and stuff people are vicious people are vile I I mean they they say all kinds of horrible things about hemp operators it just blows my mind I’m like we created this system we created the world they have to live in why would you do this they’re just business people they got to feed their family man yeah somebody said it I can’t remember oh it was somebody I just spoke to Stephen Philpot uh he’ll be on the podcast here soon um in the episode he said something to the effect of like what what is interesting about this issue is yeah that people do go at each other when we have to realize that like we did didn’t make that rule the government did like so like why are we going at each other and it is interesting cuz I’ve had talked to some perspectives that had the perspective that you’re talking about where at least as a licensed operator they were kind of talking [ __ ] about the hemp operators like wow you’re just gonna [ __ ] sell this direct to Consumer what the [ __ ] man we had to go through all this [ __ ] and they were like you know what I’m gonna do this too because they realized like why not yeah know but if you’re somebody who’s bent over backwards to appease the government to get yourself a license cost yourself thousands of dollars tied your family up your got your entire business up for years you’re kind of tied in this area where you can’t really talk a lot of [ __ ] about the government and so who do you go after the people that you can yeah sadly that’s just part of business I I hate to see that um I listen to a fantastic talk I believe that you were also there at the Cannabis Symposium last year cannabis and hemp Symposium at si uh Dr lame gave about this tie between or this competition between the the culture these old head Growers and the current scientific wave of people that are pushing into hemp and cannabis and how the ANS is to work together we really want to push this further we really want to get the most out of this it’s time to start linking up with each other and talking to each other and learning from each other instead of you know [ __ ] all over each other because of wherever you’re coming from right and instead you know it’s this real like I got this real you know Buddhist heartfelt thing of like you know connect we all have this love for the plant you know connect with that you know outside of everybody’s business interests and stuff we’ll get there but like connect with this we all love the pl you know hell yeah hell yeah and you know we you kind of touched on this but it was I was going to ask you um just like Curious what is What is your outlook on this upcoming legislative session I I almost feel like this upcoming one is a a just like not even a session because we’re approaching an election season but what do what do you think do you think anything’s gonna happen I mean we’re not gonna get I mean you’ve already seen we we got canopy we got canopy growth out so you know s for craft Growers that was a regulatory thing yeah it’s crazy how those issues and I know that that’s kind of what they were trying to do if I take myself back at least with the craft canopy when they were pushing for 14,000 and pushing for like any they were just looking for Clarity on the rules and I think that’s what came through with with what you’re talking about like they were like hey here’s the definition of how to expand your canopy so now it’s like they don’t have to push for that legislatively anymore is that yeah yeah there’s some regul there’s a lot of regulatory Bend in the law that you know that allows for DOA or ID especially idida and idfpr to do some some real regulatory wrangling wrangling that’s uh I think that there are certain people within that you know that there’s some political ideas that like these are things you can step on these are things we’ll do legislatively these are things that you you know even if it’s in the law that you could change this regulation it’s in the law that the Ida could could add more licenses there’s there’s no real cap on licenses it’s they could totally expand the number of medical licenses even for Growers or dispensaries idfpr can they choose not to because that’s a legislative thing that’s protected by a you know there’s a political backlash if you did something like that um but just I think this year we’re going to see I don’t know I don’t know I I don’t see a lot of yeah I just feel like there has a lot there’s almost nothing introduced that’s interesting right yeah I’ve not seen anything like oh my God like that gives me any energy like I I really wish that because there is this laundry list that everybody that they’ve been pushing for like I’m gonna do it off the top of my head uh curbside for all dispensaries not just medical because of course that just came to be permanent so they want for all they want medical for all dispensaries just you know adult use they want events and Licensing I’m saying they it just seems like that that’s always the push it’s like all the groups that push for things it seems like this is always the list um craft it was craft expansion there was that transporter like halt thing yeah moror passed whatever yeah so but like you say I wish they would like kind of like because that list keeps coming back I wish they’d like take that list and then put it in a a bill with hom grow it’d be like hey we want all these things and we wanted them for a while could the community just give us this and we’ll give you hom grow like I have a feeling You’ just shut you just shut this whole damn thing down if they got home grow bro you just turn it all off and just go grow your weed somewhere yeah I think so I think so I’d be like folks we made it no plant limit yeah yeah Tre like tomatoes yeah those those are my dreams we’ll you know as you say with incrementalism we’ll see if we get some like bite-sized version of that that would even make me happy if we just like you lifetime Tomatoes yeah I hope so I think so bro I think so my lifetime Tomatoes yes we’ll get there what are you know obviously there are the we could you know we have made our our opinions on limited license markets versus open license Mark open license markets time and time again we’ve made it clear that we we believe that the better the more people that are able participate exactly uh you know that’s just more consumer friendly if you’re able to just let people participate and fight for the consumer’s dollar it’s long-term business friendly too it allows for real businesses to flourish competition is important to businesses the health of a lot of the businesses that are currently in the marijuana the entire cannabis you know industry is garbage I mean a lot a lot of these folks don’t have profitability you know there’s it’s pretty shocking you know some of that is tied to 280 yet again I’ll give those folks that um but yeah there’s a lot of basic Business Health that’s that’s you know we’re not picking the best people because there’s no competing offer and so right Whoever has the license that who gets the business that’s it yeah and it’s so crazy that let’s yeah do this for a second what I was about to ask you was is there anything else because we talk about open and open and limited uh I at least talk about it all the time but I do want to just crack into that for a second I’m curious since we’ve paired the idea of market share with social equity in this state isn’t it I don’t know I don’t mean to go back to the conspiracy board you know like the Charlie Day meme where he’s like drawn the things but isn’t it crazy isn’t it a crazy coincidence that social Equity is apparently the exact same business model that like these big companies that loved the crta have like limited competition like isn’t it a crazy coincidence that that is what social Equity is apparently that’s what pays I mean it makes sense but you stockholders if I had stockholders that I was you know culpable to I have to do that I legally am am fiduciary responsible to those people to to act like an ass I really am right that’s how you get all these slop pass CEOs and stuff is like but that’s our version of that you have to do that it’s part of the business I just want to take this conspiracy theory a level deeper just cuz we’re having fun I I think that the reason that they’re called craft cannabis licenses was just to get people excited about the wrong thing like they’re like when’s this craft cannabis gonna come out man this craft I think they should have this is what I’m calling them now smallscale cultivation licenses yeah micro licenses is what Missouri calls them yeah I don’t even want to call them that because people are even denote I I I know it’s unfair I I just hate that people denote quality based off of the name and it’s like no let the like I mean yeah that’s the same thing with craft breweries I was about to say that’s where I was like it’s kind of right you know there’s a lot of trash craft breweries too so it’s this idea of like small scale what it means with the definition and stuff that’s a really good point yeah small batches I assume people think it will mean smaller which it will mean it will mean smaller batches smaller amounts yeah so uh I I some people tie that word with with quality they should not not in this world in any form anywhere you see the word craft please do not tie it to Quality anymore it does not mean that right well just to kind of round out there are some quality producers I want to say that you know I’ve seen a market increase in quality from some of the craft producers that are small scale of course this is going to be you know their first showings so everybody you put your best foot forward of course right I was gonna say that stuff we tried at what was it the Great Harvest by um yeah IC ICC yeah I col that was pretty good stuff like you say maybe that’s the best foot forward or whatever we’ll see if they keep that bar yeah I I’ve seen some fantastic stuff for I’m very interested they’re very interested in like old school genetics and stuff gonna bring some headband here I’m always for that kind of idea I wish we had a better tax structure yet again this is one of those things I say about like R viewing and and all those things is like I wish things were perfect I I wish we had the best possible Market in the world and I wish it was a completely free market uh there are a ton of people obviously by the amount of weed we sell that go to dispensaries in the state that are in that market in the culture we we do not cater to those people and we 100% should because that’s how we normalize weed that’s how we get better quality that’s how we get more freedom is we you know you bring in the average consumer you teach them you know you help them understand why we’re here and what we’re doing and why it’s important you know and the difference between craft and the difference between rescheduling and all these other millions and millions of other things they should they should find out about um but we have this idea that like well if you go to the dispensary automatically there’s a certain set of people who just completely will you know your your opinion is invalid you went to the dispensary yeah here’s what I’ll say about that this is what I say about that I don’t agree with that opinion some people have even attributed that opinion to me um and I will say that my opinion can be a little bit on the nose but I like to to say this so that people realize I’m like throwing myself under the bus in this so hear me out on this I choose not to go to The Dispensary because I truly do believe that when you go there typically speaking just based on the retail fronts that are open and The Operators that are there you know you could make the argument that you’re supporting the continued criminalization of cannabis because of the policies that these companies don’t push for having said that I still go to The Dispensary as I told you I went to The Dispensary the other day and got some weed and I go every once in a while to get like a cartridge I like I like cartridges I like to always have a cartridge and I don’t have a good cartridge guy and I don’t know if I ever will like I don’t know it just feels better to cartriges from the dispensary so anyways um the point I make is that I also drink Coca-Cola I love Coca-Cola and I’ll be damned if I don’t have a meal without one um oh my god brother that’s so bad for you holy [ __ ] oh it is I know I know but it’s so good and um it’s delicious but it’s also Coke on a summer day bro but they’re they’re one of the biggest polluters is the point I’m wrapping around to so I feel awful drinking a Coke so that’s that’s the relation I make is that I drink Coke I love it but I also feel a little bad and that’s how I think people should feel about the dispensaries at least right now I don’t like driving you know I don’t like driving a gas car but I don’t have you know I don’t have the I don’t have the financial stability to go buy an EV right now I live in a very rural setting so it’d be very difficult for me to do that and just uh you know there’s a lot of consumerism guilt you just have to live with go to go go to any grocery store you every there’s everything is tied to all kinds of BS um and I guess that is important too right you know I think calling out these companies and that’s why I’m completely honest with a lot of the things I say uh you know about the way the law should be in the way that we should you know the things the the way that we should push things is much much more liberal than we currently have it um but yeah I think we should recognize that there’s just there’s a lot of folks that don’t even know that there’s a lot of folks who are like damn cool weed legal the dispensar is there we should appeal to all those people we should 100% because appealing to those people and reaching out to them oh hey your sound just went out on that last word you said appealing to those people and reaching out I’ll pause it here just for a second sorry about that the mic cut out for a second so technical difficulties yeah I I think that uh you know helping those people understand that’s how we get more weed people to come into our side of thinking um I think that’s benefit of legalization yes is that it removes that stigma and us going out there and pursuing those folks is how we get to you know the utopian grow it like tomatoes I cannot agree more and there’s this project I did that I actually never really released publicly it’s on my patreon page where I interviewed consumers and it was so crazy to talk to Consumers that you know yeah they’re just going to get weed and I I just ask them simple questions like have you have you ever shopped any anywhere else and they’re like yeah I’m like how do you feel that compare that that experience Compares here and depending on where they’ve shopped usually it’s like oh man this Illinois is kind of weird and then I’ll ask do you feel like you have like a lot of choices no no but some people will say yes to say well there are plenty of uh plenty of things there’s so many things that I don’t even know what to Cho so but it is like when you start to ask like do you feel like what have you typically paid in other markets compared to here and that’s when it’s like well it’s very expensive here and it’s funny people that have been from Illinois from a while but they’re like but that’s what I expected you know I’m from Illinois that’s Illinois it’s Illinois and the roads suck and everything’s costly but to your point when you have their ear there because it’s like okay we’re on the same page did you know that that’s almost like a feature of this market and then they’re like well of course they’ll either say of course it is or they’ll go what tell me more you know um in either way it’s a fun conversation but I think to your point just back to you like I I do believe that that’s how we can continue to achieve this normal normalization and that’s why I’m excited for these like events because we went were you at the Blue Island yeah you were at the Blue Island urban legends there at the urban legends I was one of the guest judges and I mean not only the foundation of that event which shout out to High Focus Media and the Illinois cannabis consumer Association um they’re one of the only I have to say one of the only like advocacy associations that I’m aware of that like have said they love the idea of homow and they push for things that are only for the consumer it feels you know um I mean you could say that maybe some of the consumption stuff they’re pushing for is also for business owners but but the spirit of it is from the conspir from the uh consumer and so I got to give them Kudos uh but anyways that that event and things like that when you get people together and you can kind of talk about the [ __ ] we’ve been talking about um you know all the shortcomings and everything else and then you get a circle together and people are going yeah that is [ __ ] up you know that that’s what gets you the energy like you say to hopefully make that world where it’s like tomatoes yeah I I really do believe we’ll get there um I I have always felt this way about it people say oh you’re so optimistic about the market yeah I have always felt this way about it uh the Cannabis is on a forward track and we are you know there is a lot further to go but it’s going to take a lot further than everyone thinks um you know Illinois special I I think we always suffer to from we win early and so now we look at all these other states that have much more liberal policies even Missouri which I constantly talk about because I’m so involved in their Market but but God it just drives me wild how consumption events dispensaries micr grow licenses infusion Li all these other things Missouri does better than us you know taxes allowances it’s just wild how a state that’s supposedly conservative just destroys the liberal State on liberalizing cannabis just I you know and yet again I think that’s a reflection of the politicians ch our cannabis laws people chose their cannabis laws in Missouri you know there there’s a real you know tie up yet again it’s one of those Illinois things that’s Illinois yeah that’s Illinois well maybe this is a fun thing to to close on that again I didn’t even think about but just because I like talking about these topics with you and we slightly touched on hemp I think but um I’m curious I don’t know if you read this I think this is is the same reporter that I saw predicted the rescheduling thing would come out in the next few weeks you know they heard word on the street or whatever and now uh they’re sharing this which I thought was interesting um if the Cannabis industry is looking for the next farm bill to ban intoxicating hemp derve competitors Unleashed in to I don’t know what that means they may be disappointed um and it’s saying that you know a farm bill may not yeah come or include anything like that and one of the things that I thought was interesting that he said looking for this um yeah I don’t know I just thought that was an interesting prediction I can’t find exactly what I was looking for but thoughts so hemp is always been my I’ve always been super focused on hemp I I really do think there is uh you know that’s how we’ll back door a lot of stuff into the federal government um I I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of changes I I think there is a thriving yet again there’s there’s a lot of money that’s being produced and so I think there’s a lot of folks that aren’t going to uh have that incentive to change the laws um Farm Bill comes up every you know every now and often so you know we got this extension until September 30th of this year before we pass the new one so we’re gonna we’re currently going through a it’s there’s the farm bill takes years to write it’s the process of of constant talks that are that are always happening and then eventually we all get together and we put it all on paper U that’s kind of how the farm bills always worked the these Z committees um and so there’s already an idea of what will happen and yeah it doesn’t look like there’s going to be a ton around intoxicating him I do think they’re gonna push to the states though I think they’re gonna push that idea that like B it ban yeah yeah I agree I thought this was interesting this kind of adds to your point um Farm Bill isn’t the right piece of legislation to tackle intoxicating hemp and no other agency has their act enough to address a very poorly understood Niche yep status quo hemple continue and this person said what you just said I tend to agree I also think Federal lawmakers will mostly point to the states passing hemp based regulations and declare it the state’s job and I don’t know if you noticed but since this somebody sent me this the other day since the state hasn’t been able to figure out um hemp yet I say figure out I mean close close it down shut it down right um uh they’re doing it at local levels now right trying to do local bands I’ve already seen some very interesting things around like yet again Health departments and food production and gummies and certain food products uh tied in with the whole Delta a production and so um there’s already been some federal some very not federal but local Pursuit that I’ve seen um just based with with that kind of thing where people are told you know this has to be approved by us you we don’t approve Delta eight we don’t approve any kind of hunt so you can’t sell it because it’s not approv so there you go and that that would be a health department doing that you know right yeah I was going to jokingly say that let him have Delta a I hate saying that though because that’s what a lot of people will say it’s like just make it illegal that’s the pro the problem solved and it’s like I hate making any compound illegal so I just G to say that but uh I was hoping that yeah it was just focused on Delta 8 and it’s just like a local regulation it’s like all right whatever we won’t sell Delta 8 it’s so ridiculous how you know it’s this much weight and this much is hemp and like I I play a game with people when we get you know when I’m over at the I I work when I’m over behind the counter at the dispensary I’ll talk to some of the folks that work there and we get new stuff in I’ll go I’ll play the game all right how much of this is legal hemp you know you check that Delta 9 number a lot of it I mean a lot of the stuff you buy uh you know just completely legal hemp man farm bill that’s what I tell people if you’re ever smoking weed out in public anybody says anything just tell them farm bill yeah be fine yeah no I mean obviously that’s not legal advice but I have heard I am not a lawyer yeah neither of us are I recommend but yeah I have heard that even from the state of Illinois themselves by that I mean the croo they’ve said that when local law enforcement will encounter an individual that has what they’re saying is hemp uh they just kind of let them go because it’s kind of on the the law enfor on law enforcement to prove that and I was just speaking to some lawyers about this issue and from what I hear the state doesn’t really have a way to prove that like I’ve I’m aware of the Illinois Department of Agriculture they’re building a lab last I heard that’s not complete yet um but even from what I understand and who I’ve talked to even if that was complete that’s the Illinois Department of agricultures lab and I don’t according to what I understand which I’m not even going to I’m just going to keep this short because I’m sure there’s a lot I don’t understand uh since agencies can’t share information I don’t know that the Illinois State Police could be like yo could we use your cannabis lab we’re trying to test if this is hemp and probably another level of legislation that would have to be passed in order for that to happen and so um yeah that’s one of the things around legal hemp is that to round back where we started on this whole thing about consumption being in a gray area that’s where hemp is right now you’re in this gray area there are a lot of things that technically are loud and I I implore people to look into hemp and the farm bill and the things that are currently allowed but just uh the current understanding of what chemistry is going on on the on the plant um it’s very fascinating because there’s a lot of freedom that we really aren’t talking about right now you there’s a lot of folks that are still complaining about how lock things down a lot of folks don’t understand the things that you can currently do yeah exactly and I think thca is the biggest misunderstanding like people are really missing out because it’s just weed yes yeah like if you’re growing weed at home right now you’re you got thca weed growing you can make most any weed thca by uh pulling it a little bit early yeah well and what Tom Howard told us is actually what these what some of these people are doing is technically I guess the FD or the farm bill only requires the that you har that you test at least 30 days before Harvest so if you’re really in tune with your plant and a lot of hom Growers are um or just Growers I don’t mean to say home Growers but they will test that 30 days before Harvest and I guess in the last I don’t remember what Tom Howard says but it’s like the last three weeks or two weeks something like some crazy number of the canabo actually develop yeah so especially with outdoor plants uh that’s for that that last window is where tarpine development really stretches out but yeah very comp complicated uh levels of Turpin happen in those last little bits and so yeah if you uh you’re testing a little bit early it’s just thca yeah and back to that point I was going to make about hemp like you said with freedom I I think it’s just funny to watch some attorneys react to this when I was reviewing this footage last uh the other night when I was editing I just honest ly laughed at this to see them one attorney was aware of hemp but the other attorney wasn’t quite aware so I just want to show you their candid reaction in hearing like about this this hemp situation right H with my other two quick points uh the state recently uh said and by the state I mean the Cannabis regulation oversight officer who was appointed by JB pritzer said that local law enforcement has been hesitant to deal with people that been caught with what they claim is hemp they don’t know what to do with it so they just send them on their way and I’m just thinking that’s kind of a win for once for once aren’t able to harass you just because you say it’s hemp and oh gosh I don’t want to go to the links of having to prove that you know so yeah I actually I raised it in one of my cases involving two pounds yeah it’s the question why are are we doing any of this you know like what’s the point it’s like we’re because it’s a billion doll industry for this state and because the state wants to protect its uh Revenue stream that it’s getting from the legalized sale at dispensaries that’s why yeah I mean that was a look of a man who was very excited and had some cases in mind that he was going to go look up some books for because holy [ __ ] yeah you just his mind and not to well yeah that actually was the moment after he literally was like because I said oh you can just slap a Delta a thca sticker on and then you’re you’re all good because we we were debating the Supreme Court case right yeah yeah yeah and I was like it’s funny that all the while this is going on I like and there’s this big debate about containers like there’s no like all you got to do and I’m I say it kind of jokingly but you just put this sticker on and it’s okay yeah and he it was funny in that exchanged what I meant to play it was a few moments before that I’m not going to go back to play it but um he was like wait is that real and uh attorney gtra and I took the mo to time the time to explain yeah the difference between hemp and cannabis and that’s when he was like so why are we doing this at all and I just thought that was a hilarious reaction because exactly why like you say the solution’s right here it’s hemp hemp for victory yeah but if you explain that to people how simple it is it just blows their mind yeah it’s hard to explain and it’s because it’s so arbitrary I think that’s what it is and I think that’s how it passed it was just like like somebody got into the they’re like well it’s 0.3 or three and you know blah blah blah and people are just like yeah whatever just make it all the confusion around Delta 9 and thca and THC is kind of an indictment of the American education system around science and how compounds work and and that whole problem and and if not just people but all the way to the upper reaches of government do not understand the compounds you know so yeah right now that’s for our benefit so yeah I’m gonna show one more moment because I just realized this next like 15 seconds is funny and then I want you to try to make us end on a positive note somehow after this because this istim this is this is I don’t get optimistic after watching this clip um like what’s the outlook on repealing the AB Control Act of 1978 what’s the outlook on making things like homow legal and removing Arcane ideas of of possession limits Bob do you still feel like the chances are low because that’s a competitor to their revenue stream big time there’s no way the general assembly is gon to fall for what about you attorney Bruno do you think the meaningful reform as you refer to it as is is seen as a uh is seen as competition to the bottom line of the state and these operators I of course yeah it would have been easier to do 10 years ago than it is now yeah yeah now I feel like you kind of already addressed this point so maybe it’ll be an easy swing for you but how do we end this on a optimistic note so I’m gon to spend this back to a comparison I made earlier in the episode about the alcohol industry and uh about how impossibly difficult this is the reason that there were almost no true craft breweries and the real Pro you know the real explosion didn’t happen until the 2000s there was a lot of federal and state regulation around getting a brewery license it was almost impossible because it was tied up and there was this idea that was all about taxes cost thousands of dollars to get a true Brewery license in the state and so all these small businesses couldn’t afford it yet again this is incrementalism you know right now yeah 100% I agree with them in the next three four years 100% I I agree but if you asked me or you asked them in 2010 or in 2008 is it going to be legal in Illinois how how soon you know like does it look like it’s going to happen no not at all when it hadn’t happened in Colorado it hadn’t happened recreationally anywhere is it g to happen here not at all no I don’t see that happening 100% if you go back and ask the same question about Recreation will ever happening a lot of folks would say it would never happen and so yet again you know this perspective about the future is is just like so impossible to predict and it’s going to take it will take time but I think people will be surprised by what we get yeah yet again we’ll get two Tomatoes yeah and I didn’t think about the fact that we saw the expansion of craft brewing in our lifetimes that was a really cool yeah thing from a nothing zero I was super passionate about beer for years was Somalia in a past life um before all the the Cannabis and Retail all the fun things I’ve done um but yeah the it it was fascinating that we went from almost no craft Brewers in the entire country to a a very small handful throughout the 80s and 90s and then when the federal government made it easier to make a craft start a Craft brewery legislatively and gave that power over to the states then the I mean the industry expanded billions of dollars yet again happened um and we’ll see that kind of growth eventually you know the levy will break with the states and the the way that we do things and I I believe we’ll eventually get it off the schedule and it’ll probably be under the ATF umbrella yet again and and and that’s how we get it down it’s going to take longer than people think but there’s this idea and this is what I tell people this is the positive thing that I tell people all the time is like legal people think that legalization was the end that we got got there and this is what we got and and this is this is how it’s going to be and that’s why people complain constantly and that’s you know but legalization was the beginning legalization was the start of of what we’re going to do over the next 10 15 20 25 years and eventually you know if this is where we’re at right now you know we can only go up from here so I really do think that future is very bright for cannabis and uh yeah oh yeah that is a good optimistic note and not just to add a few more points to what I think you were saying we get incremental progress in weird ways sometimes like I didn’t know this when I brought it up one time but I would bring up Jimmy Carter as how we got like home brew but I think somebody added an anecdote I don’t know that it’s true so you can like research it maybe you didn’t know that it’s true I’m just going to float it real quick um they said that he he may have or that may have become a thing because his son kind of got in trouble with home brewing or something like that maybe I’m I think it was I think it was like his brother I think it was Billy brother yeah something like that yeah I remember I got to go look this up because I remember my dad having these cans of Billy beer Forever on the shelf that was like and I asked him one year he’s like that was the president’s brother I’m like what the okay yes that’s that sounds about right so yeah folks look into that but you know it’s funny how history repeats itself uh you know cuz I’m wouldn’t be surprised if something like that happens again I even actually did he an ation of something like that happening in New Jersey some representative put forth Pennsylvania I don’t know they put forth a homow bill and somebody found that one of their like like their son or something like that had been charged with homeg growing but as soon as it as soon as their charges were taken away they like completely dropped the issue of hom grow all together like well we we don’t need that that’s yeah of course anyways though no yeah there’s a lot of folks who don’t understand we might get some progress we just need to bust we just need to bust politicians Sons relatives defenses so that we can I think everyone needs to smoke a jck I think that I think that’s how we get it legal I think everybody that is of age that the desire so should smoke a joint and understand the stigma that’s gone and I think that’s how we get it legal that’s a note we can end on everybody should smoke a joint let’s do that [ __ ] brother [ __ ] yeah cheers every everybody I hope you found as much value in this conversation as I did lley thank you so much for your time and for the great conversation we’ll see you in the next episode of the Cole memo
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