The Cole Memo

Conversations for Change

Episode 90 – Cannabis transportation in Illinois – 3rd Party Carriers Illinois

In this episode, I speak with Victoria, Ted, and Norberto from 3rd Party Carriers (3PC) Illinois. We explore the challenges that licensed transporters encounter, share active legislation that 3PC believes could alleviate some of their difficulties, discuss potential for collaboration with established operators, and more.

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The auto-generated transcript is available below.

hello and welcome in this episode of the cole memo I will be speaking to people that are licensed to transport cannabis in the state of Illinois in case you didn’t know the Cannabis regulation and Tax Act of 2019 created a few new license types and one of those license types was the Cannabis Transportation license more on that in a moment you’re tuned in to the Cole memo this is your host I am your host Cole Preston every episode is released in audio video and transcript format to find the transcript audio or video version of any episode please refer to the description of the episode that you’re listening to now within that description you can find a link that will take you to our website which will display the transcript for this episode and the platforms where you can find this episode in audio or video formats if you’re unable to locate the episode description on whichever platform you’re listening from Simply take note of the episode number and visit thec memo.com from there you can use our search functionality to find the corresponding episode and then you’ll be able to access the audio video and transcript version of that episode you might also find any links that we reference during the episode so that you might be able to do your own research if you’re not listening to this episode of the Cole memo on patreon then you’re listening to this episode a bit later than our Patron to become a patron go to the memo.com patreon it only costs $3 a month and it allows you to get access toep to our episodes as they release another great way to support our show is by going to the memo.com support you can make a contribution of your choice one time monthly or yearly once again that’s at the memo.com support I got to give another another shout out to our friend Tom G he is our most recent contributor uh at the memo.com support if you’re not able to contribute that’s okay one of the best ways to support our show is absolutely free subscribe to or follow our show leave us a positive review from wherever you’re listening to us from favorite this episode give it a thumbs up leave a comment or share it with your best friend today is May 6th 2024 enjoy this episode of the full memo okay so I am joined by three PC also known as thirdparty carriers in Illinois the Illinois third party Transporters um I’d like to have you all introduce yourselves uh but first I just want to say that if you want to follow 3pc on social media displaying their new social media account on my screen right now we’ll also have the uh handle in the podcast description so if you want to just click on that and get connected with them give them a follow uh you can do that Victoria why don’t you introduce yourself and um after we have you all introduce yourselves maybe we can talk a little bit about 3pc thank you Cole thank you for having us today and thank you to everyone who has joined this afternoon my name is Victoria Williams the name of my third party transportation company is ACC of Illinois transportation awesome and uh Ted you want to go next definitely uh hey everyone my name is Ted Parks uh and the name of my uh third party uh carrier is moeta transport right and noberto hello every hello everyone my name is noberto brown I am the owner of relian Transporter great thank you again for all of you uh for joining in Victoria or I don’t mean to volunteer you Victoria whoever wants to tell our listening audience a little bit about 3pc Illinois you want to say definitely all right so uh 3pc uh is an organization uh that we have started to advocate for for uh the rights of independent third-party uh cannabis Transporters and basically what that means is these are uh companies that only have one license uh so we’re just Transporters and and that’s it um we are uh unfortunately in in a situation uh where a lot of of the uh customers that we were supposed to be helping um also have their own transporter license and that’s um uh the reason why I state that is because um U that’s why it’s important to make a distinction between being independent and uh and third party and not uh we have about uh 63 uh members I would say we have about 40 uh active uh participating companies at all time so we are the uh largest transporter organization um advocacy group that there is out there uh we’ve been uh in existence now for about uh three years and uh we’ve actually have some successes under our belt uh in veto session last year uh we passed uh legislation it was s sp1 1559 and uh with that legislation we put a um a temporary hold on new uh transporter uh applications and we also suspended uh the fees uh Annual fees because the fees are 10,000 to renew uh annually and um um with the current situation uh with our business and customers Etc you know a lot of a lot of us are you know are currently struggling you know with uh with fees that has so we were able to pass moratorium on those fees for three years uh we are working on legislation this uh uh session as well uh we have some successes there uh um as well that uh we look forward to talking to talking about today yeah I did I didn’t realize that I didn’t even realize that maybe there were Transportation legislation on it wasn’t even on my radar so yeah I would love to talk about that what’s what what do you guys pushing for this session all right so we have so there’s uh there’s currently three uh transporter bills out there right now uh there is uh our bill um uh which is out there and uh what our bill does is establish a legal designation for third party uh cannabis Transporters and um basically um that’s kind of what I was just referring to we need to be we need to have a legal distinction because we did not have that uh uh distinction and when we passed sb1 1559 uh last session then the msos which are the multi-state operators the multi-billion dollar uh uh companies receed the same uh waiver of fees that um uh that we did so um uh our bill it uh it establishes that designation our bill numbers by the way is House Bill 4164 um the other thing that it does is that it allows us uh uh temporary storage and basically this is a significant safety issue that uh that we’re all facing right now if there is a reject from the uh uh um if there’s a reject from the dispensary from the endpoint that we’re delivering to then the way the law states right now is that it has to go all the way back to the point of origin and uh so we’re actually I’ll have um uh uh Victoria you know uh you know I’ll have her talk about uh a situation that she had uh that um uh this particular part of legislation addresses is it’s it’s very serious um those are the two things that um that our bill um uh currently uh addresses and uh there is Victoria you had your hand up I’ll let you go ahead yes talk about that situation well first I wanted to start with some numbers because I think that’s what our audience really needs to know about and then we can go into what our ask is after that but it’s very important to understand the numbers here as of April 15th of 2024 this is a report that was updated by idfpr which is the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations and what they did was they have Illinois adult use monthly sales figures and so in the month of January there were 3,551 727 items sold in February of 2024 the sales increased to 3,6 36,9 125 items sold in March of 2024 a whopping 4, 48,800 97 items worth sold these sales totals are amazing figures demonstrating the industry’s remarkable growth however they are disheartening numbers for third party Transporters who are not affiliated with any other cannabis business licenses despite over 4 million items sold in March alone these independent transporter struggle to secure consistent work from producers behind celles the work they do manage to obtain is often the least desirable um it’s it’s transported to border towns like Collinsville and Fairview Heights um Molen you know really really far dispensaries even when making these deliveries they barely turn profit and worse yet sometimes the products get rejected at their destinations and the Transporters receive no compensation at all this issue is compounded by the state law mandating two drivers in a vehicle at all times and the the compliance that we have to spend thousands of dollars on just to become operational and operational so what we trying to do now is we trying to figure out how to monetize these licenses for license holders and also make this where they can run their businesses more efficient and so I’m always a huge advocate as it relates to um the third- party transports 3pc and because we have multiple bills out there I always tell people you do not have to be against one bill to be proactive for another you can literally support as many bills as you like that align with your values and what you want to see happen as it relates to change in this state with that being said there are multiple Transportation bills out on the floor at this present time and despite who Bill it is the Transporters absolutely need relief of some sort so it sounds I’ll pass it back over to you if I could real quick it sounds like you might be supportive of all four or did you say three bills that um are out there is that correct for me to understand that one of those bills if not all of them you’d be supportive of is that what you were saying yes I’m I’m in support of two out of the three bills um and and they’re aware no I think I’m in support of all three bills I just can’t think of the third bill number so I don’t want to put that out there but there are multiple bills out there and I support them and the the reason why I support these bills is because these bills have all included one important factor which is storage redelivery window some sort of relief for emergencies as it relates to drivers and things of that nature and so that information is in all three bills and that’s why I support those bills and uh sorry to keep taking us on a tangent because you just passed it over to Ted but I just want to make sure I’m understanding correctly I got two quick questions um I think the first the thing you just talked about I’ve heard of it’s this idea I’ve heard that like some Transporters for example that live like way down in Southern Illinois have to really plan out if they’re going to Northern Illinois because they have to get back in that same day they can’t like leave the am I right on that you guys are all shaking your head it sounds like I’m right yeah that’s correct and that’s what you meant for Relief on um is that what you meant by that was I connecting absolutely I gave a scenario on the last meeting we had that consists of elected officials cbai um the Cannabis crew um Regulatory and oversight office for those who don’t know who crew is and I gave them a scenario in which I had to have my drivers to leave product at a dispensary and the dispensary called back my drivers were stuck at this dispensary for about 6 hours and this dispensary is pretty far I don’t want to put a dispensary on the spotlight so I won’t say a dispensary name or the city that they’re located in however it turned into a 16-hour workday for my drivers and I you know basically did not turn a profit we lost money and one of my drivers were on the verge of having a medical emergency because he was sitting in the vehicle for so long waiting on them them to actually count product and was a diabetic and his sugar was low um and we have absolutely no Provisions in place as it relates to public safety and health and what happens if a driver gets sick and they’re in the middle of nowhere with product what happens if there’s a blowout what happens if there’s rejected items we have to bring product back to whatever facility you transported for so let’s just say hypothetically Carbondale Illinois is 4.5 5 hours south so we our location we are located in Aurora Illinois so you driving down 4.5 hours and then you have to drive back another 4.5 hours that’s nine hours before you touch the dispensary if you have to go to Chicago land stores which is the BLS 5 region where most dispensaries resided in this state and so you’re at 9 hours with two drivers in the vehicle that we just talking payroll and then we got to talk about how much the gas is how much does this really cost Transporters because when we discuss figures as it relates to people not wanting to pay Transporters they they complain about the cost but if you do simple math we can Factor cost from from the moment we even go to your first store this is how much the company has spent to get to you this is what the company spent to get back to the city this is what the company spent and then we got to this first dispensary and then we pray to God that the product is not rejected because if that product is rejected we have to go back to Carbondale or whatever place that they came from the 4.5 hours within the same day wow so a lot of these routes are turning into 10 12 and 16h hour routes and it’s not even enough money to do it yeah and my my last question I told you add to uh for now is uh you said House Bill 4164 is one of them I know you said you didn’t remember the third one but what was the second one just so that I can have it linked in the podcast description House Bill 4211 42 a Consolidated transport Center oh great yeah I’ve heard about that it’s like this idea of a of a center where you can like almost store the products is am I kind of right on that almost like a Distribution Center if you will I don’t believe it’s distribution I believe it’s a hub a Transportation Hub and because it’s not my bill I won’t speak a whole lot on that bill but it’s a Consolidated transport center right but either way in both instances you’re talking about at least in one way getting some relief from this idea that you have to do it all in one day either way you’re getting a little bit of relief absolutely we need some sort of relief no matter what and Ted sorry about that oh no no worries Cole uh oh no worries I’m sorry uh the um the third bill is s sp1 1559 and that’s my mistake because that is the bill that we already passed there’s three bills out there but one of them’s pass and that’s the S SP 1559 that we pass in veto so um there are other bills other cannabis bills um uh but in relation uh to the Transporters the ones that have agenda uh in them are those two bills the ones we just talked about yeah right um so you know besides the the idea of a little bit of relief uh with regard to how you transport it across this great state of Illinois what are some other things uh that that we haven’t already talked about that you’re kind of looking to address if if you’re ready to talk about that Victoria I know you said you wanted to kind of lay out the numbers and everything and then talk about what the ask is so I don’t know if you’re still I’m not trying to segue us to that yet if we don’t mean mean to well Cole thank you and I appreciate this platform I would allow other Transporters of voice to speak you know people have heard from me frequently you know I want them to hear more from the Berto and teds and the Kina and the Joann’s and the Tas and other Transporters that’s also suffering their voices need to be heard as well Ted noberto well I would say that uh you know yeah we do need uh we do need safety safety is an important issue with transporting uh drivers being on the road for so long is is uh is really not advised I mean anything more than eight hours is uh is is not is not good it’s not healthy um from a from a bargaining standpoint you know being the third party transporter in our position you don’t really have much bargaining power and uh I don’t think a a lot of other license holders that are like dispensaries or grow facilities or fusers they really have any idea uh the cost the operational cost to to a transport business know everybody wants the best price but you have banking fees you have insurance fees those are pretty high they go up every year uh you know you have uh you can only pay someone so uh little to transport cannibis you know so you you have to pay the appropriate wage for this type of work um um I really wish that that the industry could really understand that I wish the state could really understand that and helping us figure out a way to to kind of um maybe mitigate the cost a little bit and so that it’s not too much um it doesn’t cost us too much and then you know the cost savings that we can get we can pass down to the to to to our customers um so so to me you know know not having um being in the position we are not having the bargaining power is a real a real big issue to me and um and I believe that just need to get laws drafted so you know these things can change you know there was some uh some ideas proposed about having maybe one driver I think having one driver would would definitely um cut down cost but it’s also a safety concern of two though two driver of course is better than one yeah but but you know so I believe that you know we just need to keep you know working with the state working with crew to come up with some solutions that can that can help grow the industry help help Transporters uh become profitable uh yeah yeah so you know just from my experience you know just H having to haggle over pricing is is just one thing and I can’t I can’t transport for free I can’t transport and break even I I have to make a profit if I can’t make a profit there’s no point of being in business so you know there you know there’s some changes that need to be made uh the bills that you know were mentioned the 4164 I definitely support uh especially as far as uh you know the the storage aspect we need that they have that in other states they have uh some other states Michigan has storage um we need we need storage we need to and we also need third party designation I think those two items are are very important you know we need third party Transporters need us uh need to be distinguished from other Transporters we are the only licensed that we don’t have a product that sells for the most part we don’t have a product that sells so if you got no one has an issue operating their licenses but Transporters this is the only license that cannot be monetized anyone El all other licenses can you can turn on the key soon as they pass inspection they can make money this is the one license that cannot make money and and so that’s why we need some changes and there’s some few things that we’re working on within our within our organization and one of them is having those conversations with the um msos and you know I won’t mention the name of a MSO but I we had a meeting with one on Friday to create a working group we would like to work directly with them to figure out how we can develop mutually benefit beneficial Solutions in this ecosystem there it makes no sense to staggering sales numbers yet third party Transporters struggle to get consistent work and so I think if we come together um and and try to figure out how we can make this thing work and how to monetize these licenses that’s extremely important Tad wanted to give you some space I know earlier uh it looked like you were about to say something uh you know yes just I’ll just everything was said beautifully you know and I think uh you know niberto and then uh Victoria you know pretty much covered you know um um uh all the basis and painting a picture of what of what we’ve gone through you know I know that um uh my partner and I you know we’re social Equity we’re all social Equity here and um uh what that means is that you um are meet the criteria where you were adversely affected uh by the drug war and I know that the community that um I lived my whole life in and also my partner um has been adversely affected uh by the drug war um I grew up in chadam and uh my partner is in Brighton Park and um these are areas uh where there’s been uh shootings you know my best friend was shot and killed over cannabis um and uh I mean his you know his we were kids his mom you know had to come to my door and you know told my mom and I that you know and I just remember falling to the ground you know um uh so this program you know like Victoria said there’s billions and billions being made okay on Canabis now okay and this program was established uh so that the people in the community can participate um in the industry and there can be uh um uh some some type of um of uh something can be given back to us from having endured what what we have Victoria also has a story you know that’s um uh that’s very very impactful about her family um um as well uh they um and it’s failed this program is failed uh we are actually in and many of us are actually in a worse position than when we started I know that my partner and I invested uh tens of thousands of dollars matter of fact we invested right now we’re over 50 we’re over 55 grand okay and uh just to get started it cost us it cost us 40 Grand okay um we had to use a consultant you know we had to there’s there’s 400 pages of documents six hard drives um and there’s enormous process that you have to go through in order to in order to get the license um uh and so very costly we went through all of that uh we got the license only to find out that all of the business that we were supposed to be able to go and go right up to the door and get we’re the Cannabis Transporters um they’re transporting the Cannabis themselves they were given the cultivators the big cultivators were given the same license that we have uh without them having to go through um uh any of the same um uh processes that that we had to go to okay and now they’ve got their infrastructure all set up and they don’t want to give it up they’ve got their uh they’ve got their trucks uh they’ve got their people that they’ve hired and they’ve got um uh everything uh you know set up and they don’t want to give us any business Okay so so um that leaves the craft Growers all right and the craft Growers uh don’t have consistent growths okay uh there’s smaller as a matter of fact all the craft roers together I think their canopy space equals one cultivator okay um and they have pricing issues as well I’m a member of The Craft gr Association you know and there’s times when there they have jobs where they have SE $700 and like nle said we have to recoup our cost we have to make something you know even if it’s $100 you know um so sometimes our transport will be six and then so they they’re not making anything so if we can’t get the craft Growers and we can’t get the msos then where does that leave us you know we’re we you know many of us are in a worse position than when we started so it’s um it’s something in my opinion that should be um uh national news because you got minority businesses that have been um uh um essentially uh flipped upside down on their head and uh and uh be taking advantage of okay put in a situation where they’re at a financial loss okay when the program was supposed to help them okay and now they’re losing everything as a result that should be a national story and maybe one day it will you know but uh this is what has to be corrected uh v um I just hand it over to Victoria she’s um um she had her hand up there Victoria did you have something to say you’re still muted if you if you did no um you said in the chat I don’t know if you want me to read that I can read that no okay um uh I had you know a few different ways I could go with this but I still wanted to give you space I had some questions for for you all just like from the perspective of a transporter but I wanted to continue to give you the space in case that because we were just talking I didn’t even think think about it that way you made a really good point Ted about the canopy size compar of what could be the craft Growers and obviously isn’t right now um as I’ve reported on in the past and I can plug my article here in a moment there’s only like 11 uh craft Growers that that had received operational approval when I had written My article um I recently wrote a new article uh that a few more had been approved now this wasn’t recent news it was just something I missed that I recently posted about so on April 29th uh that number increased to 13 the last time I had written about this subject it was 11 so if you want to read the article I had written about the craft cultivators and all the issues they face uh including the fact that most of them actually uh just reference the article I will say a number of them uh were not even selling their own cultivated product so that adds to your point Ted I feel that you know not only are these canopy spaces smaller um just even if they were all all operational some of them aren’t even operating their canopy space yet they’re actually using these kind of as kind manufacturing centers if you will um using sourcing from the other canopies so it’s like the same issue um Victoria go ahead I mean honestly all and the infusers are struggling as well right the infusers are faced with an issue of paying anywhere from s to 20 thou well let me not say seven8 to $20,000 for a liter of oil and in the state of California you can go get you a liter of oil for about $11,200 so when you start thinking about manufacturing a product you got to go buy your oil and you have to Source it yeah because not all these cultivators are giving the social Equity infusers good oil but why would they right right why would they if you guys are selling the exact same product I’m gonna give you this to make your Pepsi and I’m over here making Coke right well I right I just have to say that at least in the past um the let’s say established licensed operators have sourced THC a biomass in other words oil at you can get that at a very very cheap price and you know people have actually pushed back uh on me saying that that’s not possible I’ve talked to the person the hemp operator that supplied this cannabis operator with the hemp they confirmed it to me um so it is possible and I actually have talked to the Illinois hemp growers association about this there was a variance that existed at least until this year I presume it was extended but I’ve not seen any proof that it was extended this year but at least up until January or I guess the end of December of 2023 this variance still existed which allowed you to Source thca biomass among other hemp derived canabo I’ve had other operators I’ll just say on my show really quick uh admit the same thing mared for example they said that for all of their Edibles they’re using hemp derived canab and mostly using hemp derived canabo is what I believe they said um and I you know uh I’ll find that episode number if people want to hear them saying that because it’s something I had heard about but uh and I’ve heard had people admit to me off the Record um but never on the record it was episode 55 of my podcast if people want to check it out um I know I just kind of bounced around but I wanted to add to your point Victoria of distillate being so expensive meanwhile these currently established operators on one hand are bitching about hemp on the other hand are purchasing it and selling it within the licensed Market we don’t have to go there if we don’t want to no [Laughter] comment um you know honestly I I think that it’s a domino effect right so when we talk about the craft and infusers you know payment terms and things of that nature we have witnessed an infuser recently sold their entire facility and license you know we have seen another infuser close their doors you know and we have had I’ve had an issue where I had an infuser owed me like $24,000 that I was transporting for and so they were waiting to get collect their payments from dispensaries so they can be able to pay their bills and their vendors as well so it’s just it’s so many different things and honestly I expected some and some I absolutely did not expect and so I think that we need to create a clear path to move forward like it’s absolutely nothing we can do about the msos having the same license as us there nothing we can do about that we need to be figuring out a solution because at this point you’re part of the problem or you’re part of the solution and the solution to me would be that we bring us all together at a round table not the craft the infusers the you know and and the msos to figure out how can we work together what do we need to do to own to you know earn a mso’s business as it relates to Transportation what what are their expectations and I know some people feel like man we shouldn’t have to prove anything to them because we proved something to the state that’s why we got the license but at the same time we can’t regulate how they run their business and and I think a lot of people want us to do wants the state to do that they want the state to say they have to give you work well the state should have never gave them a license without a Sunset date in the crta that’s the 14 eight the house bill 1438 that’s the Cannabis regulatory Tax Act it’s specifically stated in on page 247 of the 300 the 600 and something bill is stated when you read about Transporters it specifically States Transporters will get contracts from current operators I would have never applied for this license if I would have known that that was not the case that that was my full intention I applied for this license because it was the low’s barrier of entry into the Cannabis space and now you find yourself practically begging for you know rout and and getting minimum work and rejected items which you know is it’s it’s becoming very costly and so we as Transporters need to be figuring out a way to monetize our licenses that’s the goal it is not the bash of MSO it’s not a bash of craft grower it’s not a bash an infuser it’s how can we work together right that’s what we need to be saying over and over how can we make this work how can we make this a mutually beneficial relationship and some people are not putting in that work there are some people who haven’t called not one person you cannot jump on the train of saying these people are not trying to help you or these people are not willing to do this if you haven’t done the work yourself how many of them have you contacted you know you have to put forth the effort faith without work is dead yeah um well uh I have an idea I do have an old report to play where it seems like you guys you and to your point it does seem like you have common ground on an issue and maybe this is how you could move forward um but before I play the video I still want I wanted to give you space um any other topics that we haven’t really covered on or anything in the legislation that said we covered relief you know from uh uh having to Traverse this great state was it was another one kind of a designation that you are an independent third-party transporter um was there anything else that we didn’t necessarily cover or that I’m forgetting just to put I heard that it was another round of funding that’s going to go out and all license holders will be able to apply for the funding but the issue is they said and this is what they’re saying they’re saying that if you received around the funding on the first round you won’t be able to get apply for round of funding on the second round and I think that’s wrong I think that whether you got it the first round or not we we applied for it because we applied for an application for loans the deadline was September of 2021 September 30th September 30th of 2021 and people didn’t get those loans until around 2023 and by then folks have been drowning in debt as myself as it relates to the expenses of Transportation so it is very unfair to tell someone who appli for a loan in 2021 that they can’t apply for the next round of funding when if our licenses were operational if we were able to get work we would need the funding to begin with the state sold us a license that I’m I’m trying to find use better words they they sold us licenses that we cannot monetize and therefore we should be able to apply for the next round of funding everyone should be able to apply for funding because all of our businesses are impacted by poor decision making I said it she said it well uh I can give you space Ted it looks like you’re about to say something yeah you know yes uh well said I well said uh I was just just wed to add to that something else that was on the table um to level the playing field a little bit um but like Victoria said we’re trying to uh um establish a working group um with the msos and everyone to see how we can be fit in but um currently the dispensaries are uh only able to sell um uh up to 40% of their own product okay and um the there was a proposal um out there and I believe it’s it’s out of crew uh um uh that the mso’s the transportation should be the same way um the trans uh that so basically the MSO should be able to only transport up to 40% of their own product okay um if something like that were to happen then um because we we only put a moratorium on the new transporter license until 20126 okay so in 2026 there’s going to be more people applying you know going out there thinking that this is a viable industry putting even more businesses and you know more life savings and everything at risk but if we were able to get something like that then um uh it would essentially uh fix you know the problem thanks for jumping in there um number I have something yeah yeah go ahead so I agree exactly 100% with Ted you know I noticed that there there’s a there is a set aside for for shelf space right and there there there should be a set aside for Transporters I don’t I don’t really see how we you can get around this you can go around and say uh we can work with these people we can work with that and all this at the end of the day the state’s going to have to kick in and set aside some business that’s the bottom line because you ain’t gonna pass nothing no no slick language that that gets something past nobody knows what it is everybody reads these bills they all it’s all in the air and nothing’s gonna happen until the state comes in and says hey this is something set aside for transport so third party transp course guys this is this is your business we’re GNA we G to set some business aside everybody that’s that’s that’s got you know your cultivating you’re growing in this you have to set aside a certain part of this business for third party Transporters because you cannot create a license for and no one has nothing to do this is ridiculous that they have created a license that everybody has if you don’t have any I mean why don’t we just create uh uh patents that everybody can use utilized they create they have patents for a reason so folks gifts can’t sell your product okay encroach on your territory but in this case nobody was selling nothing everything was illegal at a point in time now it’s now it’s legal in the state and everybody got their hands everybody want to be vertically integrated that’s the problem everybody’s vertically integrated you created a license but everybody can still be vertically integrated but now our license we can’t do a dog on thing with it this is crazy so the state needs to kick in set aside some business for us PL plain and simple there’s nothing gonna happen you know we can we can definitely work with msos and and figure out a way to to make sure that we are compliant and that we are up to their standards that’s not too hard not too much to ask for but just because it’s their business too they have a right to make sure that Transporters are are definitely compliant uh but at the same time it’s like hey what are we going to do what are we going to do and something needs to change I I don’t I don’t see any other solution to this it’s nothing magical it’s nothing magical you want why some companies are making tons of money because maybe they they got cheap labor or maybe they got some other competitive Advantage uh but but but there are competitive advantages out there uh but uh I don’t really see any other way we do need third party designation we do need storage we need some business plain and simple and I think that the state can do it I think crew can come up with some creative ideas uh the state now all them can come up with creative ideas we can work together to get us some Market Shar that’s plain and simple thanks Norberto and uh you know like I alluded to earlier I feel like there’s some common ground here uh and I know that it’s maybe not as simple as this but I like I like to you know remind people of of history and also like how we’re regulating these things so I’m about to play an older report and before I play it the Common Ground I feel just in case it’s not obvious when the report is playing is that you know um as you’ve all stated transportation and all the regulations surrounding it is expensive and I think that’s actually the common ground you do have and something you can work together on with uh some of the larger operators let’s watch this report um from back in the day now nbc5 investigates Illinois has very tight rules for how Canabis can be transported and delivered in fact those rules are stricter than the federal guidelines for opioid is the most abused drug in America here’s the story from Phil Rogers we have more to grab yeah we’re at a distribution center for Cresco labs in suburban Chicago and what these workers are loading 3365 is one of the most tightly controlled caros in America the cargo is legal cannabis at least legal in the eyes of the state of Illinois but the rules for how it’s transported are spelled out in pages of State regulations security is aware of every shipment that goes out where it’s heading what time they should arrive that security actually starts all the way back when the cannabis plants are grown each plant receives its own barcoded number and those numbers follow the plants and their products through processing here at Cresco Suburban facilities all the way through packaging transport and delivery to dispensaries Statewide correct and we refer to as seed to sale Illinois Law requires cannabis Transporters to move their wees in vehicles where the products are locked tight in a separate compartment then there’s a second set of locked doors outside the trucks can’t be marked and at least one crew member has to stay in the vehicle at all times what is this this is our um tracking software platform cesco’s Fleet is monitored in real time onboard cameras provide a view inside and outside the trucks and GPS will alert the company if the truck tries to cross state lines we know exactly where they’re at at all times but there’s a bit of irony here remember in the eyes of the federal government cannabis is still illegal but the Illinois guidelines for transporting pot are much stricter than the federal rules for moving much more dangerous drugs it was very casual um all the product would go into my personal vehicle and a just a standard Coleman cooler cesco’s Logistics manager Joseph Franks told us he used to to work for a major Hospital transporting everything from chemotherapy drugs to prescription painkillers where would it be in the car it would be in my back seat the dea’s position on moving even the most abused drugs in America opioids like Oxycontin is that lenses are simply responsible for getting them where they are supposed to go the federal regs say all applicants and registrant shall provide effective controls and procedures to guard against theft and diversion of controlled substances we do have uh millions and millions of controlled substances that are moved through the system through the mail through UPS through FedEx former DEA agent Jack tielman now works as a consultant on compliance with drug regulations if you decide that you know your your method of distribution is on the back of a bicycle and a and a on a backpack because that fits into that neighborhood and you’ve never had an issue then that might be the correct way of of making that delivery into that neighborhood 281 that is not the case with marijuana in Illinois Illinois is the most heavily regulated state that we operate in heavily regulated and lucrative with nearly 1.8 billion so the idea here again in showing that was that you know it seems you all agree that it’s way too regulated and some of these uh regulations are burdensome and frankly a little ridiculous when you consider opioids I you know I don’t want to lessen what Norberto said earlier about security I’m not trying to you know minimize those uh concerns but let’s be real here if people are hypothetically delivering opioids on a bicycle I mean what’s what are we really worried about um and again I’m not saying that to to because there have been robberies in other states I’m not saying that that can’t happen um but it’s just frankly crazy information because you know you’d think if anybody were to get robbed it would be somebody on a bicycle with opioids and again I I just brought that report up and I’d love to give it to anybody who wants to remark on it um I brought it up because it seems like you guys all agree that the regulations are ridiculous we’re we’re regulating it like it is a schedule one substance and frankly I know that it might not be in the future uh but right now it is uh but but we are in Illinois disregarding that entirely so why are we even treating it like it’s schedule one at all that’s a different rant for a different day I I told you I’d give you guys some space anybody want to jump in Ted yeah uh thank you thank you for that I’ve actually uh never seen that report um yeah it’s um you know it’s it’s it is it’s really just breathtaking you know um we we actually had a uh an individual on uh the last uh call that we had um and um she was speaking with um uh several individuals that were on that call which was which were uh the representative from the state there representative from CBI which is the uh banking Association that represents the uh msos and um on that call uh she said she transported yes business I’m sorry Business Association sorry about that yes um um she on that call she said that I was transporting is one of Victoria’s friends actually she said I was transporting in Oregon okay for years and it was just me carrying around the toast she’s been on my show pora yeah yeah told the story yeah you know yeah just you know just her and she said if there was a problem with the with the reject she would be able to just kind of leave it in the tote let they would deal with it they had a process for that you know um uh where um you know it’s just it’s a whole different situation now I’m not comparing Oregon to uh Chicago as far as you know crime I don’t know what it is you know um maybe it’s comparable maybe it’s not uh but um there’s a huge chasm in between what we’re doing and what uh they’re doing and what uh what really makes it baffling absurd is that like the guy said in the uh in the in the video is that there’s way there’s addictive drugs you know opioids okay which has decimated you know people’s lives across the country it was an it was an epidemic you know these are the most dangerous drugs and there’s a guy you know carrying him around from place to place on his bike you know and that’s legal you know and uh yeah so that’s all I had to say about that yeah no and I I hope you didn’t think me I just messaged Victoria back because she asked how much longer is the call I was just letting her know we can wrap I did not mean to cut off your point um at all um and I just yes I just want to underscore it that bike thing that bike analogy from the DEA is just crazy when you noberto I think you’re in your van right now that you’ve probably spent just thousands of dollars putting [ __ ] into and it’s not that that’s not going to be a good investment for doing cross state trips but let’s just say there’s a dispensary that opens up down the road and you could do it in your car or bike or something like that like why if you have a license does it really [ __ ] matter your job is to get it from point A to point B if you lose it like that’s just your problem frankly you know and as you guys have said that already happens anyways sometimes you [ __ ] drive across the state and then they get turned down so it’s happening already you know a loss at least right so again I don’t know I I I digress I could go on and on um the last word any of you we can wrap here um any final thoughts before we go Ted Victoria my final thoughts is support third party Transporters support 3pc we need some sort of relief the state should be looking to subsidize this program to offer relief to Transporters which is something I’m going to be working with with other Transporters and hopefully we can introduce something new in veto session that will support 3pc third party carriers in the state of Illinois thank you for having me on I really appreciate you for you know putting this out here and letting our voices be heard we ask for people to continue to support us in our fight to monetize our license there are so many Transporters who paid $10,000 for a license that has not made $1 dollar it’s important for people to know that because this this state is making millions of dollars wait wait we proc to the billions sorry billions of dollars and and Transporters have made one that’s not that’s not okay yeah and can I I sorry I was giving you the final word can I ask you all one last question as a final word and Victoria feel free to weigh in again here um as we exit is there an analog here because like I drive by the liquor store sometimes and it’s like you can just get it on Uber Eats so it’s like it I don’t know like like a liquor I mean to say liquor um is there an analog like or an analogy in other states like I remember in Nevada for example this is a way different analogy and sorry I keep going but in 2017 the liquor industry actually worked their way into being the only trans supporters that’s not the case anymore and I don’t want that to be the case but I’m just asking like I just had that thought and I’m sorry I know we were rapping but that’s a very interesting thought Cole because the liquor industry in Illinois is trying to take over Transportation they’re trying to eat their way in and steal it from a suit damn yeah so the people that’s been impacted by the War on Drugs at the end of the day I don’t I don’t think that they’re ever going to have the relief that we thought and and that the state had intended to happen because the implementation of it just sucks it’s not happening and the Liquor Commission they’re they’re trying to take over transportation in cannabis yeah well said uh thank you for addressing that and sorry Ted Roberto last word and we can wrap if you guys had Cool Cole thank you so much for this opportunity man you’re awesome uh uh love your podcast uh thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak about this today uh these important issues today absolutely thank you for joining me yeah thank you co for having us on I really appreciate giving us the the plat this platform to really address our concerns as thirdparty Transporters and um uh I would like to um also I would like to also state that you know you know we we at thir as third party Transporters we’re we’re all working together right now uh we we’re all United we’re working together to come up with solutions that works for everybody right now and um uh we’re going to continue to fight you for for for our share and um we’re not going anywhere and U and that’s all thank you yeah well thank you all uh if you’re still listening I had I really enjoyed this conversation and I just want to thank Victoria noberto and Ted once again for joining me we’ll see you all in the next episode of the Cole memo Take Care thank you

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