In this episode, I interview Illinois State Representative Dan Swanson at the 2024 Hemp Research Open House, co-hosted by the Illinois Hemp Growers Association and the University of Illinois. Recorded in the hemp fields of Urbana-Champaign, this conversation covers the latest legislative session, the ongoing debate between the hemp and cannabis industries, and the bipartisan efforts needed to address public safety while fostering industry growth. Tune in to hear Representative Swanson’s perspectives on the future of hemp in Illinois and the potential for collaboration across party lines.
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Links mentioned during show
- Interview with D.K. Lee can be found here
The auto-generated transcript is available below.
I’m excited to announce that this episode of the coal memo is brought to you by the folks at River Bluff collective in case you didn’t know River Bluff is a licensed social Equity cannabis business in the state of Illinois owned by three siblings they invested their life savings to apply for a dispensary license and ultimately won a social Equity Lottery ball which allowed them to build up their business with the help of an investment team they’ve also leaned into hemp to finance their operation you can enjoy they’re amazing hemp derived products like Edibles tinctures and beverages which can be delivered straight to your door absolutely legally from riverbluff collective.com I’ve also thrown that link in the episode description for your convenience many of you might already know that the River Bluff punch pop is one of my absolute favorite cannabis products I have ever tried with a whopping 50 milligram of THC per can delivers great effect almost instantaneous instantaneously but I realize that this dosage is a little bit high for most people so for those looking for lower do beverages they also offer the bluff punch pops and 10 mgram form factors and they even have lower dose beverages that are suitable for all tolerances right so right now I got my hands on some of their lemon seltzers uh they’ve also got this strawberry lemonade Seltzer and there’s just 4 milligrams of THC per can for both of these drinks perfect for people that are cannabis curious so if you’re a cannabis veteran you might consider trying something like 50 milligrams but if you’re new to it or just have a lower lower tolerance you might consider trying some of the lower dose drinks and if you’re thinking of trying these drinks this is the month to do it for the entire month of August 2024 you can enjoy a 40% discount account on four packs of the 10 mgram or 50 MGR River Bluff sodas no need for a discount code the savings are automatically applied at checkout so don’t miss out explore their website at riverbluff collective.com to find those amazing deals on these amazing products folks you must be 21 plus to purchase and please consume responsibly I want to be very clear these have derived products are not sold in dispensaries if you’d like to find a place to purchase them once again the best place to go is riverbluff collective.com but if you’re really looking for it in store at the bottom of riverbluff collective.com you’ll find the store locator and that’s where you can find a River Bluff Collective store near you off the top of my head I know there’s one in East debuk Illinois so check that out have fun enjoy the products responsibly and enjoy this episode of The Cult [Music] memo hello and welcome in this episode of the coal memo I’ll be interviewing Illinois state representative Daniel Swanson today’s interview was captured at the 2024 hemp research openhouse which was co-hosted by the Illinois hemp growers association and the University of Illinois in Urbana champagne’s crop science department in case you didn’t know I’ve sat down with Dr DK Lee from the University of Illinois in the past to talk about their program so if you’re interested in studying the science of cannabis but would like to hear some insights from the program director Dr DK Lee well then check out the episode that I recorded with him I’ll have that episode Linked In the show notes once again this is where the interview was captured here’s a photo of me in the hemp fields and in this episode I sort of briefly recap the latest legisl legislative session and I ask representative Dan Swanson uh how he feels about the future legislative session with regards to the hemp industry enjoy this episode of the coal memo hey everybody it’s Cole Preston today is August 2nd wow I had to look at my calendar for that one where has the summer gone school buses are going to be rolling here soon again that’s absolutely right um and I’m standing here with state representative Dan swans in the 71st District uh my district extends from Molen to mome about 12 Mi wide 100 Mil long well thank you so much for your time today we’re at the uh Illinois open house for hemp um I came in at the tail end of your speech and and I really loved what you had to say I’m just curious a as a state representative you uh you probably see a lot of businesses try to you know make cases for their industry and everything else I guess just to get right to Brass tax have you ever seen anybody employ the same tactics as the Cannabis industry did uh this last session well the the hemp industry has been very vocal and active in keeping their um opportunities still growing with the um joint partnership here with the U ofi doing what they do and the Illinois Department of a and the Illinois hemp growers association um doing a great job lobbying the members of the house there was some detrimental legislation that was in in that was introduced very late in the session um and it was just good to see everyone get motivated because there’s so many opportunities for him and uh it’s just selling that uh that message to the right people right and I mean uh I think you mentioned it uh you know you’re you’re a Republican and I would even say the same about Democrats uh everybody’s for Public Safety we don’t want kids to be having these products and I guess just to get back to that question I was asking you know it seemed like they made the debate about the children and Public Safety when really it was about big business and I’m just curious have you seen that sort of approach before well it’s Everyone likes to protect their area right and the Cannabis group the marijuana groups were really trying to protect their industry fearful of what hemp could possibly bring in competition to them and if they would work better together as opposed to being opponents I think we’ get a better resolution if you bring both of them to the table I don’t think hemp is so worried or I don’t want to say they Embrace regulations but they’re willing to keep their industry alive and and look at potential changes in their growth or in their production or in their sales and their marketing if that’s what it’s going to take and sure nobody wants to see drugs in the hands of the the young people um it’s it’s terrible to to see what we have today because there is some filtering through to the young and uh it it ruins our society as a whole yeah and like you say it seems like uh and this I think is a good note to close on it seemed like what everybody did agree on was like Hey kids shouldn’t have these hey I’d love to be tested and and labeled and and some even said taxed at the same rate as these cannabis companies are so that seemed to reveal that yeah this was less about actually addressing those public health concerns and more about like you said protecting market share right and it’s I think we’ll come together um I I think you know I don’t think the debate negotiations are still ongoing and here again today with the many people that are at the open house here and what the University of Illinois has to show and what they’re doing it demonstrates that you know we all are about trying to protect and uh be a part of the solution not a part of the problem yeah and I a last question here you know I’ve talked to representative Miller representative cins uh representative [ __ ] seem to be more aware of what you’re talking about that this is less about public you know safety and more about uh protecting market share do you have faith it seems like the Democrats are pretty aligned on on cannabis do you have faith that that you can come up with something by partisan that that everybody will agree on I think so because you know the lady I just talked to here she lives in Chicago and she grows hemp in Chicago so we know it’s growing in more than just downstate Illinois this is a product that is being embraced by those who live in the city of Chicago those who have um uh areas to grow it on the outskirts on the collar County so it it’s not just a downstate product it’s it’s all across Illinois because it’s an opportunity to raise some money an opportunity to be a part of the solution not a part of the problem well I just want to thank you again so much for talking to me before you leave um you know uh I hope that this uh upcoming session goes smooth and uh that you enjoy the rest of your summer well thank you very much and same to you in safe travels abs absolutely take care cool thank you yep
The Cole Memo 
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