Big Canna Corruption: Meet The New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

INTRODUCTION

 

Matt:

Hi, I’m Matt,

 

Dee Dee:

And I’m Dee Dee. We are the hilarious outcome of opposing brains, sharing a mutual desire to share knowledge and positive thinking about him and cannabis.

 

WELCOME

 

Matt:

We are here to tear down the walls built by big pharma and other big companies that seek to keep the human race and fear and divided.

 

Dee Dee:

We are here to shatter the myths about hemp and cannabis and change the stigma of this amazing plant. Welcome to Hemp and Happiness with Hemp

 

Matt:

Queen and Emperor podcast.

 

Dee Dee:

Join us as we enter into this misunderstood and the unknown. Hey, happy hamsters. So great to be back with you. Um, we are live from our 812 Hemp store in Clarksville, Indiana, and we actually opened December 14th, so we did kind of a soft opening, you know, you gotta make sure all them bugs or worked out, but we are so excited to be helping, uh, Indiana customers and we can’t wait to show you our new space. Um, it is beautiful over here and I have to thank Matt, my business partner. He has worked his tail off in this store, but also I definitely wanna thank, um, Hope who has been here. She’s done a lot of lot of things to help us. They have, they have done just a beautiful job and I could not like do this on my own. It truly does take a team and I feel so blessed and so honored and I don’t wanna get emotional, but dang it, I am so happy with everybody that is part of this and we’ve made this happen. And even the entire team at 502 Hemp y’all, I appreciate you. Hopefully you listened and you hear this and of course I posted on my Facebook, but man, I am so proud of everything that we’ve managed to accomplish, so I just had to get that out there, Matt, before we even started.

 

Matt:

Well, hey, thank you. Thank you Dee. I think that that’s great and that, that that’s very, very heartfelt and sincere and right on. Yeah. Um, yeah. And it has been an adventure, but it’s, it’s fun and

 

Dee Dee:

Uh, yeah. Cause this is your first time opening a store,

 

Matt:

Right? A retail store. Yes. A

 

Dee Dee:

Retail store.

 

Matt:

Yeah. Yeah. Not a store. I mean, I’ve opened a store, but not that like where people just walked in and out. More of an office store

 

Dee Dee:

Of Yeah. Big

 

Matt:

Difference where people walking in are wearing big difference ties or, or, or a construction outfit. Those are the two. Uh, yeah,

 

Dee Dee:

You’ve done a lot of the construction stuff, so Yeah. But yeah. And I’m just gonna point this out there, y’all, it is nice to have somebody on your team that can do all the construction. Cuz when I want, you know, a board put here or something hung there. Matt’s like, okay, where do you want it? And I’m like, yes. This is so great. Yeah.

 

Matt:

I wanna make it, it my value revealed

 

Dee Dee:

<laugh>. It is,

 

Matt:

It’s the screwdriver. I’m a glorified

 

Dee Dee:

Screwdriver. I’m like, do you wanna see my honey-do list at home too? <laugh>? I’m sure Katie keeps you busy with some of that stuff too.

 

Matt:

We, yeah. I’ve always got a project.

 

Dee Dee:

I know. Figured.

 

Big Canna Corruption: Meet The New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

 

Matt:

Yeah. So Right on. Heck. Yeah. Well that being said, are you ready to be in? I am. I am. Okay. Well we got an interesting one today. Um, so the title of this podcast is, uh, big Can of Corruption, um, and that in Well

 

Dee Dee:

Good deal. Okay.

 

Matt:

Incorporates a lot of stuff. Uh, cuz there’s a lot of things going on. So what I, what I thought we do today is switch a little gears, uh, uh, switch some gears. We’re gonna kind of get out of the hemp and get a little more into the cannabis. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and, uh, what’s going on with cannabis legalization? What’s going on with licensing? Mm-hmm. <affirmative> of cannabis. What’s going on with taxation of cannabis? What’s going on with, uh, medical versus recreational. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, what’s going on with, uh, corruption within that? Um, and the, the individual state governments, Ooh. Uh, what’s going on in Kentucky and, uh, the smoke and mirrors. That’s, in my opinion, Beshear has, has flopped out. That’s now turning into a, hey, get a medical card that is absolutely worthless. And there’s, starting next year,

 

Dee Dee:

There’s no medical program, so there’s no cards that actually exist. Yeah. Yeah. Most people don’t understand that.

 

Matt:

So there’s a lot. And we’re gonna touch on a little, uh, in the, in this particular show notes, there’s gonna be a ton of attachments because there’s a, it’s, it’s a very diverse topic. There’s a lot of different subjects that I want to, I want to touch on. Um, and I wanted to make sure that if you listeners are interested, you could get a little more in depth. So there’s some really good articles, um, in this show notes. If you’re interested in hearing a little bit more, I’d encourage you, cuz this is just gonna be like a top level 5,000 foot view type thing. I’m gonna throw out a, a few statistics here and there, but that’s it. Um, so, you know, kind of starting off, uh, why don’t we go ahead and work inside out. Okay. Um, we started with the Beier thing. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and if you all don’t know, uh, deedee was a, played an integral role on that on, on Bashir’s team, right. On the medical marijuana. Uh, can I did, what was it called? The Miracle Medical?

 

Dee Dee:

It was medical. It was the Medical Cannabis Advisory

 

Matt:

Committee. Medical Cannabis Advisory

 

Dee Dee:

Committee. Yeah. Because marijuana and him, all of that, it’s cannabis. Yeah. You know, we just gotta get used to calling it that marijuana is such a racist term.

 

Matt:

Racist. Mm-hmm.

 

Dee Dee:

<affirmative>. It

 

Matt:

Is. Oh yeah. I guess cuz it’s, it is, it’s, uh, uh, Mexican. Yes.

 

Dee Dee:

And they,

 

Matt:

Yeah. It’s Mexican slang

 

Dee Dee:

Back in the, yeah. Thirties, I think. Twenties, thirties. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

 

Matt:

Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, with that being said, if you, if you don’t know, and those of you who are listening who are Kentucky residents, uh, there’s this B bill that will be in effect, uh, the first of 2023. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, legalize. You’re, you’re allowed to legally possess marijuana in Kentucky. If you have a medical card stating as such, let’s be clear.

 

Dee Dee:

Up up to eight

 

Matt:

Ounces. Up to eight ounces. So let, let, let’s just be clear on that. You cannot buy cannabis in Kentucky under this bill,

 

Dee Dee:

Period. There’s no dispensaries, there’s no medical marijuana dispensaries. There’s no recreational dispensaries. That does not

 

Matt:

Exist. There, there is no not allowed. The, the closest medical state is Ohio. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> does not reciprocate because we do not have, cannot go to

 

Dee Dee:

Ohio marijuana program

 

Matt:

Mm-hmm. <affirmative> because of, because of their stipulations. So you’re looking at going to Virginia, which is, by the way, one of the most expensive states to buy marijuana in, uh, currently. And well, cannabis, and I’ll get into that. Um, and then you’re gonna drive through states where it’s not legal and your, your card is not, doesn’t mean anything. And at best it will be taken, you’re and confiscated when you get pulled over at worst, uh, you’ll be charged. Right. Uh, with a, with a crime.

 

Dee Dee:

And Governor Bashear’s order can’t help you in another state.

 

Matt:

No. He,

 

Dee Dee:

He can’t pardon you from another state.

 

Matt:

So, in my opinion, what this is was a little clever political way for Bashir to cover his ass, make it look like he’s doing something to move forward and then create a new niche for people to rip other people off with this new medical card that’s being sold in Kentucky. Because there’s a already people advertising, get your medical card in Kentucky. These people are ripping you off. They’re taking your money for nothing.

 

Dee Dee:

Right. But you know, I’m gonna disagree with you on Bashir. Go ahead. And we, we,

 

Matt:

I want you

 

Dee Dee:

To. Right. And you know, I’m going to, because he is the first governor that has done anything to move the needle on marijuana. The first governor in this entire state, you’ve got four senators that are stopping passing medical marijuana. He, this was his little, and he, and you know what really gets me? He waited until after the elections to make this announcement. So I don’t, I do not truly believe it was a political move or pool or what have you. And honestly, I don’t give a shit if it was because he is the only only governor that has done anything to move medical along. Now do I agree with it? No. Is it the best he could do? Yeah. Pretty much. Could it be, um,

 

Matt:

H why would you say it’s the best he could do?

 

Dee Dee:

Because he only, he only has executive orders. I mean, that’s all the power he has that he can

 

Matt:

Use. But, but he could use his executive order to go ahead and approve

 

Dee Dee:

Wreck. He couldn’t. Why not? Not wreck. Are you kidding? McKian Medical? You think re’s gonna happen in this state? Are you serious? Dude, dude. Um, he’s again, yeah. No, I mean, I, I commend him. At least he did something. Yeah. Better than nothing. Yeah. And I, to me, I think it’s gonna force the legislation to freaking bring it for a vote.

 

Matt:

Will it though, will it though? Or was it just like a, Hey, you know, I’m gonna piss people off if I, if I don’t do something, but I can’t do some, if I do something big, it’ll piss these people off. So how can I straddle the fence here and make sure I don’t piss this group off or this group? And then kind of just move things forward just a little bit. Just a little itty bitty really

 

Dee Dee:

Baby step. Only he can answer that

 

Matt:

Question. Right. I know. And be sure if you’re listening,

 

Dee Dee:

You

 

Matt:

Can come on our lemme know. Come

 

Dee Dee:

On. Our

 

Matt:

You can come on our podcast. On our podcast. That be, cause I’m not, I mean, I, I, I just, to me it’s like, it’s like saying, hey, we’re, we’re, we’re changing 12 to a dozen. 12 is a dozen now. Well, but you’re, you’re welcome. But you

 

Dee Dee:

Know what? He did do that executive order did do it, did do it made that up to that eight ounces a misdemeanor. So that’s helpful for people that do

 

Matt:

Have Yeah. For people

 

Dee Dee:

That are buying it from another state that do bring it in. And at least they can have up to eight ounces and not be

 

Matt:

A felon with a medical card,

 

Dee Dee:

Not a card. A recommendation

 

Matt:

With a medical recommendation

 

Dee Dee:

Recommendation. That’s what gets me about it. And that’s why those other companies that are, you know, Ew, we’ll get you a medical card. Yeah. That’s

 

Matt:

Bullshit. Well, and here’s what gets me about medical altogether is why

 

Dee Dee:

It, all of it’s medical, why recreation’s, medical, all of

 

Matt:

It be right. Because, but what this medical thing is, is first of all, it creates a layer for people to collect money on these quote unquote subs, uh, prescriptions. Right. Right. Which is just another way to take people’s money.

 

Dee Dee:

Well, and, and doctors truly, truly, legally, federally cannot write a prescription for marijuana Right. On a notepad. Right. That is because it’s not FDA approved. Right. And it’s still schedule one.

 

Matt:

Right. So, so

 

Dee Dee:

Even the doctors that are doing it, what kind of risk are they running federally?

 

Matt:

So it’s not even

 

Dee Dee:

They lose their license.

 

Matt:

Right. So it’s not even quote unquote medical. Right. It’s it’s just a, it’s just a, oh, hey, we’re, it’s, we’re gonna apply another asshole tax to this system Yeah. To take another piece of, and

 

Dee Dee:

We can get into the tax parts. I’m still bent that they lowered the income tax a half a percent only to raise all the sales tax on everything else.

 

Matt:

So I think, you know, if you can’t, if the FDA can’t classify it as a medical drug, if they can’t classify it as a supplement, then you can’t make it medical. It’s either recreational or it’s not.

 

Dee Dee:

I, I agree

 

Matt:

With you and, uh, you know, this whole medical bullshit. Come on, gimme a break.

 

Dee Dee:

It it what it really should be, and there’s a couple coalitions out there that I am all for. It’s responsible cannabis use Hello? 21 and up. Yeah. You should be able to do whatever the hell you want. Yeah. We shouldn’t have all these rules and regulations to try and keep us, us safe. If that’s the case, then get rid of alcohol. Right. Quit promoting that. Right. Quit promoting cigarettes. Right. Uh, really? Yeah.

 

Matt:

You know, they

 

Dee Dee:

Hundred percent agree. They’ve damn near, they’ve damned near destroyed the vaping industry. Right. You and I agree. It’s not the best, safest, healthiest, blah, blah, blah. But they’ve damn near destroyed that industry and they still allow alcohol that’s killed people. Uh, <affirmative>, they still allow cigarettes that has killed people. You can find that in freaking drug stores for crying out loud, but cannabis and no one’s died from it. Right. So, and that’s still a federal schedule one narcotic. I mean, it’s, it’s re it’s insane. Right. And even with Biden and his whole big pardon thing, you know, in 94 he wrote the bill that put a hell of a lot of people in prison.

 

Matt:

Right. Well, but all you can do is correct your mistakes. That’s true. To play the devil’s advocate. That’s true. So, so to pull that back, one, I agree with you, and I think that the, I I, I think that, I didn’t even know

 

Dee Dee:

We were talking about all this stuff today, people, so this is great.

 

Matt:

<laugh>. So I think, I think where we get lost is that, you know, we, we we’re given the illusion that this medical thing creates a layer of protection or a layer of make sure that it’s done right. That’s bullshit. Yeah. All it does is create another layer of you have to pay this before you can get that. Yep. What really needs to happen is wreck needs to be regulated so that it is one safe, clean mm-hmm. <affirmative> tested. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and affordable mm-hmm. <affirmative> and available mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, to the right people who qualify for it, meaning you’re of the right age and, um, you, you know, whatever. I mean, there, there can be some loose criteria there. Uh, age, age restrictions or mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, you know, intoxication restrictions and, and limited

 

Dee Dee:

Things like that amount if you need to, but you also need a limited of alcohol. Maybe you, you only get one

 

Matt:

Six pack. They do that in, in some states actually

 

Dee Dee:

Way. I know. And they would have terrible Sunday sales. Some of ’em. Yeah, I know. But I’m just saying, you

 

Matt:

Know, see, I grew, I grew up, we didn’t, we weren’t, we, where I grew up, it wasn’t even called, you weren’t even allowed to call it a package or a liquor store. Oh, liquor store was illegal. It was called a package store. A package store. And you went there to buy, so you’re old packages

 

Dee Dee:

<laugh> what stage you grew up at?

 

Matt:

What? Massachusetts. Okay. What was in these packages was booze. But that, but that is mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And, and now, um, you know, Massachusetts is a marijuana legal state and they’re, they actually, and actually in mass now, uh, marijuana tourism is a thing. Oh

 

Dee Dee:

Yeah. Well, of course it is.

 

Matt:

Of course. It’s funny how, how there’s marijuana in in one generation. It’s gone. It’s gone from, oh no. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> is, don’t the liquor store. What? Where’s the, what’s a liquor store? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Where’s that? The Paki,

 

Dee Dee:

I remember in Ohio you had to have it in a brown paper bag. Mm-hmm. Like 12 pack has to be in a big paper bra bag. Yeah. You, it always had to be covered. Like, now you just walk out with the 12 pack. Six pack, whatever. You don’t have to have in a bag. Yeah. But in Ohio, I remember that when I was working at the convenience store Yeah. A long time ago. I wasn’t even old enough to sell it, but yeah. Anyway,

 

Matt:

Anyway, so moving off the booze mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, so the next ne next issue we’re having in this, uh, state of, you know, marijuana legalization. And don’t get me wrong, I I I, I don’t want to just, this would be like a bitch session podcast where we’re complaining about, are you sure? Uh, yes. Because it’s great that marijuana’s being legal legalized, but it is really important now that we’re seeing this shift that we get in front of this so we don’t see it go the way of so many other things that fall to excessive taxation, excessive regulation, excessive, uh, licensing restrictions and things where it, it, it’s only available for the, the top 1% mm-hmm. <affirmative> that can afford it, which happens to be big pharma. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> who, uh, I, well, I’ve got some, there are some things, some interesting things about big pharma I want to read, but there’s Sure is shit not looking out for your best interest. They’re looking out for the bottom line of their company, because that’s what they do. That that is the, I do not interpret big pharma as evil or not evil. They are simply a machine created to collect as much revenue as humanly possible by any means necessary.

 

Dee Dee:

They are the epitome

 

Matt:

Of capitalism. I do. And, and I don’t think, I don’t, I don’t interpret that as evil or not evil. You have to decide whether that’s the company that you want to invest your, your, your money in and you want to trust your health with.

 

Dee Dee:

I don’t, I think

 

Matt:

They’re evil. And sometimes you don’t have a choice. Yeah. Well, if you want to interpret that as evil, that’s fine. High vibration, low vibration. Yeah. Whatever.

 

Dee Dee:

But some of, don’t get me wrong, there’s some good, obviously there’s some good medications out there that have truly helped people. Then there’s some that are not so good. And by all means, read the side effects and medications you’re taking. Yeah. Oh my goodness. But I wanted real quick, Matt, before you move on, I went, I was just interviewed a few minutes ago, literally before you got here, and one of the questions they asked me is if I wanted to get into the marijuana, medical marijuana and open a dispensary. And I said, you know, honestly, there’s a lot of things that need to change before I even wanna get into that. Banking is one of them. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> banking has been nothing but a pain in the ass, even for the hemp industry. And I was promised back in 2019 that all of this was gonna get taken care of when Senator McConnell came out to my husband’s shop and he looked right at me and he’s like, we are working hard on that. Well, what, this week, last week, I don’t remember. It got shot down again when they tried to put the Safe Banking Act in on, I think it’s an ominous whatever that is. The spinning bill. And, and McConnell and others bragged that they shut it down. Like what the, what, what the hell, man. Wow. I mean, we’ve gotta get safe banking for the cannabis industry in

 

Matt:

General. Right. And these are the topics that I want to bring up today because now is the time. It is before it’s too late. It is. Because what, what will happen if we don’t do something is it will just fall into the hands of the same people Yeah. That are controlling the sheel narrative that is, you know, our country’s economic system. Right. And it’ll just be another thing that’s regulated that you have to buy from a company who only cares about their bottom line. Exactly. And not your health and not your wellbeing. And certainly not your wellness.

 

Dee Dee:

Exactly. And, and not being able to ride off business expenses. These cannabis companies, the marijuana side, not being able to write off their business expenses like that stuff would be a nightmare to deal with and only deal in cash. That is scary. I mean, you’re running a lot of risks, risky stuff there. And that getting robbed, uh, only paying your employees in cash. I mean, how did they make that deposit into their bank account without triggering that whole $600 thing and not being audited for putting cash in their accounts? Oh. So there’s a lot of things that have to get changed before I’m really, truly wanna get involved. I’ll always be an advocate, but opening a dispensary at this moment right now, I would say probably

 

Matt:

No. Yeah. Well, so, um, the, you know, and then the next stage of that, uh, licensing mm-hmm. <affirmative>, which is state regulated mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and every state has <laugh>. I don’t even, I mean, I will, I don’t even know where to words. I don’t even know where to begin. I mean, starting with, you know, the, the, the big, you know, what was it, Calexico, California debacle where it was revealed that city officials in LA were, were taking bribes in exchange for licenses. Um, but they don’t even need to do that anymore. Cuz now, cuz now what’s, what, what a lot of these states are doing is they’re making the licensing so high mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, that you have to just have an excessive amount of, uh, capital and you need to be a big, nasty, uh, business. Yep. Which we all know, you know, when businesses get in, when when businesses reach a certain size, they become their own entity. They do. Um, and that entity is typically predicated upon its survival of, you know, economic Darwinism mm-hmm. <affirmative>, which is who’s raising, who’s making the most profit, and who’s bringing that profit to the bottom line for the shareholders. Right. Um, so those are the people that, that when this licensing gets outta hand are the only ones who can get the licenses and then they get in and then they do all kind of corrupt shit. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, so real, that’s my, that’s a real Kentucky too real, real problem. Oh yeah. Yeah. Cuz there’s no corruption in

 

Dee Dee:

Kentucky. Oh lord. Heavens. No. Not even in the hemp industry. Not here. <laugh>.

 

Matt:

Yeah. So don’t even get me going. Sorry. That was very sarcastic

 

Dee Dee:

<laugh>. Yes, it was. That

 

Matt:

Was terrible. Um, my apologies. But, uh, it, it’s something that absolutely needs to be addressed because instead of it becoming a factor of is this, is this the right person to have a license? Is this the right company to have a license? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, is this company gonna look out for the best interest of its consumers? Is this company gonna look and make sure that it’s maintaining quality product? Is this, is this gonna look out for the benefit of the community? No, no, no, no, no. It’s just about how much money you have. Right. And that, I mean, it’s hard for me not to get pissed off about that because that is exactly the situation that has gotten us where we are. Right. With things like big pharma. Right.

 

Dee Dee:

You know, and, and even in the head industry, there are many people that only give a shit about the bottom line and the money. Yeah. They don’t care that they’re selling products that could be contaminated. They don’t care about all that shit. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, it’s like that in a lot of industries. It’s not just, you know, but what else

 

Matt:

You got? Well, so next, <laugh>. So at, if you just happen to be able to scrape enough money together for your license mm-hmm. <affirmative>, guess what comes next? The taxation.

 

Dee Dee:

Oh God. Yeah.

 

Matt:

Also state regulated. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and <laugh>. They’re, okay. So these taxes run anywhere from 20 to 80%.

 

Dee Dee:

80%

 

Matt:

80. The, the, uh, hang, I’ll find this statute. Are you crappy? But the irs, I think it’s two 80 e My goodness. Um ha ha has, has companies, uh, cannabis companies reporting up to 80%. Um, taxation. You cannot survive on that. Well, no, you cannot survive on that. So,

 

Dee Dee:

No.

 

Matt:

Um, yeah, it’s, uh, IRS two 80 e tax code, um, uh, taxes ranging between 40 and 80%. And that’s reported from the irs. Oh, so that’s not businesses. That’s the IRS report

 

Dee Dee:

That just made my stomach curl because I’m like, we pay enough in taxes. I could not imagine. Yeah.

 

Matt:

So, so now, now do I think, um, do I think cannabis should, should not be taxed? No, I definitely think it should be taxed because I think people will pay that tax. And I think that I I it should

 

Dee Dee:

Be a reasonable

 

Matt:

Tax Exactly. On it has to be something. It has to be something to where the, you know, the right people are, are in place, not the most, you know, economically advantageous or corrupt people are in place. <laugh> mm-hmm. <affirmative> and, um, excuse me, they’re selling a product that, uh, that, that that is, that is correct. And at a price point that’s affordable for customers. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, because the bottom line is, um, the black market industry is still there. Sales of marijuana in California are three to one black market to Dispensate. Oh,

 

Dee Dee:

That does not

 

Matt:

Surprise me now. And that is, that’s because it is so fucking expensive to buy cannabis in California. John. No, nobody, no.

 

Dee Dee:

John and I have said that forever because of that taxation, there will always be a black market. And until you get rid of that, you’re still gonna have cartels. You’re still gonna have people coming in from outside this country to sell, to sell marijuana. Right. Because it’s cheaper. Right.

 

Matt:

Right. Yeah. And you’re gonna have people that, that, that, that are gonna take that risk. Yep. And when you, when something’s illegal, it turns into crime. Yep. When crime turns into violence. Yep. And then the snowball continues. So

 

Dee Dee:

Well, and not even to mention the whole war on drugs and how you could literally lose your house if you had marijuana and you, you know, they take that from you and then they’re home. Your money, your cars, all that shit over whatever amount it was back in the day. Right. I mean, things have changed now, but do we really wanna talk about the whole prisoner exchange with Russia and how one person is now free that violated, uh, their cannabis laws and now we have all of these people sitting in jail here in the United States. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad she got out of there. I’m glad she came home, but pardon the rest of the people that are sitting in the United States that are in fucking jail over a dime bag.

 

Matt:

Yeah.

 

Dee Dee:

Seriously. I I, that pisses me off. I agree. That is a double standard and it needs to be corrected.

 

Matt:

Right. Well,

 

Dee Dee:

Sorry, there’s mine.

 

Matt:

Well, thank you for the rant. You’re welcome. But again, um, and, and I believe I said the statistic in an earlier podcast, but I’ll say it again. Um, uh, 40% of, uh, the cannabis, cannabis industries nationwide are in the red, which means they are losing money. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, in California, that’s 60%. And these are people that can afford the licensing and afford all the expenses. Right. And they’re still, yeah. I mean, and that, that’s not people breaking even. I, I’m, I don’t know all the statistics, but I’m, I’m willing to bet that it’s, it’s in the single digits as the companies that are actually turning a reasonable profit mm-hmm. <affirmative> in most states, uh, where cannabis is legal. Um, and, uh, just to give you some ideas of the taxation, I had some really interesting numbers here. Okay. So, uh, here’s a little trivia for you. This will be fun. What’s the lowest legal, um, cost of cannabis per gram right now? Just guess

 

Dee Dee:

$10,

 

Matt:

$9 and 75 cents.

 

Dee Dee:

How do I

 

Matt:

Know? Pretty damn good.

 

Dee Dee:

We’re not talking about how I know

 

Matt:

That. Ooh.

 

Dee Dee:

Is it

 

Matt:

Michigan? We’re done. Uh, that is in a few different states. Okay. But that was reported from

 

Dee Dee:

Michigan’s pretty cheap What

 

Matt:

Didn’t say darn it. Uh, but anyway, um,

 

Dee Dee:

But see that, that also

 

Matt:

What,

 

Dee Dee:

Not only the black market, but then you have the retailers that are, you know, in com competition with each other. They’re so, they’re lowering the prices lower on their prices.

 

Matt:

Well, and a lot of a, a lot of these, this pricing has to do with taxation. Yeah. They have to charge it for, for the tax because they, they charge so much for tax. Right. What’s the most expensive state?

 

Dee Dee:

Oh Hmm. It’s a medical state or a rec

 

Matt:

State. It doesn’t matter.

 

Dee Dee:

Damn.

 

Matt:

I dunno. Virgin, Virginia. Oh, Virginia. $18 and 60 cents a gram.

 

Dee Dee:

You mention, you mentioned Virginia. No,

 

Matt:

I mentioned Virginia earlier. Yeah. Yeah. Them being exorbitantly expensive. $18 and 60 cents cuz their tax rates are so high. Ouch. Pennsylvania’s second, $15 and 62 cents. Dang. New Jersey’s third 1495. That surprised me in New Jersey. Maryland’s fourth, 1389 and Ohio is fifth at 1383.

 

Dee Dee:

Damn. I know. I got a really good friend. He has his medical card in Ohio, but he drives up to Michigan to get his stuff because it’s so much cheaper.

 

Matt:

Right? Yeah. Right. They were charging, it’s, it’s dumb.

 

Dee Dee:

It’s dumb. They were charging $60 for a vape cart in Michigan. They got it for 10. Right. Huge difference. Right. Huge difference.

 

Matt:

Right? Yeah. Okay, so here, here’s the last thing that I wanted to bring up. All right. In this, so, um, whether you want to call what we’ve discussed today, corruption or not, it’s completely up to you. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, I don’t know if, uh, if we’ve discussed this or not, but, um, Pfizer has entered the cannabis, uh, industry and, um, oh gosh, what I, I forget the name of the company that they purchased. Um, but they are, they will be the next big canna. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, shoot. Shit.

 

Dee Dee:

I’m gonna, oh, yeah. You gotta find one out. I don’t have to, you gotta know what name it is.

 

Matt:

So

 

Dee Dee:

Why is that? That doesn’t surprise me though. I mean, you’ve, you’ve got companies that are trying to get, um, patents for CBD oil and CBD products and you know, in order to get a patent for that, you have to have other synthetic stuff put into it. Yes. And do your, you know, trials and all that stuff. But you can’t patent a plant, so,

 

Matt:

Oh, okay. You find it. Yeah. Good. Um, so <laugh>, I’m just gonna read this, this, this actually came from, um, uh, uh, a site that very obscure, but anyway, oh, um, it’s in, it’s in the notes that your history, the, the, the title is, is Big Weed Coming with Pfizer’s recent purchase mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Oh, the French Toast. It’s, it’s from the French Toast. Have you look, ever read that? Yes. Okay. It’s kinda like that. Um, our great overlords and global saviors, Pfizer announced their intentions, uh, to get into the medical, uh, industry with a purchase with a 16 6.7 billion acquisition of Arena Pharmaceuticals. Okay. So they spent 6.7 billion on this. Uh, yeah. So, you know, MOPA gonna compete with, uh, Pfizer on that. You know, you think they’re gonna push their weight around, make sure that they’re the only competition in town.

 

Dee Dee:

Hey, Pfizer, I I know <laugh>. I can help you find a space

 

Matt:

<laugh>. Okay. So, uh, again, and, and here, here’s the thing is, so what, so what what Wow, what’s going to happen if we allow it to is big pharma will just consume the, the marijuana industry they will. Um, because, and frankly, I understand the motivation because if you’re a company that economic Darwinism, um, you’re losing massive amounts of, of revenue as marijuana continues to be legalized mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, you’re gonna have to jump on that bus. You’re gonna have no choice because otherwise you’re not gonna survive. Right. Um, so they’re doing what they feel they need to do to survive that can under, you can understand that mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but I wanna read some interesting, um, some interesting, um, fraud cases with big Pharma just so that the listeners can know. These are the, these are the quote unquote overlords. And, uh, and, and who, if we let them, we will have to buy our cannabis from Oh my gosh. Um, uh, Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson pled guilty to, uh, misbranding and, uh, with the intent to defraud and mislead and paying kickbacks to healthcare providers to, um, induce them to prescribe their drugs, um, resulting in fines of 2.3 billion. In 2009, um, Pfizer, Pfizer settled a lawsuit for manipulating studies and suppressing negative findings. Uh, the later, uh, I believe later that year, uh, Moderna has never developed an approved drug yet. One of their board of, oh. Yet one of their board members was placed in charge of the operational, uh, warp speed.

 

Dee Dee:

Oh,

 

Matt:

<laugh>. This certainly is unrelated to the fact that they received the most federal VA vaccine research and development funding. What, and have received over 6 billion from our government since the start of the pandemic. What? Yeah.

 

Dee Dee:

And I’m sure all this is posted

 

Matt:

Like, well, and, and that’s, you didn’t

 

Dee Dee:

Just pull this shit outta your

 

Matt:

Ass. No, no, no, no. This is, this is from, um, this is actually from the Freedom First Network.

 

Dee Dee:

Wow. Yeah.

 

Matt:

Yeah. So, uh, yeah. So, and not only that, but I’ll, the, you know, I’m glad I did. Pfizer. Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson have a windfall of, of money now, thanks to Covid, uh, from, from those vaccines that were paid for by our government. So, which gives them more control. Yeah. So, so where do you think they’re gonna spend that money now?

 

Dee Dee:

Well, yeah, big can. Why

 

Matt:

Wouldn’t, why wouldn’t you pour that into big cans? The next thing? Wow. Um,

 

Dee Dee:

People don’t get it, Matt. They don’t get it.

 

Matt:

Uh, Gilead Sciences paid 97. Oh, Gilead. Gilead.

 

Dee Dee:

Gilead. Really? Gilead. Okay. See, I knew it was

 

Matt:

Happening. Paid 97 million in fines because you don’t know that reference because it, it illegally used a non-profit foundation as a conduit to pay, uh, Medicare copays for its own drug. And to the 2005 AstraZeneca’s drug, uh, Crestor was shown to be linked to a light life-threatening muscle disease while the company withheld evidence from this and two dozen other effects, uh, from the public.

 

Dee Dee:

Wow. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>

 

Matt:

In 2012, Glaxo Sim Klein paid 3 billion in fines as it failed to include certain safety data relating to their drug since it was labeled at, uh, since it was labeled as corrected to heart failure and attacks connect. Oh. Since it was labeled, since labeled as connected to Heart Failure and Attacks.

 

Dee Dee:

I’m telling you, you’ve gotta read the freaking, um, side effects for those medications. People. Yeah. Wow.

 

Matt:

Yeah. So, um, and these are the, these are, these are also the people that are, you know, uh, paying the FDA behind the scenes. Um, we

 

Dee Dee:

Can’t get into that. Yeah. Gotta be careful with, you know, what we know for sure. And what we don’t know, Matt. We’ll,

 

Matt:

We’ll, well, here’s one right here.

 

Dee Dee:

This is all

 

Matt:

Opinion people. No, no. What I’m reading is, I know is, is, you know, referenced. So if, if, you know, please check the references. If, if you don’t want to take it for face value. Food and Drug Administration worked behind the scenes with, uh, the company Biogen, to alter previously conducted trials, uh, of their $56,000 per year Alzheimer’s treatment. Uh, by removing the, uh, the subset of people for whom the drug didn’t work, they found a slight, uh, statistical effect in favor of the drug. So basically, uh, they manipulated the statistics for people who have to pay $56,000 a year for this drug to make it look more effective than it actually was. Yep. Even after doing this, an administrative community, even after doing this, an advisory committee voted 10 to zero, uh, against approving the drug. The FDA approved the drug anyway, causing, uh, three committee members to Desi to resign.

 

Dee Dee:

Wow. Yep.

 

Matt:

Yep. So anyway, and, and it goes on and on there, there’s, there’s, I, we, I could literally spend an hour reading these. Uh, the bottom line, the, the bottom line is, uh, you know, with that great money and that great power comes corruption. Um, yeah. That’s so sad. And we really, really, really as a society, as a, as local communities and as individuals have to take it upon ourselves to not allow corruption to enter this industry any more than it already has and reverse what we’ve d what what has been done mm-hmm. <affirmative>, because we’re all responsible. If you sit idly by and say, huh, what can I do? You’re part of the problem.

 

Dee Dee:

Yeah.

 

Matt:

That, yeah. You’re part of the problem. Yeah. And that, and that’s it. And you can stick your head in the sand all you want. Uh, but that just makes you a sheep. And, and I, I don’t, I, I don’t wanna live that way. And I hope if you’re listening to this podcast means you’re a free thinker, and I hope that you don’t wanna live that way either. Right. So I would be very careful in the future to read any laws where marijuana legalization in any fashion comes up before if it should it come to a vote before you vote on it should. If, but

 

Dee Dee:

We don’t get to vote on it

 

Matt:

Here. Well, not yet, but that may happen.

 

Dee Dee:

Yeah. We’ll see.

 

Matt:

We’ll see. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, if you are in a state where it’s legal, I would be pressed now, I would be No, there’s this silver lining here because it’s not too late. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. It is far from too late. And the big thing here is that, you know, there’s not been federal movement yet. True. And I am not a big person on saying, oh, big brother federal needs to, to get in here. But if the right people are smart enough in the government to look out for the best interests of the people, <laugh> That’s funny. Don’t be sarcastic. No,

 

Dee Dee:

No. That’s funny. Come on. Have they ever done that? Yes. There’s only a few.

 

Matt:

Yes. They have. Yes. A few. This, this, this country was founded on people, a few with those interests in mind, unfortunately. And you can sit, you don’t have enough. And that’s another thing though. You can’t just sit, you can’t sit there and say, oh, well, nobody, you know, nobody cares. Everybody’s corrupted. I’m

 

Dee Dee:

Not saying that. No. But there’s only so many that care and the rest of them are bought and paid for by big Pharma. Right.

 

Matt:

But we, but we have to change that. You

 

Dee Dee:

Have to, and it is follow the money source. When you’re out there trying to vote for someone follow their money

 

Matt:

Source, this information is coming out. Yeah. People are realizing. Yes. I mean, there, it’s, I knows it’s making it in, it’s breaking through to the mainstream because it’s so bad and it needs too, it can’t, it can’t. The, the, the levy has no longer held. So the information is out. This information is public. What I’ve read to you, I did with not much research on the internet. Right. Uh, to find this information. Um, and, and that was, uh, you know, I could spend a career, um, on, on, on this, uh, stuff. But the bottom line is it’s not too late. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, there are, there’s absolutely change ability to affect change. Right. We have to take it upon ourselves and not just throw our hands up in the air and not just say, oh, the corrupt politician. Um, you know, don’t buy the product. I would say break the law, buy illegal shit. I mean, seriously. I, I would, I, I, you know, I mean, that’s, look at the Boston Tea Party, you know what I’m saying? Dump that, dump that, dump that bullshit Fi Pfizer marijuana in the ocean

 

Dee Dee:

Until we get past the political parties and the two sides. And we all realize that we need to look at our best interest and not necessarily those two political parties best interest. Yeah. That’s when things will really start to change. Yeah. When we, the people stand up against the corruption and for the, for all of it, and we start voting for people that actually have our best interest in heart, that’s when the true changes are gonna start happening. Yeah. And if we can keep politics out of, and get it out of the FDA and get it out of the big pharmas and the big companies and break up the mono, I mean, there’s so many things that we can do to, to change all of this Yeah. And actually become that one great nation again. Yeah. But when you’ve got all these companies running things and, and footing the bill and paying people off and buying things, it, it, that is what is destroying us as a nation. And you’re, you’ve got those two both sides fighting and arguing over stupid

 

Matt:

Shit. Well, but that, that’s a old play. I know. That’s a old play. I know. Is is it

 

Dee Dee:

Aggravates

 

Matt:

The piss outta me. Yeah. And, and I, you know, obviously I don’t want to get into too deep into politics. I know, but it’s, it’s super easy. And that, that’s how you control the, the popule. It is, it’s, it’s just like a team. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you pick a team mm-hmm. <affirmative> and that’s your team matter. And everything that team does is Right. Everything the other team does is wrong. And you know that, that way you can, you can at least divide the populace in half. Then you go in there and then you create other riffs Yep. To continue to divide between the two bars. I know. It’s then, and then the next thing you know, you know, you’re, you’re part of some small word,

 

Dee Dee:

But I think Matt, we can all agree cannabis is the answer.

 

Matt:

<laugh>. I, you know, I, it’s, it’s, I’m I’m glad you said that cuz I think cannabis is the start because it is here is something we can

 

Dee Dee:

All agree on

 

Matt:

Cannabis here. Well, but here is something that is proved to, well, I I don’t Well yeah. I’m gonna say was proved to, um, have potential cortical stimulation benefits to get you thinking Yeah. To get your brain thinking in a different way than it does every day. So my hope is enough people will, will use this product that maybe it will wake them up

 

Dee Dee:

Trying it illegal forever.

 

Matt:

It’s maybe

 

Dee Dee:

It helps you think,

 

Matt:

Oh my God, I don’t wanna, my gosh, I don’t, this is just a sarcastic eureka maelstrom and I, I yeah, I know. I don’t wanna do that. Eureka, um, <laugh>. Yeah. Free thinking and support the individuals that support your interest. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> don’t support the individual that’s on your team. Right. Um, the person on your team is the person that’s looking out for your health and wellness. Um, and if are you think, if you think that that’s, if you think that that’s a money-oriented individual, you are, you’re wrong. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and I, I don’t come out and ever tell anyone they’re wrong, but you’re wrong because that’s not it. That’s not worth

 

Dee Dee:

That. What an interesting podcast, y’all. I didn’t know this is where we’re going today. So it, it’s definitely, I I like what you found as far as the research goes because, you know, it’s hard. They wanna just keep people like us shut up about it. They don’t want this information getting out there and not enough people do their own free thinking to even look or even do the research. But it’s there. It’s there. If you take the time, just you can do, I mean, ah, ah, let’s stop the madness.

 

Matt:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, and,

 

Dee Dee:

And keep the corruption out of, um, cannabis.

 

Matt:

Yeah. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> I’ll, yeah. I mean that, that’s, we, we’ve got a, we’ve got an opportunity for stop,

 

Dee Dee:

Stop the good old boys.

 

Matt:

We have work, we have an opportunity for change. We do. And, and I, I think that this is a great example mm-hmm. Of, of where we, you know, as a, people can start making changes and start deciding what we want. Exactly. I mean, you know, Johnny Apple Seed, I agree. You, you throw a seed in the ground, it’s gonna, it’s gonna grow.

 

Dee Dee:

I agree.

 

Matt:

Um, you know, you throw five pounds of seeds and ditches all along the freeways of America, they’re gonna grow. I mean,

 

Dee Dee:

<laugh>

 

Matt:

Don’t really do that, but, right. Uh, I’m just on that note, you know, I’m just saying.

 

Dee Dee:

But, uh, so yes, thank you for all that information. I think that people need to hear this and, you know, thank you listeners, we really appreciate you. Please like, follow, share and, uh, tell your friends about hemp and happiness, um, and all the fun that we have. So maybe they’ll learn something too, and then they can give you credit <laugh>. But peace out. And hey, if you don’t hear us, um, have a wonderful holiday season. Stay safe, try and stay healthy. Get your vitamins in and, uh, don’t forget to stock up so you can deal with all of your favorite relatives. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So we’re open eight 12 hemps Open, 5 0 2 Hemps open. So come see us. And of course we have websites as well. <laugh>

 

Matt:

<laugh>. All right. Bye. Thanks. So

 

Dee Dee:

Thanks for joining us for another episode of Hemp and Happiness with the hemp

 

Matt:

Queen and emperor.

 

Dee Dee:

Keep your mind ever open and expanding, like, subscribe, review, follow us, all the good stuff and

 

Matt:

Keep it hemp out there.