Speaker 1: Don't want to be an American Idio.
Speaker 2: This is Scott's flown show on seven hundred WLW. We're
Speaker 2: gonna jump right into this one. This it took me
Speaker 2: and I think a lot of people by surprise. So
Speaker 2: remember that new intoxicating hemp law that the state went through,
Speaker 2: and it was taking the THHC, condensing it and putting
Speaker 2: it in things like well adult beverages, and okay, that
Speaker 2: was good. And then the wine comes in ninety day
Speaker 2: ban he shuts it down to protect the children, and
Speaker 2: then it's back on again following a court injunction. Then
Speaker 2: a finally new legislation comes down from the Ohio General Assembly.
Speaker 1: It fixes the issue.
Speaker 2: And then news broke literally just the other day, a
Speaker 2: day or two ago, that it's now in jeopardy becoming
Speaker 2: illegal because of Congress and Ohio's new intoxicating hemp laws
Speaker 2: and jeopardy after the Senate block ran Paul's amendment. And
Speaker 2: you heard some of that audio there and news helping
Speaker 2: makes sense of it.
Speaker 1: This morning.
Speaker 2: Is the architect of Ohio's law in this and that
Speaker 2: would be State Senator Steve Hoffman from Tip City.
Speaker 1: Welcome, good morning, good morning.
Speaker 3: I hope you're doing well.
Speaker 2: I'd be doing better if we had an answer to this.
Speaker 2: Were you caught off guard by this as well?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean we were, you know, the House after
Speaker 3: the injunction and you know, the House acted on the
Speaker 3: Lady six. We didn't agree on some things. So we
Speaker 3: were preparing for conference committee and you know, named the
Speaker 3: chairman of the Conference Committee, and we're setting you know,
Speaker 3: some times to get together and all of a sudden
Speaker 3: this came down that caught us by surprise, and we've
Speaker 3: got to deal with it now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and THHU THC in fused beverages are the fastest
Speaker 2: growing segment when it comes to adult drinks. I mean
Speaker 2: the craft beer movement. I just saw the Business Curves
Speaker 2: headline the other day about it's over for craft beer
Speaker 2: and now it's all THC product. People go, adults going
Speaker 2: to bars and buying this stuff. And then we had
Speaker 2: Dwine's ban and that was in jeopardy. The court steps
Speaker 2: in and fortunately you led legislation to fix this thing
Speaker 2: to allow that to be sold and it seems to
Speaker 2: be working pretty well and there's no hiccup there. And
Speaker 2: now the United States government's getting often they want to
Speaker 2: go back to the way it was before and completely
Speaker 2: banning this stuff. And it's all behind Mitch McConnell, who
Speaker 2: is leading the restrictions on this one.
Speaker 1: What why now, you know?
Speaker 3: I think going back to twenty eighteen to the Farm
Speaker 3: bill that legalized camp and then with my bill in Ohio,
Speaker 3: we followed very quickly on hamp and we were all
Speaker 3: looking at industrial hemp on what you could do with
Speaker 3: it with clothing and straws in industrial use. We weren't
Speaker 3: looking at this. We knew it was a very small part,
Speaker 3: but didn't know that it would take off like this.
Speaker 3: And I think, you know, miss McConnell, who you know,
Speaker 3: it's a big industry in Kentucky, was pushing for it,
Speaker 3: and he realizes that there's some bad actors and we
Speaker 3: should have done things differently in twenty eighteen. I'm not
Speaker 3: going to say we shouldn't have outlawed it. We should
Speaker 3: have put some regulations in to start with. We didn't.
Speaker 3: And now I think it's kind of going to the
Speaker 3: extreme at this point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because the hemp industry is saying that this basically
Speaker 2: would eliminate ninety five percent of what is now almost
Speaker 2: a thirty billion dollar industry. And some three hundred thousand jobs,
Speaker 2: and that twenty eight billion is just a tip of
Speaker 2: the iceberg. That's going to increase tenfold in the next
Speaker 2: number of years because people are liking the thh in
Speaker 2: fuse drinks more than just traditional alcohol with you know,
Speaker 2: it has the same effect. And I'm not sure what's
Speaker 2: driving Mitch McConnell on this one, because he's worried about
Speaker 2: the children. But we're back to that argument again that
Speaker 2: Governor DeWine used in order to put leverage on the
Speaker 2: General Assembly, which I understood the politics of that. I
Speaker 2: hate when politicians use it to protect the children. But
Speaker 2: Mitch McConnell's doing that again. Is this headed the same way.
Speaker 2: Eventually we'll come up with a compromise here and this
Speaker 2: will not be as bad as we are guessing it
Speaker 2: is right now.
Speaker 3: You know, I can't tell you for sure now. I mean,
Speaker 3: in the state of Ohio, we looked at it. The
Speaker 3: industry said, hey, look, we know that there's bad actors,
Speaker 3: we know that bad stuff go on, but we're the
Speaker 3: good guys people that were doing it, you know, keep
Speaker 3: it twenty one and over and things like that said,
Speaker 3: highly regulate us, you know, and It's not very often
Speaker 3: an industry comes to government says we want more regulations
Speaker 3: on us. And that was the path that we were
Speaker 3: going down in Ohio, trying to get into some a
Speaker 3: good position, and all of a sudden this came up.
Speaker 3: So I think, if there's a path to good regulations
Speaker 3: that the industry is asking for, it can still be
Speaker 3: a viable business.
Speaker 2: The legislation, would you know, Ohio's leg the one you
Speaker 2: propose is five milligrams TCH beverage and Barsarusio five milligrams.
Speaker 2: A new federal strictum of Kama wants is point four
Speaker 2: and so that would eliminate the entire sector before it
Speaker 2: even launches. And at this point, you know, what do
Speaker 2: you tell I don't know, manufacturers, what do you tell consumers?
Speaker 3: You're right? I mean it would devastate the industry. I mean,
Speaker 3: so you know, if you have derive your THHD from hemp,
Speaker 3: it would get rid of that. You know. Will the
Speaker 3: industry instead turn to legal marijuana processors and get their
Speaker 3: THD to infuse their beverages with THHD for marijuana. And
Speaker 3: that then makes a whole bunch of other regulations because
Speaker 3: now it's marijuana which legally and this is we've talked before.
Speaker 3: This is stupid. You can't take that across state lines
Speaker 3: because it's an illegal scheduled one drug. But it's okay
Speaker 3: that the Feds just turn a blind high to it
Speaker 3: in every state. Right, So, I mean that's the possibility
Speaker 3: for the industry.
Speaker 1: Should the President just get in and fix this?
Speaker 2: I know he at times, I mean it's hard to
Speaker 2: tell what Trump is thinking or what he's actually going
Speaker 2: to do, because he's pretty good at talking on of
Speaker 2: both sides of his mouth a lot of times where
Speaker 2: he stands with this, couldn't he just say, hey, this
Speaker 2: is dumb, knock it off.
Speaker 3: I guess through the FDA he could do something. You
Speaker 3: know he's talked about, yes, you know marijuana, you know,
Speaker 3: moving it from scheduled one, and that would do a lot,
Speaker 3: not for but for the marijuana industry. It would give
Speaker 3: us the ability to do research and different things like that.
Speaker 3: So you're right, it's hard to tell what he's thinking
Speaker 3: and what direction he's going to go in, but I
Speaker 3: think probably with the FDA he could do something.
Speaker 2: You see, there's all these new businesses going in right
Speaker 2: from distribution, and that would be you know, THG shops
Speaker 2: and things like that, and distributors, and of course the
Speaker 2: beverage industry itself is blown up, and all of these
Speaker 2: micro brewers are starting to put efforts into THCHC and
Speaker 2: fuse drinks. Is that's what the public wants. They like it,
Speaker 2: and they want more of it, and you give the
Speaker 2: people what they want and you regulate it. And that's
Speaker 2: how it works in America, at least it should anyway.
Speaker 2: But at this point, because we're still relatively new at
Speaker 2: this whole process, Steve Hoffman, why would any business invest
Speaker 2: in the whole process of licensing and compliance and testing
Speaker 2: and inventory when federal law could make ninety five percent
Speaker 2: of the stuff illegal. It's just going to kill business,
Speaker 2: isn't it.
Speaker 3: It seems that way. You know that my understanding. You know,
Speaker 3: if the House and the Senate finally passed this that
Speaker 3: you know, at the end of the day though, which
Speaker 3: looks like it, it gives a one year ramp, it
Speaker 3: won't be illegal for one year, So you know, basically
Speaker 3: you need to sell whatever product you have so that
Speaker 3: you can kind of cut your losses. But yeah, you're
Speaker 3: not going to keep making more and more knowing that
Speaker 3: at some point soon you're you're not going to.
Speaker 2: Be able to Yeah, it seems like Mitch McConnell and
Speaker 2: maybe other leadership in the GOP seem to talk again
Speaker 2: both sides of your mouth is they want states rights
Speaker 2: and should leave it up to the states, except for
Speaker 2: something like this, why not just say, hey, plenty of
Speaker 2: states have an acted regulation Ohio included to regulate this stuff.
Speaker 1: Why don't we just defer to them.
Speaker 3: You know, that's certainly a possibility. I mean, we've done that.
Speaker 3: You know with marijuana, there's a you know a lot
Speaker 3: of states with medical, there's there's many of them with recreational,
Speaker 3: like Ohio, and there's still some like Utah that hey,
Speaker 3: we just don't want this at all. So yeah, you
Speaker 3: could leave it up to the state. But if you
Speaker 3: you know, you look at the Rand Paul Amendment the
Speaker 3: other the other night. You know, he was trying to
Speaker 3: save the industry in Kentucky in particular, that was noted
Speaker 3: down about seventy five twenty five. So there's a large
Speaker 3: group in the US Senate. You know, maybe maybe the
Speaker 3: US House doesn't concur or at least has to say
Speaker 3: so in this and you know, there's still some.
Speaker 2: Hope that it doesn't he's Ohio Senator Steve Hoppman out
Speaker 2: of justice Tip City.
Speaker 1: It's it's we're back to this again.
Speaker 2: So we have our new intoxicating HEMP law, and that's
Speaker 2: the beverages that we enjoy edibles and cheers and smoke and.
Speaker 1: Stuff like that.
Speaker 2: Ape but largely this is about the THHD and fused
Speaker 2: drinks that are sweeping the state, if not the country
Speaker 2: right now. There's a huge demand for these products and
Speaker 2: there were legal to sell them. It became briefly legal.
Speaker 2: We had a ninety day moratorium, the court stepped in,
Speaker 2: and finally the Legislature General suddenly ender Steve's guidance fixed this,
Speaker 2: and so you can enjoy those beverages now in salom
Speaker 2: and it's great for industry, it's great for consumers and everyone,
Speaker 2: and we're keeping out of the hands of kids as well.
Speaker 1: It should be.
Speaker 2: But now the federal government stepped in under the auspices
Speaker 2: of Mitch McConnell Kentucky, who said that using the the
Speaker 2: wine argument, this is hurting children because the Farm Bill
Speaker 2: screwed this up, and we're selling intoxicating products and it
Speaker 2: may undermine all the stuff we've done in Ohio and
Speaker 2: at the same time, you know, I think it was
Speaker 2: Senate Bill fifty six we're talking about here that you implemented.
Speaker 2: So should you delay implementing this stuff or should we
Speaker 2: just put this on hold till the FED sorted out?
Speaker 1: Or we just continue forward?
Speaker 3: Well, I think here in Ohio, knowing the governor, of
Speaker 3: the President and the Speaker, they want something done about
Speaker 3: the bad stuff. They wanted it done, you know, before
Speaker 3: summer break. Now it's for Thanksgiving. So I think we're
Speaker 3: gonna more than likely act in the next few weeks
Speaker 3: against the bad things that we know they're out there
Speaker 3: in the gas stations and selling the kids. How far
Speaker 3: we go I think is still to be determined.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Do you also think that this is maybe some I
Speaker 2: don't know, some sort of power struggle here, because well,
Speaker 2: the opposing forces here are both Kentucky senators. You've got
Speaker 2: McConnell versus Paul, and we know their positions on this thing.
Speaker 2: Is the rest of the country in Ohio just getting
Speaker 2: caught up in this? Do you think there's something like
Speaker 2: behind the scenes going on here or is it just
Speaker 2: coincidental they're both from Kentucky.
Speaker 3: I think it's probably quincident. All. I think it's also
Speaker 3: part that Miss mcconnald lamed up on his way out,
Speaker 3: and you know, maybe this is, you know, one of
Speaker 3: his legacy things he's trying to get fixed before he leaves.
Speaker 3: I think they're a lot of stuff like that in there,
Speaker 3: but probably coincidental that the two are from the same state.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll be honest with you.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, we question, and rightly so, the
Speaker 2: power of Biden's auto pen and how many of these edicts, decisions,
Speaker 2: executive ours and like he made were done without his knowledge.
Speaker 2: I probably could say the same thing about Mitch McConnell.
Speaker 2: We've seen people behind the scenes, aids and assistants that
Speaker 2: dictate policy. We've seen this with Diane Feinstein and others.
Speaker 2: I would think it works with Mitch McConnell's even know
Speaker 2: what the hell this is at this point.
Speaker 3: Well, I'm certainly not in the position the past judgment
Speaker 3: on that, but he's had a very very honorable career
Speaker 3: in the aid of Kentucky and what he's done in
Speaker 3: the US Senate.
Speaker 2: So let's talk a little bit about the propersonality of
Speaker 2: this too. Is you know, the wine was concerned about
Speaker 2: child poisonings in the executive order, And I wonder how
Speaker 2: much Mitch McConnell really believes in this. Did did the
Speaker 2: federal approach and eliminating the industry does that actually does
Speaker 2: all this match the scale the ban? And does it
Speaker 2: match the scale of the child safety problem? Because I
Speaker 2: just I don't see that. Certainly there's a danger. You're
Speaker 2: a physician, you tell me. You see overdoses and kids
Speaker 2: present to emergency rooms, emergency departments, poison control centers because
Speaker 2: they ingested an edible or maybe drank something they shouldn't.
Speaker 2: We've seen that with alcohol and prescription drugs for that matter.
Speaker 2: But is the remedy here worse than the illness?
Speaker 3: Well, that's always the question, right Scott. You know, what's
Speaker 3: the balance, the balance of protecting people balance for people's liberties.
Speaker 3: And now it appears that you know to me, and
Speaker 3: I thank you, the federal government is making it unbalanced
Speaker 3: to those liberties that people should have, rather than than
Speaker 3: going overboard on the safety.
Speaker 2: So yeah, and the whole industry hangs in the balance here,
Speaker 2: It really does. And I guess we're just going to
Speaker 2: continue on when they sort this thing out. And do
Speaker 2: you have hope that I'm really rooting for ran Poly
Speaker 2: quite honestly, because I think he made a great impassion
Speaker 2: plea as a libertarian, which I thoroughly love. I know
Speaker 2: why this stuff should be continuing on the path. It
Speaker 2: is of legality, and you know, regulate it like anything else. Absolutely,
Speaker 2: it's an intoxicating product, can't fall in the wrong hands.
Speaker 2: But to simply shut the whole sector down because of
Speaker 2: the twenty eighteen Farm Bill and we're protecting children is
Speaker 2: a mindless exercise. Do we have hope that this thing
Speaker 2: is going to simply get squashed?
Speaker 3: I think the hope is the one year that is
Speaker 3: given to fix this in a different way, so the
Speaker 3: band wouldn't happen for a year on a federal level.
Speaker 3: Maybe they come back and you know, give the states
Speaker 3: the ability to do it. Maybe they legalized drinks, so
Speaker 3: I think that was what the thought process there was, or.
Speaker 2: Maybe looked like states like Ohio and Go well, they
Speaker 2: seem to be doing it right. That is the petri
Speaker 2: dish of experimentation. Is it not that we have fifty states,
Speaker 2: and of course in each state multiple counties and jurisdictions,
Speaker 2: and somebody eventually is going to come up with a
Speaker 2: good idea that we can copy and use as a
Speaker 2: national model. But the posturing here is rather confusion, especially
Speaker 2: at the time when we just had this protracted, the
Speaker 2: longest government shutdown in history, and now the news that's
Speaker 2: coming out as they're messing with your THHD in few drinks,
Speaker 2: just when you need the most, Steve, with the holidays
Speaker 2: coming up and the headache we have with government shutdowns.
Speaker 3: You know, sometimes you just scratch your head, don't you really?
Speaker 2: Do you really do other stuff to worry about? All right,
Speaker 2: I know you're optimistic about this thing, that the cooler
Speaker 2: heads will prevail, someone will get the mcconalm go.
Speaker 1: This's a bad idea. Just look at Ohio.
Speaker 2: Hopefully that is going to happen because people enjoy this stuff.
Speaker 2: It's a legal product, and people argue it's better for
Speaker 2: you and feel better than drinking traditional all call. So
Speaker 2: you know, I pick your poison, as it were. But
Speaker 2: this is a silly, silly exercise in what government does
Speaker 2: it and worst, and that is picking winners and losers.
Speaker 2: All the best, Steve, Thanks for joining you. Take care,
Speaker 2: have a good day you too, Take Care State Center
Speaker 2: or Steve Huffman on the Scoonslan Show this morning on
Speaker 2: seven hundred wh Theyn'm not all worked up about this.
Speaker 1: Because it's just stupid. You know, I've tried the THT beverages.
Speaker 2: I like him better than like an energy drink, for example, which,
Speaker 2: by the way, I just saw a story of study
Speaker 2: about energy drinks and long term heart issues and brain
Speaker 2: issues and stuff like that. I don't know if it's
Speaker 2: true or not. I've tried energy drinks before. I just
Speaker 2: don't like the taste of them. I have to find
Speaker 2: one I really like. But plenty of people enjoy energy drinks,
Speaker 2: you know, the same thing should. Young kids are getting caffeine.
Speaker 2: They're going on the Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts McDonald's. Kids enjoy coffee.
Speaker 2: When you're a little kid, you always hated coffee, right
Speaker 2: you try? How could you drink that? It's terrible? And
Speaker 2: then your taste buds changes you get already love coffee. Now,
Speaker 2: young people, largely because it's loaded with sugar, will drink
Speaker 2: caffeinated drinks, and a lot of them for that matter, too,
Speaker 2: and that causes problems. Why aren't we cracking down on
Speaker 2: that stuff?
Speaker 1: And we should? Is what I'm saying is.
Speaker 2: You know there are harmful effects, and no matter what
Speaker 2: you know what, sugar is going to be bad for
Speaker 2: you as a result of that. In this case, if
Speaker 2: you're an adult and you want a legal beverage that
Speaker 2: should be legal for that matter, you get the same
Speaker 2: effect as alcohol. You're not picking winners and losers, and
Speaker 2: you're of course you're parsing over whether or not it's
Speaker 2: bad for kid. Well, it's all bad for kids everything
Speaker 2: we put in our bodies, generally, outside of maybe water,
Speaker 2: and if you live in Flint maybe not so much either.
Speaker 2: Then water's bad for you, right, You can actually die
Speaker 2: from drinking too much water.
Speaker 1: So I don't know.
Speaker 2: If it's poison, it's one thing, But if it's something
Speaker 2: that's intoxicating, God knows. We need it today more than
Speaker 2: ever because the nonsense the government continues to pull. I
Speaker 2: need more alcohol, I need more intoxicating things, not less,
Speaker 2: as a grown asked man Scott Sloan, seven hundred WW