Speaker 1: Hey, there are folks. It is Saturday, November fifteenth, and
Speaker 1: did you catch it? In that bill that Congress signed
Speaker 1: to reopen the government, they actually closed your favorite weed shop.
Speaker 1: And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ.
Speaker 2: Robes.
Speaker 1: This is a shocker, and folks better stock up right now,
Speaker 1: run out, get all the gummyes you can.
Speaker 3: There are so many of us who have grown accustomed
Speaker 3: now to legalized THHC products, marijuana products that are regulated
Speaker 3: that you know what you're getting and can be, according
Speaker 3: to a lot of doctors, a safer alternative to alcohol
Speaker 3: in many regards, and so a lot of this is
Speaker 3: a booming industry and we've gotten comfortable.
Speaker 2: There's a dispensary.
Speaker 3: Pretty much as many like on every block, as much
Speaker 3: as there are Starbucks now here in New York City,
Speaker 3: and they're beautiful and nice, and you have to go
Speaker 3: through all of the extensive.
Speaker 2: Like moments of you got to hand your idea. It's
Speaker 2: all legal.
Speaker 3: It all feels clean and nice and not dirty and
Speaker 3: gross in backdoor and black market, and that's what it
Speaker 3: used to be like, right when folks are trying to
Speaker 3: get marijuana, and so it's yeah, it's been elevated and
Speaker 3: legalized and actually convenient.
Speaker 1: Okay, well, Congress just shut it all down, folks. This
Speaker 1: is not this is not being alarmist. This is not
Speaker 1: just writing a click baity headline. Yes, when the government,
Speaker 1: when Congress voted to reopen the government, in that bill,
Speaker 1: there was something else in there that effectively eliminates the
Speaker 1: marijuana or the hemp, the THHC, the gummy industry that
Speaker 1: everybody has grown to become accustomed to too that you
Speaker 1: just talked about ropes. This is a bill that was
Speaker 1: supposed like everybody's paying attention to it. We see so
Speaker 1: many times if things get tucked in there, something will
Speaker 1: slid into some bill last minute, and this is one
Speaker 1: of those things. What was the other one we talked
Speaker 1: about that five hundred thousand dollars they could they gave
Speaker 1: themselves permission to sue. This is something else now that
Speaker 1: was slid in there. We don't exactly know who, and
Speaker 1: nobody's taking responsibility. But folks, what it does is close
Speaker 1: a loophole in the Farm Bill from twenty eighteen that
Speaker 1: now would make all of your favorite gummies, edibles, baked goods, vapes,
Speaker 1: thac infused beverages topical oils creams obsolete. They would be
Speaker 1: illegal if this thing goes into effect. I guess the
Speaker 1: one upside robes is that it's not going into effect immediately.
Speaker 3: Yes, it's supposed to take effect in one year. And
Speaker 3: this hidden provision, yes, criminalizes nearly all consumable.
Speaker 2: Hemp products across this country. Doesn't matter what state you
Speaker 2: live in.
Speaker 3: Doesn't even matter if you live in Colorado, probably the
Speaker 3: most hemp friendly state in this country.
Speaker 2: You are all and we are all under.
Speaker 3: This same ban, this provision, So it prohibits products here's
Speaker 3: the specific language that contain more than point four milligrams
Speaker 3: of THHC per items. To give you an example, most
Speaker 3: products contain fifty to one hundred milligrams per container, so
Speaker 3: a single edible typically is five to ten milligrams. Again,
Speaker 3: this ban, or this the measure that was put in
Speaker 3: the bill, only allows point four milligrams of THHC. That
Speaker 3: pretty much eliminates every single product on the market right
Speaker 3: now that these dispensaries are selling.
Speaker 1: And a question why would they do this? Some wonder,
Speaker 1: I don't know what, question why this was the moment
Speaker 1: to do this? But rogues I when we talk about
Speaker 1: the Republicans and Democrats trying to blame each other, trying
Speaker 1: to see who comes out with a political advantage during
Speaker 1: the shutdown. They're worried about who's going to get blamed,
Speaker 1: who's gonna get blamed now for taking away everybody's weed
Speaker 1: tac gummies like this. This was buried, it's coming out now.
Speaker 1: But folks, what we are talking about, these are folks.
Speaker 1: Look people like to get high. We know folks got
Speaker 1: something in to pocket, something in the system all day long. Fine,
Speaker 1: but there are a lot of folks, and older folks
Speaker 1: in particular, this is an alternative, an alternative to a
Speaker 1: lot of medicines. And this is not just about people
Speaker 1: who just want to get high, correct.
Speaker 3: I mean, yes, of course there's the recreational users, but
Speaker 3: there are medicinal users and folks rely on this if
Speaker 3: you have cancer treatments, if you have a lot of issues,
Speaker 3: auto immune disorders.
Speaker 2: If you have chronic pain.
Speaker 3: Marijuana and hemp has been a safe alternative to a
Speaker 3: lot of drugs and fewer side effects. Some would argue,
Speaker 3: so this is going to have serious implications for folks
Speaker 3: who just like to have fun and folks who actually
Speaker 3: are trying to take away pain or try to This
Speaker 3: can be an appetite stimulant. There are a lot of
Speaker 3: reasons why it is is something that doctors have prescribed
Speaker 3: and have actually preferred to other traditional medicines, or even
Speaker 3: like I said, people will turn to alcohol. Instead of
Speaker 3: avoiding alcohol, you can turn to marijuana as a safer alternative.
Speaker 1: So I mean, at this point, we really don't know.
Speaker 1: So we got a year. The argument a so why
Speaker 1: make it a year where they're trying to give maybe
Speaker 1: the industry an opportunity and time to pivot to adjust.
Speaker 1: But there are some who tell you there is nothing
Speaker 1: we can't adjust too. There was a way one hemp
Speaker 1: producer put it, this is an extinction level event. This
Speaker 1: industry cannot continue with the way it is. However, Robes
Speaker 1: it is not just a matter they give them a
Speaker 1: year to And this is what called me down. And
Speaker 1: I say call me down not because I'm going to
Speaker 1: be in some way harmed if the hemp industry goes away.
Speaker 1: But this is a multi billion dollar industry, almost thirty
Speaker 1: billion dollars a year in this country.
Speaker 2: And there's a lot of jobs, yes, three thousand jobs.
Speaker 1: So the thing that they put us is it's not
Speaker 1: a year until the band goes into a place. I said,
Speaker 1: look at it like this, it's a year for us
Speaker 1: to figure out how to properly regulate this industry.
Speaker 3: And let's hope that's true, because yes, I think everybody
Speaker 3: in terms of especially when you're dealing with a substance
Speaker 3: that can do harm and do good, you want to
Speaker 3: have regulations. I think that's what makes people feel safe
Speaker 3: going into a dispensary, is they're not just they don't
Speaker 3: they know what they're getting, and that feels better than
Speaker 3: obviously what other people have turned to in the black market.
Speaker 3: But you mentioned twenty eight point four billion dollar industry
Speaker 3: in this country. We meant three hundred thousand jobs. This measure,
Speaker 3: if it is allowed to take effect, will wipe out
Speaker 3: ninety five percent of the industry and will cost states
Speaker 3: one point five billion dollars in tax revenue. Think about
Speaker 3: the tax revenue the states that have legalized marijuana now
Speaker 3: in THHC.
Speaker 2: They are bringing in billions.
Speaker 3: Of dollars collectively. And there is one senator who sounded
Speaker 3: the alarm. I did see this actually right before they
Speaker 3: voted on the measure to reopen the government. I actually
Speaker 3: didn't think it was going to stay, and Senator Ran
Speaker 3: Paul was refusing to sign the bill because of this
Speaker 3: hidden measure. He wanted to take the language out of
Speaker 3: the Senate bill, but the Senate overwhelmingly voted against Senator
Speaker 3: Paul's amendment to try and take this out. So there
Speaker 3: are a lot of you know, lawmakers who are up
Speaker 3: for reelection. They believe their constituents don't want legalized marijuana
Speaker 3: in their states, and so a lot of these senators
Speaker 3: presumably voted with.
Speaker 2: That in mind.
Speaker 1: I don't know where the debate is going on, right
Speaker 1: they I mean, yeah, maybe in their districts. They need
Speaker 1: to be seen as being anti marijuana if you will,
Speaker 1: and I know a lot of folks will point to
Speaker 1: this as some kind of a gateway drug where it
Speaker 1: leads to problems in people's lives and they can't function
Speaker 1: during the day. Look, those things are legit, but it's
Speaker 1: got to be balanced out in some way. You can't
Speaker 1: just and I don't think they will as we looked
Speaker 1: into this more. Yes, this is real, folks. If they
Speaker 1: don't do something, every all of it's going away. If
Speaker 1: they don't do something, I have to believe they're going
Speaker 1: to do something about this. Yes, I just don't understand
Speaker 1: why this was necessary in this moment. Maybe this is
Speaker 1: something that wouldn't have normally gotten approval, and you slide
Speaker 1: it in here now, last minute during an emergency. Who's
Speaker 1: going to vote against it? Now kind of a thing
Speaker 1: because we've got to get the government reopened. This is
Speaker 1: just the timing of this is shitty.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And there was too much on the line for
Speaker 3: them to get hung up on something like this. And again,
Speaker 3: as Congress typically does, they kick the can down the
Speaker 3: road and say we'll deal with this later. But I
Speaker 3: can't imagine what it's like if you have invested. I
Speaker 3: just think about all the dispensaries that have opened up.
Speaker 3: We can only speak here it to New York City,
Speaker 3: but we actually know some of the folks who they
Speaker 3: family businesses. This is they have put their investments into
Speaker 3: these companies that are now in limbo, and that's got
Speaker 3: to be a very scary thing. One of the dispensary
Speaker 3: owners I plucked a quote because I just thought it
Speaker 3: was so well put. He said, the widespread ramifications of
Speaker 3: killing an entire industry that brings in this much money,
Speaker 3: that employs this many people. That brings that kind of
Speaker 3: relief to that many people.
Speaker 2: It's kind of a dirty trick to pull on folks,
Speaker 2: especially so quickly. Most people did not see this coming.
Speaker 1: Well, no, they claim they do, and I want to
Speaker 1: I mean, I want to say folks are doing it
Speaker 1: in good faith or have their hearts in the right place.
Speaker 1: And some people do believe this is something that kids
Speaker 1: shouldn't have as much access to. This isn't something that
Speaker 1: most Americans should have that easy access to for whatever reasons. Yes,
Speaker 1: doctors might feel differently, individuals might feel differently. I'm trying
Speaker 1: to at least not These aren't bad actors necessarily, and
Speaker 1: the timing is bizarre, But if folks have a legit reason,
Speaker 1: then this is a debate we should have now at
Speaker 1: this moment to do that. So now to your point
Speaker 1: about that the dispensaries stressing out, Yes, a whole industry
Speaker 1: for a year for what.
Speaker 2: I mean, Yeah, I was just trying to imagine. You
Speaker 2: can't pivot. There is no other alternative for these folks.
Speaker 3: So that's tough, and it, I don't know, it reminds
Speaker 3: me of prohibition when you have our government try and
Speaker 3: whatever their morality is whatever they think is right or wrong,
Speaker 3: and they're trying to impose that now on the country
Speaker 3: as a whole. A lot of folks argue, a lot
Speaker 3: of senators have argued this, and it has been a
Speaker 3: state by state issue. Let the states decide what is
Speaker 3: right for that community because it is different. Think about
Speaker 3: the difference between a state like Texas and a state
Speaker 3: like Colorado. I mean, they just have very different opinions
Speaker 3: on how to view this specific industry.
Speaker 2: And let that be the case.
Speaker 3: But to have a federal, you know, widespread ban on
Speaker 3: this is just gutting. There's no other way to put
Speaker 3: it for these folks.
Speaker 1: And that's what we talk about the stock market in
Speaker 1: this a lot of time. But what do they hate?
Speaker 1: Uncertainty they now for the next year, Like, how can
Speaker 1: you plan out your your your supplies, how can you
Speaker 1: plan out your rent, your lease, your employees. You can't
Speaker 1: do anything because based on what they did, everybody needs
Speaker 1: to right now be winding down and getting ready to
Speaker 1: shut down their businesses in a year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and look, it makes me a little concerned about
Speaker 3: what the debate is going to be. We heard from
Speaker 3: Senator Mitch McConnell and his big point was, Hey, these companies,
Speaker 3: these dispensaries have exploited this loophole on the twenty eighteen
Speaker 3: Farm bill.
Speaker 2: And he said, by.
Speaker 3: Taking legal amounts of THHC from hemp and turning it
Speaker 3: into intoxicating substances. This was not intended to create a
Speaker 3: consumable pot market.
Speaker 1: But here we are now, But it was an unintended consequence.
Speaker 1: Here we are. Are you really going to take it
Speaker 1: all back? You're gonna shut down, hey, multi billion dollars industry. Okay,
Speaker 1: look he feels that way. Wasn't he the head of
Speaker 1: very much bearheading the farm bell Yes, Mish McConnell. Yes,
Speaker 1: So the guy who gave this to us is now
Speaker 1: trying to take it away.
Speaker 3: And they say that So this loophole, they say, have
Speaker 3: fueled the quote rapid growth of an underregulated industry that
Speaker 3: threatens public health and safety and undermines law enforcement nationwide. Okay,
Speaker 3: So I think all of us would be in favor
Speaker 3: of a regulated market, a more regulated market.
Speaker 2: Tax it, tax the heck out of it.
Speaker 3: This, you know, I think that's great if we can find,
Speaker 3: you know, some positives, make sure that's safe, make sure
Speaker 3: it's uniform. People know what they're getting and states benefit
Speaker 3: it benefit from it financially. So people can benefit from
Speaker 3: it medicinally and states can benefit from it financially.
Speaker 2: But yes, regulation is important and key to all of it.
Speaker 1: But folks, stay here, some of you all, I guess
Speaker 1: most of us at this point no what the impact
Speaker 1: the effects of marijuana could be. But there are some
Speaker 1: side effects they list as well. One in particular jumped
Speaker 1: out at us. We'll share that with you also. As
Speaker 1: many of you will know, Amy Robock has an oncologist.
Speaker 1: Wait until you hear what she told her patient, Amy Roboch,
Speaker 1: about using marijuana and alcohol given her health. Stay here,
Speaker 1: all right, folks, we continue here on this Saturday, November fifteenth.
Speaker 1: I do believe it is maybe some of you are
Speaker 1: on the way to your weed shop now and stocking up.
Speaker 1: You left the house during the commercial break there so
Speaker 1: you could and look, some people are telling you absolutely
Speaker 1: stock up on everything you can because we don't know
Speaker 1: what's going to happen. Yes, the provision tucked into that
Speaker 1: continuing resolution that reopened the government is actually going to
Speaker 1: close down of actively the marijuana industry in this country
Speaker 1: ropes date. So I'll go ahead, you trying to jump.
Speaker 1: Oh no, you're about to say something.
Speaker 3: Oh no, I'm I'm actually laughing at just how easy
Speaker 3: it's become. You can order gummies, beverages that are enhanced
Speaker 3: with THHC, pretty much any kind of THHD product here
Speaker 3: in this city. Uh, you go online, it's delivered to
Speaker 3: your front door. I mean, they this has been a
Speaker 3: huge evolution in accessibility and.
Speaker 2: And just again the uniformity.
Speaker 3: If you know you're getting their specific brands, it all
Speaker 3: feels legal, nothing feels scary or wrong.
Speaker 2: And look, I don't know. I mean I get some
Speaker 2: of the.
Speaker 3: Arguments about they don't want this introduced to folks. As
Speaker 3: you mentioned, potential gateway drug. I heard that all growing
Speaker 3: up my whole life. You know, marijuana is a gateway drug.
Speaker 3: But then what about alcohol? I mean, I just I
Speaker 3: feel where does it end? Where does it stop? How
Speaker 3: do you how do you police what people choose to
Speaker 3: use to make themselves feel better?
Speaker 2: Period?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 1: You police it by sneaking this provision into a government
Speaker 1: spending bill. I was there with you. Look, we've been
Speaker 1: trying for and we have cut back on alcohol. There's
Speaker 1: nothing out there that comes out that says one drop
Speaker 1: of alcohol is good for you. We all know there's
Speaker 1: no safe amount of alcohol.
Speaker 2: There is no safe amount.
Speaker 1: Let's just cut back and that has been good and
Speaker 1: healthy for us and we feel better and all that's great.
Speaker 1: I was with you in one of your doctor's appointments
Speaker 1: in which she was I don't think she was getting
Speaker 1: onto you at the time, but talking about your health
Speaker 1: and moving forward and what you should put in your body.
Speaker 1: You told she was asking you how much alcohol. Her
Speaker 1: answer didn't surprise me about the alcohol. I was surprised
Speaker 1: at just how much of a cheerleader and advocate she
Speaker 1: was for marijuana.
Speaker 2: Yes, she said.
Speaker 3: She was like Amy, put down the glass of wine
Speaker 3: at night, pop yourself a marijuana gummy. It is significantly
Speaker 3: less risky for you to do that, to unwind at
Speaker 3: the end of the night than it is to have
Speaker 3: any kind of alcohol as a breast cancer survivor. And
Speaker 3: so there is an absolute link between alcohol consumption and
Speaker 3: breast cancer recurrence and breast cancer just in general, a
Speaker 3: lot of cancers. There is a direct correlation between drinking
Speaker 3: and cancer period and so it's really interesting when your
Speaker 3: oncologist tells you enjoy a gummy. You know, obviously nothing
Speaker 3: in excess, but in moderation, this is a much safer
Speaker 3: alternative for you amy to have a marijuana gummy than
Speaker 3: it is for you to have a margarita.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's not just a matter we have to
Speaker 1: say that. Sometimes people make jokes and I saw a
Speaker 1: couple clever headlines and the rioting industry going up in
Speaker 1: smoke and stuff like that. It's okay, fine, we get
Speaker 1: all that, but this is much more to this and
Speaker 1: what this can do and the health of the country
Speaker 1: that is going to impact. Because you have people on
Speaker 1: both sides saying this will be good for the health
Speaker 1: of the country. Some will say it'll be bad for
Speaker 1: the health of the country. The answer has to be
Speaker 1: somewhere in between. But I'm okay with the regulation. You
Speaker 1: speak up if we see it that way. But why
Speaker 1: couldn't we say that. Why couldn't we say, hey, guys,
Speaker 1: we are going to come up with a way to
Speaker 1: regulate this industry. We're going to introduce a bill to
Speaker 1: do so, and then we can all debate about it.
Speaker 1: You just told them we're going to shut it down.
Speaker 1: There is no alternative right now, there is no We're
Speaker 1: going to shut it down and then we'll talk and
Speaker 1: they're just shut it down.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's happening, and it's interesting too. I just this
Speaker 2: is just I'm telling you, it's so interesting the trends.
Speaker 3: And I don't know that they've done a widespread study
Speaker 3: on this, but I just know from Anali's who is nineteen,
Speaker 3: she's got a lot of friends who's moms, and they
Speaker 3: all say, oh, my mom loves this gummy or that gummy.
Speaker 3: It's become instead of who used to hear, oh a woman,
Speaker 3: you know, in the afternoon to online having a glass
Speaker 3: of wine and watching, you know, a show. Now you
Speaker 3: have people popping a gummy and going about their day
Speaker 3: and just being a little bit more cheerful, a little
Speaker 3: bit more relaxed, a little less anxious. And I've just
Speaker 3: heard from so many people my age it's trending significantly.
Speaker 3: So I have a feeling people are going to be
Speaker 3: in an uproar about this being now illegal and unavailable, yep,
Speaker 3: because I don't think a lot of people have heard
Speaker 3: about this. This is just recreational, This is just you know,
Speaker 3: just to relax whatever. But this is actually very beneficial
Speaker 3: for a lot of folks. According to WebMD, if you
Speaker 3: think about what THC can do. It can control vomiting
Speaker 3: for folks undergoing chemotherapy, reduce pain for people who have
Speaker 3: nerve damage, cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis.
Speaker 2: It can reduce muscle.
Speaker 3: Spasms in folks who have MS. It improves sleep for
Speaker 3: people who have sleep issues. It can increase I mentioned
Speaker 3: the appetite for people who have HIV and AIDS, people
Speaker 3: who just need to be eating. It can reduce ticks
Speaker 3: in people who have Tourette syndrome. It can reduce anxiety
Speaker 3: in people who have social anxiety disorder, and it improves
Speaker 3: symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder. So there are really
Speaker 3: it's so interesting me that it's been so vilified when
Speaker 3: there are so many benefits.
Speaker 2: And you think about any drug.
Speaker 3: And I have been on plenty of them through my
Speaker 3: cancer treatments, they all have side effects. This has the
Speaker 3: least amount that I can imagine having taken anything else
Speaker 3: for pain management or for anxiety, for any of the
Speaker 3: other issues that can come up when you have a
Speaker 3: chronic illness.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all those things you listed the benefits of them,
Speaker 1: I mean you listed ten plus things over right over there.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And the other one is it can reduce your stress level.
Speaker 2: Yes, you are.
Speaker 1: You worried about your bills, You worried about your lights
Speaker 1: getting cut off, you worried about them coming to repo? Yoka,
Speaker 1: go ahead, Papa.
Speaker 2: Gummy, It's just not going to matter. You just won't
Speaker 2: be a stressing It gives you instant perspective. I will
Speaker 2: tell you.
Speaker 3: I kind of chuckled because they list the side effects
Speaker 3: in web MD.
Speaker 2: Among them euphoria.
Speaker 1: That's a side effect.
Speaker 2: That's a relaxation.
Speaker 1: Yeah, side effect.
Speaker 3: Now the bad one is impaired memory. There can be confusion,
Speaker 3: poor muscle coordination. So I guess you could potentially more
Speaker 3: likely to fall dry mouth.
Speaker 1: But they listed those together side effects, so a negative, right,
Speaker 1: it's supposed to be euphoria, Yes.
Speaker 3: Side effects Euphoria it says strong sense of happiness.
Speaker 2: Or well being.
Speaker 1: That's a side effects.
Speaker 2: That's a side effect.
Speaker 3: Altered senses, brighter colors, stronger odors, so you have a
Speaker 3: sharpened you have sharpened senses then, or yeah you do,
Speaker 3: You're everything's kind of triggered in his Yes, you know.
Speaker 1: Those commercials, those uh prescription drug commercials where they say, ah,
Speaker 1: there's somebody's sitting on a hill. The sun and the
Speaker 1: pool and all that stuff. And they always have to
Speaker 1: legally list the side effects because diarrhea, cramping and all
Speaker 1: kinds of suicide.
Speaker 3: Effects could include euphoria, a strong sense of happiness or well.
Speaker 1: Imagine listing that on a marijuana.
Speaker 2: Also possible relaxation or sleepiness.
Speaker 1: What makes you forgetful?
Speaker 2: It does?
Speaker 3: It can make you forgetful, impaired memory and thinking, confusion
Speaker 3: and disoriented.
Speaker 1: It could cause you to forget your problems. It's another
Speaker 1: way to put it. Hey, anyway, this was an interesting one.
Speaker 1: This I would wager. Now they will fix this, find
Speaker 1: a way to fix it, and maybe they will make
Speaker 1: the industry better. The other part of that, if it
Speaker 1: gets better, it gets more regulated, then it might get
Speaker 1: more expensive, it might be in shorter supply. But I
Speaker 1: don't think it's a bad thing to have better regulation.
Speaker 1: I just hate that they did this last second, sneak
Speaker 1: it in there, and the industry is like what the yeah? What?
Speaker 3: Like the one dispense free owner said it was a
Speaker 3: dirty trick, and it was a hidden, dirty trick. So
Speaker 3: we hope they fix it. You know that we're going
Speaker 3: to keep our eye on this. This is something that
Speaker 3: we will be following, but we wanted to make sure
Speaker 3: you knew about it because a lot of folks have
Speaker 3: no clue that this got slipped into that spending though,
Speaker 3: so we will keep you updated, but for now, thank
Speaker 3: you so much for listening to us, every one. I
Speaker 3: made me Robock alongside TJ. Holmes, have a great weekend bacation.