Audio Version | What Every Minnesota Cannabis Consumer Should Know with Aidan McCluskey | Season 2 Episode 05

Minnesota's cannabis industry continues to evolve, but many consumers still have questions about how the market works and where it's headed.

In this episode of The Canna Connect Show, Stephen Eigenmann is joined by comedian Aidan McCluskey for an approachable conversation about cannabis, comedy, and Minnesota's adult-use market.

Together they discuss:

• Why cannabis costs more in Minnesota than neighboring states
 • Medical versus adult-use cannabis
 • Traveling with cannabis and understanding Minnesota law
 • How Minnesota compares to Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois
 • Why the state created a microbusiness-focused licensing system
 • Tribal cannabis programs and the future of legalization
 • Aidan's career in stand-up comedy

The episode also previews Canna Connect Brainerd, where Aidan will serve as event host while attendees experience four Community Pods designed to encourage meaningful conversations between consumers, entrepreneurs, operators, and industry professionals.

Whether you're exploring cannabis for the first time or have been following Minnesota's rollout from day one, this episode provides practical insights into today's market and what's coming next.

Our Partner Network

Canna Connect proudly partners with organizations that are helping build Minnesota's cannabis community.

Trailhead Cannabis Company is committed to creating an exceptional retail experience while supporting the growth of Minnesota's independent cannabis industry.

Dutchie provides the technology that powers modern cannabis dispensaries, making it easier for consumers to explore products and connect with licensed retailers.

Earl Giles continues to bring people together through hospitality, education, and community events that help normalize and celebrate cannabis culture in Minnesota.

Become Part of the Canna Connect Community Network

Every episode, Community Spotlight, and partner profile helps connect Minnesota's cannabis industry. Visit CannaConnectMN.com to explore interviews, resources, events, and the trusted organizations helping shape the future of cannabis in Minnesota.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:08

Welcome back to the Canon Connect Show season two brought to you by What Rebates. I'm here with Aiden McCluskey, man, professional comedian, uh soon to be uh upcoming host of Canakonnect Brainerd. Yeah, super excited to have you back in the North Woods. Yeah, dude. Uh I'm excited.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

The Garrison one was fun. Yeah, I like that one. Yeah. Do you remember how many gummies you left with from that event? So many. I ended up giving so many away. Because it was like two gallon bags of your friend's rejects. So it was massive. They got stale at a certain point.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

Yeah. But I kept eating them. Sometimes uh when I watch your show, I'll think back to like because you're you're a cannabis user, not not a that's not like what you talk about on stage, but like I pick up on that. So I'm like, sometimes I'm like, man, I wonder how he did with all those gummies.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Yeah, I tried my best. I mean, I have a pretty high tolerance, but like you can only eat so many of them before it's like this is fucking eating candy at this point. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 1:12

And THD on top of THC on top of THC, like that's you kind of know what that feels like. Hey everybody, Steven with Canaconnect, taking a quick minute to shout out today's sponsor, CEE. That is the Center for Energy and Environment. If you're not familiar with CEE, they're your one-stop shop for all lighting rebates. If you are in XL Energy Territory and you're a micro business, CEE is somebody that you need to talk to. Give Brad a call, give Tony a call, go online, one-stop shop, LED lighting rebates. They'll help take care of up to 60% of the cost associated with your grow and your build out with the lighting. Uh, really nice people, great people to work with, huge sponsors of CannaConnect, and uh give them a shout. That's CEE, Center for Energy and Environment.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Yeah, oh yeah. And like, I mean, I was using them at night to like help me sleep. But then it was like, okay, I'm taking two a night, but I have two gallon bags. I gotta start giving them away. So I just started giving them to people as like gifts and putting them in my own bags.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

You know, I mean that's that's often what I do with products. Yeah. You it you get you get gifted and you people share. It's yeah, very communal in this industry or this space. And uh um I just remember like at the end of Garrison Hemphest, like we didn't make a lot of money, but we sure had we sure had a lot of products to hand out at the end.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Absolutely. And like the thing is, like, I don't know, being in high school, I always used to be like, oh, like how rappers post with like bricks. And I was like, that's so cool. But then you get enough weed given to you where you're like, oh, I realistically can't use all this. There's really no way. I need like a half ounce, and that'll last me plenty of time.

SPEAKER_02 3:06

Yeah, I mean, it will you don't stay 18 to 22 for forever. No, no. Um, I think you know, our first time I saw you perform was at ACME, probably 2022 or 2023. Early on. Like tell people a little bit about what you do for a living, kind of like how things are going.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Yeah. So stand-up comedian uh started at ACME. Well, I guess I re realistically I started at Boobs Brewing in Winona. Okay. Acme, and then I worked my way up through ACME. It's called Boobs. Yeah. B-U-B-S. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

But pronounced boobs, I guess. Yeah. And you were you're from Wisconsin, so were you traveling from home to Winona?

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Yeah. Cool. Because my parents live closer to Minnesota than we do, like Madison. Yeah. So it was easier to just drive over there and to come up this way. There's more comedy up here than there is closer places in the state.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

It's kind of interesting how close the Twin Cities are to Wisconsin.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

Yeah. I mean, within what, 35, 40 minutes here in Hudson, yeah. It's really not too bad.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

But that's what gets sketchy about like driving to and from with the weed, is it's like you kind of forget that you even I do when I visit back home. I'm like, oh yeah, I have I would go to jail here for this. Yeah. But yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

Well, and get this, like this is what has shook fear into my heart. Like, if you're traveling with weed in Minnesota, it has to be in its original packaging stored in the back of the car. Yeah. And like think of it in think of like a liter or a 7.5 in like that same way, cap on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

So what if the seal, because like I bought a half ounce. It's in the original thing, but it's like very clearly I've used it.

SPEAKER_02 5:08

Sure. But in that case, then it's got to be in the trunk. Yep. You know, your paraphernalia cannot be within the cabin. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Not how I travel with weed. Generally not, because I don't think about if I go out, it's like in my pocket. And then I just get in my car and drive. Even if I'm not smoking and it's just in my pocket, I'm like, oh, I would be in trouble. I didn't even know that.

SPEAKER_02 5:29

Well, and I think part of it is like, you know, for dip depending on how you use cannabis recreationally, part of it is like, I just like to have it on me or it's nearby. You know, it's like, and it's a crutch in that, in that case, right? But it's in a legality standpoint, it's a DUI.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Yeah. Well, do they have accurate ways of testing? Because I know for a little bit it was like a blood test and then they have the mouth swab, but I've heard both of those are like not very accurate.

SPEAKER_02 5:58

True. I think the the bigger problem or the more the harder problem to get around is the open container aspect. Yeah. So whether whether you're impaired or not, like, and I the dude, I don't even like talking about this because like I've had probably the what I was saying before, it's like I have to make sure that I am not breaking law. Because that's that would be a huge problem if I did. Um, and like one of the things I wanted to talk to you about on the show is is like if you look at the Midwest, which you've you've played shows all across the Midwest, every state has a really different uh rule or program within the within cannabis as we know it in Minnesota. Like in North Dakota, it's medical marijuana, South Dakota, medical marijuana, Iowa, medical marijuana. All of a sudden you get to Minnesota, it's like, oh, okay, there's some sensible rules here, you know, depending on how you look at it. Then you get over to Wisconsin and you've got uh THCA flour, yeah, high milligram gummies and drinks, and they don't even have medical marijuana at all. Oh, they don't? Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

Oh, I thought they did for some reason.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

And so it's easier to turn on adult use recreational cannabis or recreational, a recreational program when you have medical when you have a medical marijuana program, because then you can kind of like grow those programs together and bounce them off of each other to move some people to the uh well, the market moves both ways, right? But like, and we don't have to get into the nitty-gritty, but like, for example, right now in Minnesota, and this has been the case all year and dating back to last year, the medical marijuana companies are offering or have offered free medical cards. Yeah. Because then I mean, I'm gonna speak pretty like candidly. Then they get you into their loyalty program, they get you into their app, they get you into like their rewards and things like that. On the consumer side, you end up saving money because you don't have to pay the 15% tax.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Well, here I went to a dispensary and I was like, well, these prices are ridiculous. And then she gave me a card to sign up for medical use, but it was like 300 bucks or something like that. Right. And I'm like, well, I'm also not gonna pay that. I'll just get it illegally. How I've been doing it. Why would I do all of this? And then there's certain products that they're like, oh no, that's just for the medical. But I'm like, you gave me a fucking card and said I could sign up in the parking lot. So if I did that and then came right back in, you would be like, oh yes, right here.

SPEAKER_02 8:29

I mean, she probably left off a few hoops that you have to jump in. Yeah. Because then you get lined up with a store pharmacist, and then they're gonna diagnose you and talk to you about like what products are good for you. Yeah. So there is a little bit of a lead time in becoming a medical cannabis patient. However, they marketed in a sense that like pretty much anyone in Minnesota now can become a medical cannabis patient. Yeah. It wasn't like that 10 years ago, five years ago, even three years ago. In the last three years, the medical marijuana program has added flour up until the last I'm loosely saying three years, up until recently, the products were in pill form, extract, okay, uh, gummies, all more, all further refined products that are more expensive to produce. Yeah. And then the the card that you talk about that you that you will you've always needed since 2014, that that was very expensive. And so it kept a lot of people out and it pushed a lot of people to the black market. Yeah. And we're still seeing that in Minnesota because you're paying after tax, you're paying 60 60 bucks an eighth.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

An eighth, yeah. Well, that's the part that gets me is the price discrepancy in so in the different states. Because I've gone to a lot of different states, and it's like Michigan is extremely cheap. Yep, California is very cheap, Oregon's been very cheap, and it's like I would buy regularly from a dispensary if those were the prices I could anticipate paying. Right. But it's like when you get to $60 an eighth, it's like, no chance. What am I in high school again?

SPEAKER_02 10:10

Cash only.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

Yeah. You're not you can't Venmo the store. No, you can't. Uh some of them they wouldn't even. I went to one, they wouldn't let me use my debit card. They were like, you gotta use the ATM.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

Oh, so that's gonna be $3.50 plus the $60 eighth.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Right. And it's like, it's not worth it. Or a one gram joint for $22. And it's like, no shot. In what world would anyone pay that?

SPEAKER_02 10:34

People are paying it. And and hopefully we're not here for that much longer. It's all supply and demand. Yeah. And it's frustrating from my perspective to see Michigan. Michigan's frustrating in a lot of ways. So there's some companies that benefit from like number of transactions. So let's say you sell mylar bags. Yeah. So you're you're you sell product packaging. Yeah. Well, there's so much volume in Michigan that the Mylar bag companies are happy, for example. Gotcha. But then the cultivators and the businesses that are growing weed are selling weed at such a low price. Yeah. Generally speaking, they're not happy. I see. Yeah. Because the price is $8 a gram. Yep. And right now, like you could drive out to a dispensary in Wizetta and pay $20 a gram.

SPEAKER_00 11:31

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

I mean, just over in Fridley. Because I live in Blaine, there's one in Fridley. And yeah, I think that was listed at $55 an eighth. An eighth. But it's like with the tax and with everything else, it's going to be well over $60, close to $70.

SPEAKER_02 11:48

So what they screwed up is they licensed stores and growers at the same time. So should it what should have been the effect? The growers and then? Yeah. Okay. Mm-hmm. Right. You gotta you gotta you gotta let it grow. Yeah. And they there they had a window to do that. And they had consultants from Maine that were advising. Because this was a whole so also there was the like before you and I knew each other, there was the Office of Medical Cannabis that oversaw the medical cannabis program. Yep. And then for for a few years there was hemp, I think like CBD water and CBD gummies, those types of things. Yeah. That was overseen by the Department of Ag in Minnesota. And then when we legalized, we needed a new agency. Yeah. And so the OCM, the Office of Cannabis Management, has absorbed the hemp and the medical. Okay. But the state the state of Minnesota had to build a new agency. The government had to build a a new build, like a new a whole new group of bureaucrats. Yeah. You know, government, government folk. And and and yes, you can have compassion and empathy because this is a whole new venture and we we had a pretty minimal medical program. Right? So more uh more robust medical cannabis uh states with more robust medical cannabis programs like Ohio, for example. Yeah. So more operators, more patients, more people patrolling, they were able to flip onto um adult use recreational faster than Minnesota was. Gotcha. In like the number of years it took before like a regular dispensary got opened.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:47

However, medical cannabis is typically the businesses in the medical cannabis space are typically larger, more corporate, more uh multi-state operator-like. And that and so what Minnesota has going for it, because the medical cannabis program was so small and niche that there wasn't a lot of brand loyalty, there wasn't a lot of users buying prior to the total legalization. Total. Yep, exactly, which is referred to as adult use. So what that means is there's shops in Fridley and Hopkins and Blaine popping up that you know you may want to support or that you may have brand affinity for, things like that. So we are in some ways it is fulfilling this craft market where like everyday middle to upper class or folks that can find funding are able to have to live out the American dream and and start a company. Yeah. Cannabis is one of the hardest industries though to like be successful in because there are so many tax there's so much like uh there's there's a lot of taxation involved with it. Yeah. But the supply right now in Minnesota is coming from predominantly coming from the tribal organizations and the two medical companies that that are out of state operators. Yeah. So the folks that are selling cannabis, like that are growing it and more on the craft side, are small. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

The tribe makes I because initially, like I have a buddy who's native and he was getting it at his reservation that he would go visit his grandparents on, and he was buying it and then bringing it back down. But it was before anything else adult use was really yeah. So way, way before.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Okay, because that that's what I was gonna ask. Because for example, Red Lake Nation, which is like the most north tribe, which I'm wondering, maybe your friend is is a Red Laker. It's way the fuck up north. I know he drives like three and a half hours up there. White Earth and Red Lake. Yeah. And so I believe, I know for sure Red Lake, but I believe both had medical cannabis programs on reservation, which is where in this case your friend was getting their cannabis from. Yeah. Which is really cool because it allowed, well, one, they're sovereign. And so the state is because we had medical cannabis in St. Paul, that gave signal to the tribes that if they wanted to provide medical cannabis for their people, they could do that without worrying about the state of Minnesota.

SPEAKER_01 16:28

Oh, so it was a precedent set here for and then they just did it better, basically. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:35

For their people. And in the case of Red Lake, one thing that's really cool is this is this has never happened in in any other state. We legalized August 1st, 2023. Red Lake opened their first dispens their adult use uh open to the public dispensary August 1st, 2023.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Oh, so day of they're ready to go.

SPEAKER_02 16:55

They flip, they flip to uh like yeah and and and yeah, exactly. I mean you can take what you want out of that right there. Red Lake is interesting where they're not uh they have I I'm gonna misspeak here. They have more sovereignty. They're there's this thing called 280 that they don't have to abide by that allows them to just like essentially report to Washington.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

So they have Oh, so it bypasses on a state level and goes federal. Right. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

And so they have more uh they have an they have a unique ability to really do what what they feel is best for their tribe.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

Yeah. But how so if they're because when Minnesota legalized, I was really excited, and then they fumbled the bag entirely.

SPEAKER_02 17:44

Because I'm a store, I opened my I got my license the same time you did as a grower. Oh. So what am I supposed to do if you don't have plants in the ground yet?

SPEAKER_01 17:55

But the thing that I don't understand is like, so if they've been growing it medically and it's been around for a while, right, they can't just be like, okay, use now you can do it for both.

SPEAKER_02 18:10

That's a great point. You know what's crazy about GrowPros? What? Is like less than a year ago, I just thought they were like a cool brand to aspire to, like premium, top tier, like whoa, untouchable. Yeah, like how am I ever gonna get their attention? Yeah. And now here we are talking to talking about them on the Canon Connect show. Love it. I couldn't have done it without you. You are a GrowPro. Well, welcome. And you have solutions. But GrowPro Solutions is for cultivators and for people that are looking to build within Minnesota's cannabis space. They have a variety of solutions, no matter who you are, what you need. Grow pros can help you go from an idea to a real grow.

SPEAKER_04 19:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

And we really appreciate their support. And check out their episode with Benchplug Benny, Benjamin Matsuda on the Canna Connect Show. However, the amount that they were growing for medical, let's say they were helping less than a hundred thousand people as patients. Well, we have like five million, six million people in Minnesota. So what the medical companies were growing, and believe me, you bring up a good point, like they were advocating for like give us unlimited canopy limits, we'll grow for everybody. Yeah. But that then gives the bag to just like two private companies. And you said those are out of state companies? Initially, one was one was one came from a group uh that like it was a large group, but the Bachman family was involved. So like think the floral and garden uh Bachman's growing weed. Oh yes, that so they they had the first license out of Cottage Cottage Grove. Yeah. But like I want to stay on your I want to stay on your point. You have some groves in California that are a million square feet. Holy shit. Okay. And then the medical companies in Minnesota, they're fighting for like twenty thousand to forty thousand square feet. Oh, okay. So the nice thing is from my perspective, the nice thing is is like we haven't handed over the HOV lane to just a couple of big companies to like just dominate. Yeah. There's a there's like intentionality with the license, the square footage so that like you get five thousand. So if you're a micro business, let's say you you throw the state 500 bucks, you put your license in, you've got your plan, your tray is Aiden, they're going, they're gonna make a grow. Like you could do that relatively inexpensive or at the lowest cost, and you would be able to grow like 5,000 square feet indoor or like X amount outdoor. And that micro license was seen as a unique uh feature of the Minnesota Cannabis program because like not you or I, but like guys not unlike ourselves that have a serious grow how are putting everything on the line and saying, I'm going for it with the micro license. Yeah. And then that micro license can turn into a mesolicense, which is 15,000 square feet. So now you're now you're looking at it, but still that pales in comparison to a million square feet. Right. Which there's one company in California, or maybe two companies, but they're out there. Even still that they exist. They exist. Yeah. And because cannabis is every cannabis market develops differently because it's a state run market. Cannabis, as we're recording this, is still federally illegal. So each state is gonna bring the each market develops differently, which is what I was uh kind of talking to you about. Is like that's why you see such Disparity or such wide acceptance or limitations when you look at the Midwest. Minnesota's got a new scaling adult use market. Michigan's got a mature adult use market. Illinois has a broad legal access and a large medical list, but there's a lot of taxes that raise the checkout price.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Illinois also crazy.

SPEAKER_02 22:22

You were just in Chicago.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

Yeah, I was just in Chicago. I bought a half gram vape for after taxes, like close to 50 bucks. I think it ended up being $47. Wow. But it's still cheaper than here. And when I did try to get a vape, that was when they said I needed a medical license. In here, in Minnesota?

SPEAKER_02 22:41

Because Yeah, I mean, we we still haven't fully explored that. So like right now, these two we'll you keep using these two medical companies, for example, like inside their facility, they have to have a room that's just for medical patients. So flowers that are being grown just for medical patients, and then a separate room that's just for adult use recreation.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

Nothing. Oh, really? Yeah. So that it's not like they need more sanitation and protocol and the medical versus there's no distinguishing feature. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 23:15

It right. It's a great question because it's like it's a surprising answer. Now, in the latest legislature, uh in the latest legislative session, they've they've bifurcated the supply chain, which means they're gonna take away some of these unnecessary uh separations between medical and adult use. However, when you bring it back to like the origins of why people use cannabis, oftentimes for pain management, a big thing that can't happen is you medical companies, medical flour cannabis companies can't run out of product. And that's on behalf of the patients. Yeah. So they could they could sell more flour if they were like if they just focused on adult use uh typical dispensary. Yeah. However, there's certain like allotments that they have to be they have to ensure that they're still providing for the medical patients, which is why because there's more requirements to like ensure they're kept in good supply, that's why there's incentives for a patient or a consist sorry, a patient to get their card. So then you're gonna have for now that you're gonna have more access to the dispensary products like that vape. Yeah. And so it gets very um confusing for just the everyday consumer who's like, oh, we legalize. I mean, to kind of take you back to 2023, you're like, great, we're gonna have weed. Yeah. The best thing we've got up until maybe recently was we we got home grow right away. And so that's mostly where I've been getting uh product from is my friends will grow more than they need and they'll they'll gift it. And gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

Yeah, well, that was the thing is like there was like a gray area where it was legal, but it still felt illegal. Where it was like, I know it is, but it feels like if I get caught with this, I'm still gonna be in trouble. Because I can't go to a there's no stores around me. There's nothing that says this is legal to have beyond me having it and knowing that that's yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:26

I had Tanner Barris on a few months ago, and he was my previous co-host of the Northern Lights podcast, and he had looked into some of the uh numbers around arrests. And the good news is is very few people have been arrested since August 1st, 2023 for growing too much cannabis or having cannabis on them. When you get into like trying to distribute and sell cannabis, there's more arrests than that. But like for an average person who's just walking and walking to the movies and has cannabis on them, like very few people have been arrested since August 1st, 2024. But why are they still being arrested? Uh in I guess technically, if you had more than two ounces on you or more than four pounds inside your home, I think there were like the number was like four people that had been arrested for like having five pounds or having gotcha. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

So it it's an obscene amount. It's not like uh a user like me.

SPEAKER_02 26:28

It's not a user, no. It would be like a passionate home grower who knows what they're doing, is utilizing lighting and and things like that that could could get a yield of several pounds per plant.

SPEAKER_01 26:39

Gotcha. So they just have a surplus. They happen to have a surplus and then get searched. And yeah, gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 26:45

And the search part, like, you know, I'm sure there were some details to the story, right? Yeah. No, like, I mean, white privilege, but like I've I've been I you know, I haven't been pulled over in a while. I've been I haven't been pulled over in so long, like it's starting to worry me a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 27:03

I know that feeling. Yeah, I usually get it about once a year. I get something happens. But the part that scares me is the DUI, and that there is not an effective way to test for it, because it's like, yeah. Well, I definitely have used it within the last 24 hours, sure, sure. But whether that was this morning and I don't feel it anymore and it's not affecting me at all, or maybe two hours ago, and it I don't feel fucked up, but they have some scale that they're able to test.

SPEAKER_02 27:36

I mean, there was this viral video that we put out that was like the mouth squab where they took footage from the news and and like it very much looked like he was doing something in his mouth. Yeah. But like the problem is when you try to compare a breathalyzer for alcohol to a breathalyzer for cannabis, the problem is alcohol and cannabis are not the same. Like it could be in your system for a month, right? And depending on how they're testing for it, like a urine test or something like that. But the data has shown that the testing for these pro these roadside tests are not legit. Right. A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

But then it's like somebody like me, I don't have a lawyer. Right. I can't pay somebody to be like, well, no, actually this test is ineffective. Right. If if I would still get a DUI. Like there's really no fighting that. And the the problem is it's like if you get a DUI, then you can't go to Canada. And one of the biggest like comedy festivals is in Canada. Right. So it's like if I were to get that, that's a felony and I can't cross. I'm sure there's comedian careers that have been buyback. Yeah, I mean, just even not even talking about weed at all, but like I remember an old comic that I like kind of taught me like the ropes of stand-up was like, last thing you want to get is a DUI, because then you can't go to just for laughs. Just for laughs. Is that in Ottawa? Uh or Montreal. Yeah, yeah. And he's like, I knew a guy that happened too. He was like, You got a DUI, and he couldn't go. So it's like that's my biggest incentive beyond. Yeah. I the thing is, it's like the only thing I do illegally in my day is that.

SPEAKER_02 29:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:20

And that's really the only rule I break. And if that weren't a rule, I would live a totally legal lifestyle.

SPEAKER_02 29:28

Likewise, likewise. So I mean, you know, for me, like I was telling you, it's like uh put it in the trunk or leave it at home, like use it before you leave the house or after you get home. Yeah. Like that's the safest way. And like I'm saying it out loud, I'm trying to like convince myself because like I'm a super hard worker and I don't want to throw it away.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

No, that's the thing, is it's like that is really the only sort of trouble I could get myself in. And I don't smoke in the car at all. Sure. I put in eye drops before I go anywhere. Nice. And if there aren't any, I won't smoke because I'm like my eyes get really, really red. Yeah, yeah. So and that is seemingly the only tell. I don't know what grounds beyond that they would have to pull you out of your car. Right. And I guess that's what worries me about it is not knowing what they're gonna be like. Do you smoke weed and I don't feel like I look high at all? And I you're scaring me just talking to me. You know what I mean? That's what stresses me out. And then even four or five years ago when I first moved to the city and I was smoking weed, I would smoke and drive and not really think about it. But now as I've gotten older, I'm like, no, I really don't want to be in trouble for this. That's right. And that's I don't know why maybe my brain like fully matured, but I'm so I could get in a lot of trouble, and it's as bad as driving drunk. Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_02 31:00

You know, I think about like the science that's come out that said like our brains don't fully develop till we're 25.

SPEAKER_00 31:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:07

And it's like, man, is there even a way to like keep a kid away from cannabis until they're 25? Because I mean, if you haven't consumed cannabis by 25, like it's a small percentage of people that start using it after that.

SPEAKER_01 31:24

Yeah, I think it's the same as like drinking or smoking uh cigarettes or really any of that stuff. It's like I know a guy who's he's 31, he's never drank and never smoked weed. And but he's at the point where he's like, Well, I don't really care. Like, I don't really want to that bad. Right. And um that's where it's like you you must hit a certain threshold of age where you're like, Well, I haven't done it for this long, why would I do it now? Right. But I started as soon as I could get my hands on weed because I was like, that seems fun, I want to try it, but then I didn't know how to get it. But as soon as I did, I was like, Well, I love smoking weed. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 32:07

Where did you where did you try cannabis for the first time?

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Uh my buddy Alex's garage. We got like an eighth from a dude who lived down the street, and then we all smoked. It was like eight of us, we smoked out of a one-hitter in his parents' garage, and we bought wraps, but none of us knew how to roll it, so we just smoked out of a really dirty one-hitter that my buddy's brother gave him. Yeah. And I mean, I freaked out the first time. We all did. We got really scared that the cops were coming and shit. But then afterwards, we just kept doing it because we had this little bag that we didn't use all of. And then, like, the second and third time, I was like, oh, this is fun, and there's nothing to be afraid of.

SPEAKER_02 32:51

Yeah, yeah. Except here we are like 10 years later, like still afraid of the cops.

SPEAKER_01 32:57

Very afraid. Yeah. That is like, and I'm I don't know why the distinction in my head, I'm more afraid of state troopers. Okay. Than I am. So like if I get too high and I'm I'm like, well, I do have to get home. Because I like to smoke after a show to decompress and like hang out for a while. I'll take like a county road or like side streets all the way back to Blaine to avoid a state trooper. Because I'm like, those guys have always been way harder. Where I feel like a local cop would just be like, yeah, whatever. Yeah. Give me my ticket and move on if I got one.

SPEAKER_02 33:37

Yeah. What's um what's the road life been like for you in 2026?

SPEAKER_01 33:43

Uh I've it's a lot of flying. Okay. Yeah, it's a lot of going to different states and stuff, which has been interesting because I've gotten to go into dispensaries in almost all of the legal states.

SPEAKER_02 33:56

Yeah, you were mentioning so what states have you toured in this year?

SPEAKER_01 33:59

Uh, this year, uh, it's been where so far? It's kind of hard to think. North Carolina, Texas, Oregon, California, North and South Dakota. Everywhere in the Midwest, but that's been for the past few years. Okay, yeah. Uh you were just in Chicago?

unknown 34:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:20

I don't know. Chicago pretty good. Yeah, the shows are good. I like Chicago because it's like a bigger here. Okay. So it feels like the jokes translate. Okay. Whereas some states it's a little harder. But like where have you been the least well received?

SPEAKER_00 34:36

Um.

SPEAKER_01 34:37

Is there anything that stands out? Not particularly. There in California, I guess, in like I could see that LA or San Diego. It's like the younger people have money. And it's like a lot of the young people here don't, or they don't have rich parents. Yeah. So it's easier to connect with that than it is over there where they're like, Well, I'm 25 and I'm a marketing rep. And it's like, well, how I don't I don't know how to talk to you. I wouldn't even know how to talk to you at a bar. So it's even harder performing to them. So there, but it's like the sets go fine, but I can tell some of the stuff I'm saying, they're like, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know what you're relating.

SPEAKER_02 35:24

Yeah. Um, but in Illinois, you've said you said that that that makes sense. Like I've I've been liking some of your jokes about about your dad. Oh, thanks, man. And uh and like going to Target is something that people do around Minnesota. So like yeah, those are pretty relatable. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

Yeah, those uh Minnesota is I'm biased too, because I do the best here. Sure. Cause it's like or really here, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, because it's sort of a universal experience in the Midwest to have a dad like that, or uh just even some of the references, they don't feel local, but like you said, Target, even though it's national, Minnesota people shop at Target. Yeah. A lot more than other parts of the country. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

The uh you're I I like the opener. I've got the Uncle Pat sticker on the front of my pad. Yep. She was funny. Elise was very funny. Uh the guy. Sean, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:28

Remember they were like the funniest guy in Minnesota. Oh, they did the that's right, they did the contest when you guys had to. Yeah. Yeah. Uh that's always tough. You you uh you address that situation pretty pretty well. Yeah, that was that they that was how they used to do it. So when I did the contest in 2018, they would have you like go through the green room and to get on stage. And then they stopped doing that for at least when I came back to doing stand-up. And then it hadn't been a thing until that night. And they were like, We'll try it again. And on the first night, a guy ruined it. So they are going back to making them sit in the showroom and watch the show.

SPEAKER_02 37:17

That that guy definitely ruined it.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

Oh, he ruined the vibe for sure. And I said, I was like, I asked the manager, I was like, Can they not be in there anymore? I was like, I really don't like being that person, but that guy fucking sucked. It was like the other three were totally fine, pleasant to talk to, but that guy sucked.

SPEAKER_02 37:38

Um recently you were on the Tony Hinchcliffe Kill Tony show. Yes, I was. Tell me how like luck of the draw, like how did how did you Yeah?

SPEAKER_01 37:48

I mean, that was purely luck, and I was in a bad fucking mood right before that, because I have been trying to get into the club down there. So I've been doing these like callback sets when I go back down to try and work my way into being able to send availability. Okay. And that callback just didn't go very well, it was pretty mid. Okay. And then I was just like, fuck this. I I come down here, I try to do this every time I'm in town, and the crowds like at least there, it feels like they're there to see a specific person. Yeah. And they're just kind of bummed until that person shows up. With Kill Tony in the at at the mothership. Yeah, it feels like people because you can buy tickets for either the big room or the little room. Okay. And they have you perform at the little room for like their open mic callback, and then their regular people come through. Sure. But those are cheaper tickets. But sometimes someone like Tony or Shane Gillis or Ron White, someone will stop in. So like that word has gotten around enough that it people have stopped in that people try to buy cheaper tickets and hope that the person they want to see shows up. Yeah. So it feels like they're kind of bummed that they're not getting the persons or people that they wanted. Right. So it always feels like pulling teeth when I'm there, at least. So I just didn't have a great set. So you're at the mothership. Then where do they film Kill Tony? At the mothership. In the in the bigger room. Okay, cool. So you're there. And then, but they have you wait at a bar just down the block from the mothership, and then they call your name, and then you run through an alley, and then you gotta give all a security guard all your stuff, and then he pats you down and gives you like a metal detector, and then they put you behind the curtain and call your name. Okay. So and it happens really fast. Wow. But after the callback, I was sitting in the holding area where all of the comics are, and I'm texted my fiance. I'm like, this fucking sucks. I want to go home. I'm like, I think I might switch my flight around and come home early. And then they called my name. But I was fully prepared to like leave and not Did you have one joke that you were planning on using? No. Because I didn't I had gone down there before because a lot of my friends live there. Cool. So I can go down and do spots in town anywhere else but the mothership, really. Okay. So I have a lot of friends down there that are it's always nice to see them. Yeah. But I was after that one, I was like, fuck this. And then they called my name, and I was fully expecting to not get called and to go back home. And I was like, I'll just fly out tomorrow and whatever. Yeah. Because I'd gone down like four or five times prior. Oh wow. And tried to sign up and then didn't get called. See, there's a good chance that you won't get called. Oh, yeah. There's probably upwards of 150 people that sign up.

SPEAKER_02 40:57

And how many spots do they do per?

SPEAKER_01 40:59

I think like eight. Eight or nine. So you're under 10%. Yeah. And uh 5% chance. So I was like, I'm probably not gonna get called. I don't really even care about getting called that much. I more so wanted to get into the club because then you get paid to be there. And yeah. They probably run a pretty good ship, but yeah. So I was like, that was more my goal in going down there than doing because I'm like, I'm already here, I may as well sign up, sort of a thing.

SPEAKER_02 41:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

And each time I hadn't gotten on, I wasn't too beaten up about it. Sure, I'm like, either way, I'm still doing stand-up. Yeah. But then they called my name, and then so I really had no plan whatsoever.

SPEAKER_02 41:43

You I don't know, you tell me, but like you know Tony, you've met Tony, you you've been out to Skankfest, right? So like he has some idea of who you are. I don't think so. Not before that. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 41:52

Yeah, because he's pretty nowadays, he's he's like an insulated guy. Gotcha. Because he's like a celebrity. Yeah. Yeah. So he has his friends, obviously. Okay, there's no reason for him to want to talk to me. Gotcha. So I don't think he had any idea who I was prior to. And to be honest, he's probably forgotten who I am right now. Yeah. But what has it been like now after you did your set? Uh they put it on posters now, but that's about it. I don't know if many people show up for that reason. Comedy is a lot of like opportunities compounding. Okay. So it's at least in my case, it's not one certain thing. It's like, oh, I saw you open for this person, or I saw you on this podcast that I like, and then they come and buy tickets. But it's never been one solid thing that has drawn a sizable amount of people out.

SPEAKER_02 42:50

I think it's kind of similar for me. Yeah. And part of the reason why I keep doing this show is like not that one is gonna pop off. I mean, for us, popping off would be a thousand views. Yeah. Like it's still pretty small, but like more people are watching it every week. And if we keep having better, in the sense of more relatable guests on, we'll find out who we really are and what we're trying to.

SPEAKER_01 43:16

Yeah. It's I think there's really even the idea of overnight success, like I've even doing stand-up now for an extended period of time. There's some people to the general public that's like, oh, this guy came out of nowhere, and it's like, oh no, he really didn't. It took probably 10 years for you to know who he was. Yeah. My favorite comedian is Tim Dylan.

SPEAKER_02 43:40

Yeah. He's great. And, you know, he has no problem reminding you like he was a bus he was doing tour bus right. Uh he was a bus tour guide in in New York City and like a you know, Tim Dylan is a l he's he's I don't have to tell his story, right? It's out there. Yeah, like um No, I'm with you. I don't think it is overnight and like so much of what you do is like you reinvest it to try to get to that next place 'cause like you're going down to Austin this month for like Yeah, next week actually.

SPEAKER_01 44:12

But this time my fiance's coming with, which is gonna be nice. So it'll be m less work and more like actually enjoying the city. Yeah. Which I'm looking forward to because every time I go down there, it's just a lot of like hanging out with people and going to the clubs and stuff. But I don't really get to explore Austin that much. So to be able to bring her with, we can like drive around and go see other shit. Yeah, there's water and yeah, like enjoy. I'm excited to go. We're gonna go to Barton Springs, which is like a swimming spot that I've heard local people talk about, but I've never had the time to go check it out.

SPEAKER_02 44:53

I mean, that's why I like the I like the framing of the name of the word partner because it is somebody that you can go to Barton Springs.

SPEAKER_01 45:02

Yeah, do fun stuff like that with, and there's no because like in stand-up, it always feels like there's so much pressure on the individual because your career is what you make your career. You're your own boss entirely. Right. So to go down there with her and reframe it as this isn't so much work as it is getting to hang out with my friend.

SPEAKER_02 45:27

Yeah, you know, quality time together. Yeah. And, you know, I mean, that's what was nice about COVID was for a while there, people were just getting their work off like wherever they wanted. Yeah. You know, if they were able to work remotely. But um, you know, my wife, you know, we met when I was 27. How old are you?

SPEAKER_01 45:46

Uh 27.

SPEAKER_02 45:47

Yeah. So we met, I was 28, I think. I just turned 28, but like she held me down for a long time with like having the regular job and having the benefits and things like that. And like I'm glad to see that things are continuing to open up for you because as a man, like, there's just something inside of us that like we want to provide.

SPEAKER_01 46:08

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And it's, I mean, like, especially like almost for me, it's not necessarily provide in the sense that it is because my fiance's a software engineer, so it's like to be able to be on par with that level of success and what I do, to just be like we we are equals to one another. Right. And I'm not because right now stand-up is so much more about like um making connections with clubs and making so like I'm still in like a foundational stage, but it's like to be able to work to a point where not necessarily um people know who I am, but it's like I can tour independently on my own and sort of have the same level of success as her in the sense of my own career path. Yes. Yes, that makes a lot of sense.

SPEAKER_02 47:09

And it's it's about also just mutual understanding of what success means. Yeah. You know, that's the internal conversation, the dialogue around, you know, we're we're doing two different paths. However, like there it there is an equal like you've agreed to like, you know, and those are personal conversations, but they're important to have. Yeah. Sometimes I think like, would my would my wife like to have someone else who she doesn't work in nine to five anymore, but for a long time she did.

SPEAKER_01 47:40

So it's like like is that who she wants, or does is is she actually attracted to somebody who's right totally different than yeah, I think some uh people are, and I think like the opposite though they work together well because it balances itself out because my life is really chaotic and hectic, and there's a lot of traveling, and she has a very stable nine to five job that she's like it's pretty boring, but she's like it it pays the bills, and I don't have to worry about money in the same way that you do. Right, right. So, but because of what I do, I can bring her with to do these sorts of things and go, she can come on the road with me and like travel around, and it's it's very she's very calming to me to have around, which I appreciate because everything else is really chaotic and stressful, sure, in my life. Sure. Well, wait till you see Canaconnect Brainerd, man.

SPEAKER_02 48:40

It's been just I mean, we're trying to pull off something. Here's what we're trying to do there's like these national trade shows that have been coming into town since like the Delta VIII days. And you walk through all these vendor booths, yep, these aisles of of but these trade shows or these conference centers are owned by entities and organizations that are not cannabis friendly. Oh yeah. So they'll take the ancillary cannabis dollar and they'd love for you as a cannabis consumer to buy a ticket, but you can't have the product on site.

SPEAKER_01 49:22

That was I vaguely remember it was uh in uptown, kind of by the Walgreens in that basement area when I came with my buddy Trey.

SPEAKER_02 49:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:35

And people were smoking out of like the vaporizer bags, but it was cold out, and you had to go outside under a tent to smoke, and it was like, I don't think the vapor stuff is gonna sink this place up that much. There must be some sort of reason that we have to smoke in the cold.

SPEAKER_02 49:56

Yeah, that was October of 2023, and uh, yeah, that was probably around the time we were connected. Yeah. But there's the Minnesota Indoor Clean Air Act, and they have one of the we have one of the strictest indoor smoking rules in the country. Gotcha. And so there's so many cannabis entrepreneurs that would love to open up lounges.

SPEAKER_01 50:19

That I've always thought about that. I'm like, why can't we do like a hookah place for weed? But that makes sense that there's some sort of stipulation. It's a super hard one to get.

SPEAKER_02 50:31

Unknotted. Mm-hmm. Now get this. On Friday last week, we were up at Fondu Lock, Black Bear Casino in Cloquet or Carleton, Minnesota. Yeah. On tribal reservation, on Sovereign Land, they have a tasting lounge. Oh. And they have a they have a really good hash program. So they're selling flights of hash for like full 10 to 14 bucks. Like you'd buy a flight of beer. Yeah. And it was great. And because they're on sovereign land, there's puff like people are hitting the puffco inside. Right. Through through the bar. Yeah. It's not just like bring your own hash.

SPEAKER_01 51:09

Right. That's fine. Right? I mean, that would totally be fine. If it were like Anster Amsterdam, where it's like, you gotta buy the joint here, but you can smoke it here. Right. Totally fine. And those joints are five or ten dollars. Right. Not $22. That's the thing that gets me too. Even with like the drinks, where it's like, I don't drink, but I'll go out and I'll try to be like, well, I'm gonna be social and have drinks with my friends, but one of mine is fifteen dollars. I'm not gonna buy three. If they were seven. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:46

You read my mind. I mean, when's the last time you saw seven dollars for THC beverage on a menu? Meh never.

SPEAKER_01 51:53

I don't think ever here. Why? Why is this $15? That's what I'm saying. It's like this I equate to how many milligrams is this? Five. This is a beer. Yeah. To me. Yeah. And it's like, why would this have to be sixteen dollars? Because I went to CC Club. We went, uh, my lady and I, we went out on a date night and we went to Nightingale and then the CC Club. Great. And then she got a beer and I got a seltzer, but the seltzer was $16 and it was five milligrams. And I'm like, this is gonna do absolutely nothing to me, but I'm gonna fucking pay $15 just to be like, well, I'm having a drink with my fiance.

SPEAKER_02 52:37

The drink costs $250, let's just say. Then you you factor in testing, whatever, to get it out the door. Mm-hmm. No, yeah, please. Uh, that's our latest one. I'll send you home with one, too. It's got a good amount of CBD in it and uh two to one CBG to THC ratio.

SPEAKER_01 53:00

I've recently I opened for Sam Talent at Sisyphus. Oh, and he was putting me on to he's really into the terpenes really and stuff. And he sent me like this whole chart. Oh, and I'm like, I would like to get into it, but that's I think that goes hand in hand with the success I was talking about earlier, where it's like to be able to go, this is what I want. It the terpenes in it may cost more than one that's cheaper, yeah. But you know what I mean, to be able to be choosy about it.

SPEAKER_02 53:37

Um here's the flip though. Like at the end of the day, the restaurant's making seven bucks off you. Or more. I just like I know more than I can share. Not more so because I can't recite it all to you. Yeah. There I just don't understand where that $15 price point comes from.

SPEAKER_01 53:56

I don't really either, because it's like it's not even I guess here, sure. But like on a recre how I've been buying weed, it's always been like $10 a gram. If you were to just buy one singular gram, it's $10. And then the price varies after that. And it's like, where are you getting the the number seems pretty arbitrary, and it's like they're digging in our pockets for what re I mean, just think how cheap beer was when you first when you think back to what what Wisconsin beer prices were like.

SPEAKER_02 54:32

Oh, I mean, I was just back home. It's three dollars. At the bar. Yeah. At the bar. That means it it left the distributor, it left the manufacturer, it's made its way to the retailer. Yeah. The three-tier system, which is what they're more than likely going to move these beverages to. So made at Earl Giles, distributed at Grand uh GRD, sold to bars, restaurants, dispensaries around the country. Each time you make a little bit more money. The retailer makes more than the distributed, the distributor makes more than the manufacturer, it's a volume play. Still a a good four-pack of beer should cost me less than 20 bucks.

SPEAKER_01 55:17

Uh yeah. Like uh, you're talking like a brewery a brewery grade beer. Absolutely. I would pro I would put that at about 15 bucks.

SPEAKER_02 55:27

Okay, yeah. 16 bucks. And and more than likely that's where these products are gonna end up. But there's companies in this space that are just that fucking found the pocket and are just beating the drum. Yeah. They're just milking it, dude.

SPEAKER_01 55:46

Well, that's kind of what gets me about like the dispensaries and like the tax cost, and it's like where states usually are kind of like, well, we'll use the tax money to fund, and it's like, you're not gonna get someone that regularly smokes weed. You're gonna get the dynamom who comes out and gets gummies to sleep once every two weeks. If you lowered the price on this, you would get a regular adult use smoker. I would come into the store at least once a week, probably more, to get more weed. And it's like, at that point, doesn't the volume supersede the I don't know. Two years ago, the taxes were only gonna be at 10%. Right. That's what I thought. Now it's like 15 or 10.

SPEAKER_02 56:34

Now it's 15, which when we when we uh rallied against that, it was marketed as a 50% tax hike. 10 per 10% to 15%, 50% tax hike. Yeah. That was purely because of mismanagement of the Minnesota state budget. Oh, okay. That we became then like the new kid on the block. So like let's take their lunch money before the program even got started. Yeah. Before consumers even had the chance to pay that high of taxes. Yeah. And they hit it on the CBD side too. Which predominantly is grandma.

SPEAKER_01 57:13

Yeah, that's my my mom and my dad use CBD to sleep and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 57:18

Me too. Like, and so like I I generally like the folks that were buying six packs of CBD water, which was like 30 bucks. Yeah. Right? Right? It's twice as much as beer, if not more.

SPEAKER_01 57:31

Significantly more. Because like, I mean, a six-pack of PBR is less than ten dollars. Wow. I think. At least in Wisconsin.

SPEAKER_02 57:39

But I mean, because I mean, if you think about it, they're producing millions of cans. Yeah. So they're able to like make less but sell more units. However, like you see these six packs and twelve packs at I think maybe even twenty-four packs, like what's twelve times six, like eighty bucks for a case of see of a case of TH VEVs. The milligrams is not even the most expensive part of it. What is? Well, it's it's seltzer water. I mean, really, most of these breweries are making seltzer water. And then somehow infusing it. Infusing it with flavors and things like that, but like it is not expensive to make, but there is a ton of uh regulation around it. And yes, there's probably more coming because Texas and hemp, I'm sorry, Texas and Wisconsin, similar hemp markets.

SPEAKER_01 58:30

Yeah. Well, like going to Austin feels a lot like going to Wisconsin. Yes. Where it's like you'll go to a smoke shop and they have weed, essentially, but it's not. And it's like THCA or Delta 8 or 10 or whatever, but it's like this is the wild west. Like in Wisconsin, I went to a few bars with my parents a few weeks ago, and they had they were selling like joints at the bar of Delta 8 weed. That's crazy. And it's like, this isn't regulated whatsoever. I can buy this joint, walk outside and smoke it. And they're like, yeah, that's that's fine.

SPEAKER_02 59:20

Uh you've got to get to another podcast here relatively soon. I'm looking forward to keeping this conversation going in Brainerd. Yeah. Uh tickets are on sale right now, they're on Eventbrite. Surprise special guest, Aiden McCluskey, will be in the house. Yes. And I mean, I really enjoyed this. There's a lot we can talk about. Cannabis is still so new in the sense of a above ground.

SPEAKER_01 59:45

I love learning about it because, like I said, it's the only illegal thing that I do in my life. That I reluctantly do because it's I don't drink. And it's like if it were legal, I would live a totally legal life. So learning more about what I can do to be a law-abiding citizen, but enjoy what I like to do.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:06

Yeah. We didn't get too far into this, but take this home with you. Take a look at it. I'll get more into it with Spencer. He's also from Wisconsin. I mean, really, though, like where I could see cannabis going in 20 years is it could be regulated like alcohol. I would love that. It could ship across state lines. So you'd see heavier concentration of cultivation in California. You'd see exports. Yeah. You know, the way we talk about champagne, people could talk about cannabis in certain regions of the country. And the great thing is, is the U.S. has a head start on a lot of other countries. So we we are doing well, but prog progress is a slow process.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:49

I guess before I go, I always ask, what is your projection for like total legalization across the country? Whether that's like within the state or federally legal. What how many years do you think?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:04

So this year, I'm expecting cannabis to go from schedule one to schedule three. It already has started to move that way for medical. What that means is you're gonna get regulated by the DEA instead of regulated by regulated by the OCM. So it's not like it's not like the the oversight will ever be fully off. However, descheduling cannabis, regulating it like it's alcohol is five to five years from an an announcement, perhaps. Whoa. Let's just say the Democrats take the White House in a couple years. I believe they will. I have a feeling they will, yeah. You'd be crazy to not build upon the progress of the Trump administration with respect to cannabis rescheduling and descheduling, because the Biden administration was also on the same tip. They just didn't get it done politically. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:12

I saw that he had signed some sort of bill that, like you said, it became Schedule Three. But with all of these things, they make it an announcement, and I'm like, so it's good. And then people are like, it's not at all. You can't do that.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:26

Like when they ended the Iran War.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:29

Yeah, yeah, exactly. That was great.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:33

For like four hours. Yeah. Not great. So schedule three, the hearings wrapped up today. Oh, so there were hearings in Arlington, Virginia t for two weeks, and now the judge will rule on uh following the hearing, but they expect some lawsuits to push back against it. But they're projecting that the a the administrative law judge will rule in favor of reschedule, which then that helps with taxes and research. Doesn't necessarily help with banking or with consumers, yeah, uh, from a price point perspective, but it helps entrepreneurs. And then it just how can they keep pulling that line? Because we need we need taxes, we need money. We're in a lot of debt. Well, yeah, insurmountable. And and so, like, I applaud the Trump administration for moving forward with cannabis and trying to create better rules because it's preventing institutional investment dollars from entering the space. Oh, I see, I didn't even know. I wasn't aware of that. There's not clear guidance from the Treasury and from FinCEN in the of how banks work with something that's federally illegal. So by rescheduling it, they're taking some of the handcuffs off of gotcha. So then, like, potentially could be able to use a credit card. Instead of a debit card. Yes. Or an ATM. Right. And that won't happen this year, but that that the credit card aspect, I could say three years.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:17

Okay. Because that is more convenient. Because I'm somebody that I put everything on my credit card and pay it off at the end of the month. Sure. The only time I genuinely use my debit card is if I'm in a state where it's legal and I have to pull money out.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:34

Um it and those are the things that keep it in the black market.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:39

Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah. I mean, the price, uh that sort of a thing, it's like I went to uh where was I? I was in Arizona and I didn't have a debit card at the time. And the guy wouldn't, he's like, I can't, you can't do anything about it. And then so then that night at the club, I just went and asked the people that worked in the kitchen. I was like, Can I buy like an eighth from you guys? And they were like, Yeah. I was like, I tried to do it the right way, and you guys wouldn't let me. So I'm I have to do it illegally.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:10

Yeah, there's there's a lot more there's a there's many more zeros beyond beyond what they're projecting the cannabis market to be because of the underground market, and then as well with the hemp stuff. Yeah. So if if they squeeze, if Wisconsin squeezes, if they get squeezed out of hemp, then there's a whole lot of gray area there. But if they were but if they were like Texas that has a medical cannabis program and a hemp a hemp program, the medical cannabis people are now getting excited because where are those customers going to move to? A lot of them are gonna move to the above-ground medical side. Not all. But that's why some of these folks are fighting to like just ban hemp because it will benefit the licensed cannabis businesses.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:01

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:02

And in and that restaurant in Wisconsin doesn't need much more than whatever they had operating as a restaurant and a bar to sell these products. So they're they think it's great. Yeah. But it's very unregulated. And that's those are the ongoing conversations in the industry of how do you regulate hemp cannabis marijuana, medical marijuana, all of these different connotations of the same plant.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:24

Yeah. Huh.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:26

Very interesting, man. Thanks for having me on. No doubt. Yeah. Uh I hope Brainerd goes well. Please support us. Can I connect Brainerd coming up July 30th? Tickets are on sale. Aiden McCluskey will be there, and it's gonna be great. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 30th at the Northern Pacific Center. Cool. We'll see you there.