Cannabis Legalization Saves Lives Ends Prohibition

Exactly. Yeah. They've shown, they've shown both that suicides and alcohol abuse go down in states when cannabis is made available. So yeah, it's, I mean, it just saves lives. There's no good reason not to do it. So as far as it being illegal, I'll throw you another one that I think people should pay attention to are law enforcement officers. I don't want to see, I mean, seriously, a family man trying to raise a family, doing a noble job, being a police officer, this guy's going to blow out a knee chasing a guy down with a dime bag. Really? That's that that's sensible. That's not sensible. That's ridiculous. Yeah. It's crazy. Well, and you, you mentioned being in Nevada where of course they've got adult use regulation now. Have you seen benefits from legalization specifically as a medical user? Yes, because now I'm not relegated to just what the guy over at where my mailbox is can sell me over at the Del Taco parking lot. You know, I mean, I basically take what you can get when you're not in a, in a, in a state that has been the prohibition has been stopped, you know, against cannabis. You know, when you can go into a dispensary and you can talk, these bud tenders are very, very knowledgeable. You know, they really are. I give them a lot of credit. Most of them. I haven't run into anybody that was kind of nutty. And they'll, they'll walk you through things. Oh, it's insomnia. We'll look at this one and then you can look at it and you can look at all, you know, look at all the, everything that's in it and you can see how pure it is. You can, I mean, you can look right at it. It's right there. And then, you know, you look at the name, you go to Leafly.com and you can look up the name and see the things that it helps with and go, okay, yeah, this is what I want. This is what I need. Now you're making decisions for yourself. And if that, if that strain isn't right for you, they'll recommend another one. You look it up on Leafly.com. Oh yeah, this one sounds better. I think this is the one I'll take. So you couldn't do that before. You just kind of had that, okay, I'll meet you at the Del Taco parking lot at 730, you know, and then you got to get there and you got to get a, you know, one vehicle to the next and you got to make a little small talk, exchange your cash, get your baggie and you're out of there. You don't know what the hell's in the bag. Right. Right. What pesticides, what growth regulators, whatever. I mean, you're, you're at the mercy of the grower and you don't know him. So yeah, regulation has health benefits for sure. The, the access to do vets. I mean, do you find that there is reticence for veterans to access a medical program, whereas they might possibly simply walk into an adult use store and pick up medicine? Is that a, well see here, here's the problem with the medical program and the war fighter community. It's the second amendment. It's the second amendment issues because if you have a medical card, and I think it's question 11 alpha on the ATF form, 44 73, they, they ask you, it says about medical marijuana use. And if you check yes on there, well, you're not going to get a firearm. So, and if, if someone runs a background and sees you got a medical card and you're trying to purchase a firearm, well, then they can create problems for you. And even if they can't, even if they wouldn't, the, the appearance and that's, that's the judgment. That's, that's what people think. And if you have an adult use and it's legal in your state, well, then you can answer no to that question. Just like, you know, just like everything else. And so, cause there's no record, it's easier there. So the biggest conflict that guys are having with just medical use is the, is the requiring of a card and then the conflict that it has with the ATF form 44 73. Gotcha. Yeah. I've, I have seen that question and I understand the reticence. So that's something else we need to change. That's a, that's a federal issue. Once we, once we get the federal prohibition ended, I'm sure that that will disappear from that question section. I'm, I can't wait. So that's a, that's something. For sure. And it'll happen. It'll happen. Things are moving faster now, you know, things have moved faster in the last 10 years than they did in the previous 20. Oh yeah. Well, and now that we're at a majority of states that have medical and what over a third that have adult use, I mean, it's a, it's just coming. It's a, it's a watershed moment and then we're on the, we're on the downslope. So it's coming, but I can't wait till it gets here. That's why we're working so hard and we've got legislation at the, at the session this year. And this Friday, in fact, we've got a committee hearing at the judiciary committee in the house, and they're going to be discussing it. Hopefully it'll get passed out a committee and onto the full house for a vote. But I mean, we really need, you know, you've got to get it out of committee and you know, there's the key phrases, you know, that the things like, what's the situation? You got to forgive me. I forget things. What's, what is the bill specifically that you're trying to get passed? It's for adult use. Yes. Well, it's all encompassing. So it's a, it's a decrim adult use regulation and medical bill. Okay. So full boat. And the thing is, you know, when you're sitting there and you're, you have, I'm sure you have people lined up already who are going to speak, you know, before the committee and explain things. That's, that's good to do. And it's good to make sure that, I mean, at the end of the day, you have to tell these people, you know, if we say it works, how can you say it doesn't? Right. And, and the fact is, again, I'll give you the three facts. It's not addictive or at worst has the addiction rate of coffee. It cannot stop your breathing. And it's non-toxic to humans. Right. So, you know, it's it, would you outlaw carrots? No. Okay. So this is this, this is what we're talking about. Right. We're talking about carrots. Right. Right. There's more people going to die of peanuts this year than have ever died of cannabis. So it's, it's a silly argument, but. You said peanuts, right? Yes, sir. Okay. Just kidding. My connection was crazy. Yeah. So if you had something that you could say to Wyoming lawmakers, as they consider this bill, what would it be? Well, it's like this, you know, I would say this to anybody, any lawmaker or any citizen in the United States, any person that's suffering, you know, you don't need it until you need it. And when you need it, you want to make sure it's available and you might not need it right now, but there might be a day that you do. There might be a day that somebody in your family does. And then where are you going to be sitting when you were that guy who was playing politics and, and didn't, uh, didn't vote. Yes. At the end of the day, it is safer than grapes. At the end of the day, it is non-toxic to humans. It cannot stop your breathing. The addiction rate is, is that as at worst of coffee, how many coffee makers are, how many coffee drinkers are lawmakers? So these are the things that are just the simple facts. And if we say it works, how can they say it doesn't? You know, I mean, all the way, all the way around, there's, there's been enough enough of a mandate among the citizenry that this not only has to be taken seriously. I would, I would guess anybody who votes against it, I would be looking into them and see what other agendas they have because it's not for the citizenry. Right. Even here in Wyoming, we've got a majority support for adult use. We've got 75% support for decrim and we've got over 85% support for medical. So the, the legislators that like to say, Oh, Oh, I can't vote for this. I'll, I'll lose my, I'll lose my position in the legislature cause they'll vote me out that they're, well, for one, they're, they're focused inappropriately on keeping their positions versus doing what is right. And two, they're not right. The, the, the people are going to be behind them if they support this. And I, I really hope that they wake up to that notion because I mean, even here in very conservative Wyoming, the people are very behind this. I mean, we're, we're so supportive of cannabis medicine. We're begging for it. So, Well, good, good, good. I'm glad you're leading the charge, man. It's very, very important. And it just, again, it's just going to save lives. I mean, again, go back to the law enforcement issue. Most cops, you say, Hey, you will go to a party and everybody's drinking. What are you going to think? You're thinking, Oh, I'm probably going to have to get in a fight here. You go to, you know, you go to somebody's party and everybody's smoking weed and what do you go? What are you going to get into? Nothing. If somebody's got to go to jail, you throw them the cuffs and say, put those on get in the back of the car and they'll do it. I mean, they're most compliant prisoners on the planet and nobody's got to get hurt. Nobody's got to get hurt. So, you know, all the way around, there's, there's been so much bad propaganda against marijuana for a host of reasons. There's racial issues behind it. There's money issues behind it. There's the alcohol industry that has a whole lot to do with bad propaganda against marijuana because they know, you know, they would lose a ton of market share if marijuana was legal, you know, on a big pharma, you know, on and on and on.