The Business of Cannabis

prevention movement UM. We have had advocates on, We've had law enforcement on, We've had elected officials on, We've had victims, We've dealt with women and how they are impacted by gun violence, and we had we well, we absolutely have. I mean our brother Samson Styles, who was on, uh, the young man from Wilchairs Against Gun Violence. I mean, we we've really tried to cover Kareem it's his name. We tried to cover all the aspects, but there's so

many more. And beyond the fact that there's so many more aspects, there's so many other people that are doing work UM that have different ideas about the ways in which you can reduce gun violence and the ways in which we can just increase peace and and and and increase positivity in our communities, and so that can't be the end. We did want to focus for six weeks so that we could give people examples and information about where to get started or how to keep working in

their own communities. We've been doing this work for some time. It does not always get the attention that it deserves. If we post the video or post the show, we may get several thousand people, which thankfully at least, you know, thousands of you pay attention to our show and watch the videos. But when we post something about the hot a trending topic, we have thousands of upon thousands upon

thousands you know of folks who tune in. That's just the reality, unfortunately, of people being attracted to um, you know, sometimes mess other times just things that um you know, make you feel light, make you you know, things that's trending and so. But but I think it is important that regardless of how many likes and shares we get,

that we still do what we know it's necessary. And there's somebody out there who's able to go back and follow the six week series and the six episodes and and really sort of write down different ideas that they may have found and heard that will help them to enhance the work that they're doing in their community. Definitely,

you know, we want to highlight that. We want to make sure that people understand because we always get like I always say, we get backlash about what we talk about when we talk about police, you know, brutality for these violence against us, and you don't talk about it, and we do. So, you know, and we took six whole weeks to focus on the gun violence that going on, that's going on our communities, those people impacted, those people doing the work to change, you know, and trying to

heal the community. So you know, it's necessary, you know, and we we actually need more. I mean, we could have gone on so many different people. It wasn't enough of law enforcement for me. Like I think that because we had a former chief, UM, which is important, but he obviously can't speak officially for the NYPD or any other police department. UM. And I think we need to have more dialogue with law enforcement. And as you've been saying,

people who agree and people who don't agree. I have no problem having conversations with people that I disagree with, because you know, I can get the point of view. You know, you want to make sure that you get someone else's point of view. A lot of things about police, and I'm not keen on or I don't really agree with a lot of the practices that they have, you know, and so I want to see the perspective so I can understand why do you think it makes sense? Why

why do you think this actually makes sense? And either agree, agree to disagree, and we still gotta do the work. We gotta do it. It's something that you know, goes against the culture, goes against our people, that violate our civil rights. We're gonna make sure that we stand up and protest against those things. But if they're all practices that the police want to do that makes sense within our community, then we will embrace those were just not

anti police all the way. You know, we will ultimately goes to abolished police because we want communities that don't need police. We want to be able to walk outside and not have to think about crime. And that only means that we have to eliminate poverty. Until we eliminate poverty, crime is going to exist. We understand that. But so until we do that, we're gonna there that even when

you eliminate poverty, they're still gonna do somethings. I mean, that's the part that I'm now because I think we have through the research and work that we've done and the study that we've been engaged in alongside so many of the advocates, we pretty much know what the community needs and how to eliminate policing and strengthen community public safety. We we we we have that. We can talk about that all day and night, but no one I still haven't

figured out. And that's the part that I'm working on. What a what am I doing with the serial murderer um, the serial rapists? I'm trying to figure those are mental? Those are mental things, you know. So you think if we it's the same methods applied, the same method I think when you identify that somebody is mentally unstable, you know what I'm saying, You don't the you know, the mental Fielking diagnose that. So yeah, it's definitely mental, you know.

And if we identify that prior to it, then the

police is you know, don't have to get involved. You put people inside institutions, you make sure they've monitored because usually you conteend when somebody's a serial murderer, I think they when they showed, you know, a lot of these different shows to talk about serial murderers, and they talk about how they identified that they had mental issues way when they were younger, and some people just looked it off or just didn't pay attention to it, and it

just fostered into something that was more so I think. So you think there's a service that we can provide a person that is a pedophile, um from when they're young, of course, but how do you know when a person is nine or eight that they're gonna like younger. I don't think all of those things are able to talk identify all the time. I think I think when we have school, I think school, and you know, in the mental health and um just like psychological just having someone

to talk to. I think those should be very prevalent in all public schools, like you, because you have to be able to understand the mind state of a child and and see and forster and see what they think. You know, to be able to identify, because you can tell a lot because when you most parents and things like that, they identify things and their children they can say, you know, I remember young he was just very angry all the time. And I used to try to figure it out and try to wonder why he was just

this angry person and I didn't know. And then they see those and then they're not in the mental health issue. I mean, so they don't really know. They just identified that there's something wrong, you know. I'm saying. So when you have mental health people inside schools and then you know the experts, I guess specifically, Yeah, they specializing specifically deal with each child. You know. I think that should

be a mandate that mental health dealing with children. Each child has to have evaluations and talking to and being able to talk. Those are things that need to And I think as you do that, I think we can circumvent and get in front of a lot of especially mental health criminology such as you know, serial murderers and pedophiles. So you say, okay, the same methods applied even to the worst criminals and bad actors in our community. I mean, I think there's no way that we're going to be

able to circumvent every chrome. I mean what I'm talking about the majority of them, The majority of crimes are preventable or able to or foreseeable. You know, either you can prevent them or you can foresee them and circumvent and get in front of them. I believe that. I agree,

I agree. I guess that's that's that's right. So speaking of prevention, it brings me to my thought of the day because you know, so, you know, the last few weeks, the big debate, there's even protests happening because Mayor Deblasio, the mayor of New York City, our city that we live in, has said that beginning August thirteen, the rules have now changed to Um, if you go to a restaurant and you, uh, First of all, they don't care about masks. They're saying, you have to prove somehow that

you're vaccinated. I haven't even really looked into how you're supposed to prove it, but you have to prove that you're vaccinated in order to be able to do in restaurant dining, in room dining, and some other things in

this city. Um. And you know, September a month or so later, it's going to be mandatory to the point that the health Department will be out checking the restaurants and I guess walking up to your table saying let me see your paperwork or let me see I don't know what, but they're trying to prevent COVID, but I don't think I'm spread. You can't prevent they've already, Like I just this one. These things just don't make sense. Well, you can't. You can reduce it, reduce it, you can

reduce it, but I don't think just what. Well, First of all, masks definitely have reduced the spread of absolutely, because we know it from our own homes. We know if I'm from our own homes. Absolutely, I know from my own life and from others around me that people, even people who are caring for a person who has COVID, right, even folks in the medical field, they wear their masks. And these and by the way, mask are not a new phenomenon. The way that we are wearing masks now

is probably not healthy. I agree it's not healthy for you. But masks, they're not new. Medical professionals have been using masks to prevent the spread of viruses and other things forever. And so we know that when people first, when doctors and nurses were coming into contact with COVID patients, but before they figured it out, they were getting sick like

crazy because they didn't know. And then when they realize, oh shoot, I have to wear my mask, and I might need the what's the you know, the blue one, and then something else to cover it, and not just the fancy ones. Then you started to see a reduction in the amount of healthcare professionals who again your doctors doing your I don't know, maybe I'm just making up something. The doctor may have come in on a g Y N appointment and usually they don't wear their mask until

they actually start to examine you. But they don't come in the room and they talk to you. They want to sit down, have a good conversation, how you doing this, and that it's good to see you out of that, and maybe shake your hand, because that was the thing doctors used to shake your hand, and then the next thing, you know, you touch your face, you rub your eye,

and that's how you're spreading things. But once we knew about social distancing, wash your hands, wear your mask, it began to reduce the amount of people in the health care profession and in other places that we're getting COVID. Now, does that mean that it's gonna totally stop it Absolutely not. But I know that your chances of transmitting COVID to another person or any virus when you have washed your hands and you have something that's protecting you and that person.

It's just common sense that the dot the virus is not going to jump through the mask. That's just not realistic. Well I'm not saying they jumped through the mask. That's most of these masks don't prevent everything from going through anyway. So if you're talking to the mask and and it's coming off the side anyway, yeah, but that's even if you if you look at the average person with the mask when you talk, there's places that the air can go through. That that's why you can steal within a mask.

You don't go out a hundred, but do you still have air pockets within the mask? It doesn't realize that you can catch I didn't say it completely. I never I never used the word completely. I said reduces. So that's like you can catch something when you have on a condom, but the chances of it being transmitted is less. So if it was a hundred percent or without the condom, you put the condom on, you might be down to or even less than that. So I'm saying that it

is there is a reduction based upon mask. But I'm saying in this situation. They're not even asking people to wear masks, right, They're saying you have to be vaccinated. But the problem is that we know you can still catch COVID if you're vaccinated. So I am so very confused as to what we're doing, and actually constitutional or civil rights or some ship is being violated by telling

folks they can't go sit in a restaurant. I'm trying to understand why we've gotten so comfortable asking people about their little hipper stuff, right, because there was supposed to be hipper laws that prevent you from being able to ask another person. It's like asking me, are you on birth control? Like, I don't know. I don't know if I have to answer that question, especially if you and I are not engaged in something that like you know what I'm saying, like, And I think that's why it's

not the mandates. I think these are threats, right, and they keep saying them, and I don't think they constitutionally can stand up. It's like, you know, concerts haven't said, oh you have you have to have this, and you have to have that, And a lot of people I know ain't going in showing no nothing, they have any ticket they're asking you a question or they're telling they're putting out broadly that you need to have these things so that you think, well, I gotta let me go

get it. And and and that's a it's a it's a trick. It's really like a trick because they're not really I can't see you walking to the restaurant they're asking you for a vaccine, but they're going to because they haven't seen. I haven't seen yet that's happening, well not yet, because I mean New York is gonna be

the first city that it's ever happened then. But at the same time, my thing is, I am so torn because us on one side, I completely understand that you have workers, you've got healthcare providers, you essential workers, as they say, You've got people out here who can't afford to get sick or like me, I went to Houston, Texas. That's why those people, if they feel this is what I'm trying, it's impossible, though, I'm sorry. If you feel that you can't afford to get sick, then you need

to take the vaccine. You can't you can't tell somebody else who don't feel like they can't afford if I feel like my immune system is way stronger than everybody else. I probably get sick once every five years with a cold for two days, and you're gonna tell me that I'm just saying. I'm just saying, Okay, you probably see. But for the most part, I don't really get sick like and if I do get sick, immediately, my immune

system fights it all. So you're telling me that because you feel like you're set of people that I need to take ac No. You well, but but but and and and every time we have this conversation, we always go back to and I'm charging our entire team with us finding professionals that can talk with us about this topic, because again now we no, but we still need professionals because even what we may think is common sense. It's like, you know, you go to the doctor's office and you say, well,

common sense to me. My mom said to me the other day, I told us that something said, something's going on with my eye. I really don't know what to do. Is going through changes. And she said, when my eye was going through the same thing, and she started saying, I just put a warm compress on it. But when I read what the medical professionals said, they are saying, basically, the warm compress is the worst thing that you can do.

But from her perspective, her common sense tells her put the warm compress on it, because this is what she's used to use it. If somebody you get a medical profession that says, don't do this is the worst thing that and you do it and it works for you, it didn't work. It didn't work. I'm just trying to tell you that that's the issue. But I'm trying to tell you if she said, listen, what it didn't work

for you? No, no, no, it did not work for her. Okay, so then she was giving you advice that didn't work. Didn't even make sense to give you that. But that's not the point it because this is this is the issue. The issue is. It's like she's been putting a band aid on it and it's getting her from day to day, but it's not solving the problem. And so when we when I went and read up on it, the it's not that the that the warm compress doesn't make her feel better in the moment, but in terms of healing

the problem, the cold compress is actually better. And there was information about why because the warm creates another swelling, and this and this and then a third. So it's making it feel better. But she still has this eye problem for the last several months, and now she's using the cold compress, it's actually helping to speed up the

healing process. So what I'm suggesting is that when people who have actually studied, and this is the conversation you and I get into often, I have a concept from me visiting prisons. Right, I've been inside, I've listened to what a bunch of people have to say about it,

and I kind of think I know stuff. But when I'm speaking to you, someone who spent seven years inside the system about it, I know that there's no way if I haven't slept there, lived there eight the food, done the things, experience, the culture, I can't possibly know more than you about this about being in prison, and everything you're seeing is right, right, So what the only thing I'm trying to tell you is based on what

I'm saying, you are right. They have people that study prison. Right, There's people that go to school every day and they study about prison. Right, They've never actually been to prison. Right, They've talked to people been to prison, They can give you. They can give you a whole thesis on prison mentality and never actually been in prison, right, So who is more of a professional scene. What I'm talking about is

this life experience. If I live my life every day and I get sick, right, and I do certain things for my sickness that heals me, and you tell me that based on your studies, the thing that healed me, it's not right. That's what I'm trying to explain to you. So your professional but then I'm trying to professionalism just means that somebody study the book my real life experience. I don't put somebody's studies over my room. But the but here's the issue. But here's the issue. Here's the issue.

You haven't experienced the mutation of viruses. You also have not experience having diabetes and also having a virus. So you want to assume that someone who has studied it to the perspective, to the extent that they got diabetes. Person at the table, they have a my son person

who's pretty healthy at the table. They have another person who you know it might not be you know, may not be diabetes and all of that, but they obese or they have different issues, and those people are coming together and working with this professional who has studied viruses. I want to assume that that person has a little

bit of a step above in terms of knowledge. Then we then we then we do so all I suggest the medic you have so many different people that have different I understand that, but that my studies tell me this and other person. But that's my point. My point is. My point is that when we as people who haven't studied it, we don't have certain health concerns. We don't

have everybody sitting at the table. I think that what is responsible is to have somebody there who may be able to provide perspectives that can help deal with a wide array of individuals. Because if me and you, my son and Tamika just kicking it about COVID, we have our opinions, we have a lot of the same We're pretty healthy, you know, we have a lot of the same things. We try to eat as best as possible. I'm worse than you, but you know these things, right.

We're both um slim and shape, you know, we're not obese. We have all this, so we could kick it and talk about it and have a certain idea. The problem comes in when we are on platform speaking to a

broad audience of individuals, then we have a responsibility. Just like we're bringing practitioners in that are dealing with gun violence from different perspectives that you and I may not know, or we learn things and we're like, oh, okay, that's what's up now, I understand this or I always knew that, but it sounds better when it's coming from somebody who's

doing it every day. We have a responsibility to apply the same thing to talking about a disease that has killed or at least the effects of the impact of the disease has killed over six hundred thousand people. That's all I'm suggesting. I'm saying. Just like we candle everything else where, we bring professionals to the conversation, so we're responsible with the information that's going out into the world.

We have a responsibility with COVID because it's too many people that are impressionable that's listening that could go and try to apply what we're talking about and they mess around and apply something that we don't even know because we don't have some of these forms, you know, these are what do you call them? Pre existing conditions and

other things that put people's lives. So that's my do because yeah, but no, but but even but they have been healthy people who have dropped dead to COVID and everybody's like exactly, so that's well, No, I wouldn't say nobody knows. I would say your information is valuable, and so is theirs. I would say, at when I'm walking down the street, a homeless person, a houseless person tells me some drop some gems on me. That's so powerful. I'm like, wow, you know what you're talking about. But

I also am not gonna go ask that person. If I say to them, what have you ever bought a house? Have you ever will know actually I never did have a house. I've been homeless most of my life. I'm not gonna go ask them about the f h A loan application because there are other people that actually have either filled them out and or they actually have helped run a program related to that. So the homeless man

might tell me, save your money. Don't try to be so cute and fly that you don't put your money, because look at my situation, look at what I've been through. There's a better way, and that that's knowledge. But now I want to go and apply to for a house. So I gotta go talk to the f h A loan people who understand the application process, and you put the two things together, and then you gotta be what did what do we learn on our last show of gun violence? Right? Chief Banks said we as police, we

do a great job. Because of course he's gonna say that because he's a former chieat. But what did he say? But police and community together. Man, So there we go. That's my thought to day. So now we have our guests to come on. You know, we talk so much sometimes that we get all the way off track. But we're talking about cannabis, cannabis, talking about the cannabis industry.

I'm trying to figure out where to park the little bit of dollars that I had so that I can buy me a big old house so they could put it in a newspaper and say to Mika, Mallory lives in an expensive house. I'm I'm trying to get me a two three, four million dollar property somewhere. So I want to take my little resources in parking and maybe cannabis wherever they got that is up and up and up, that I can give me some a little little change, a little bit change changed, and they're a little change.

This is something I'm looking into. Man. Yeah, you're really hard on it for real, because you know a lot of our people have been disproportionately affected by the rest and put in prison. You know, so why not now should we be able to benefit when they started to become legal? You know, I think they should the people who was locked up for cannabis. The flower as they call it now, the flower? What is that? What is the flower? That's what the weed is? Weed is a flower.

So what's the connotation if they want because now it's medical and it's it's no, they want to take the stigma of the illegalism of it. The flower. I've been I've been studying the flower. Get that out of here. Man. It's been weed, the weeds, and that's the criminal connotation. They have changed the language people something. Yeah, because I'm talking to a guy like I'm really white in man, Yes, but no it's not. He's actually Latino and we've been

working on something right now that's gonna be big. He work with white people, of course he does, because because the white people got money. You know, Unfortunately us black and brown people, we don't have all of the financially, we do have it, we just don't use it the right. Listen, if we don't even represent to present, we have one point five trillion dollars that we spend a year. Think like me, I'm gonna go straight to the store today since I'm already downtown and go around Yonder, pick me

up a pair of shoes. Think about how many trillions of dollars everybody else that we got that Black people have always taken this much. Yeah, but all the time. So my thing is this, if we could take this much and do that, why not take this much. I'm tired to always start like we ain't always got to start at the bottom. Back. We're on the back of the bus. So we have our first guests. UM, that's coming up in this episode. I mean, so many things

running together. We finished this six episode series on gun violence, and one of the things that continue to come up in every single conversation is this conversation around eradicating poverty UM and UH and the harm that's been caused on our communities based upon UH past laws put in place to oppress and to really sort of demonize our people

for things that now are being treated responsively. So the harrowing crisis and you know, other drugs they were looked at as um criminal issues that are people needed to be thrown in jail. That's the war on drugs UM. But now we see that, uh, you know, if you have an opioid addiction is seen as a public health crisis and there's so many services you can just kind of walk up to the health department in other places and get treated, um for dealing with that. And you know,

I we we always talk about UM. I went through a real serious addiction and I can tell you that rehab was like, you know, really really I was. I was like dealing with my problems. But also because I'm conscious, because like Dick Gregory says, when you put the glasses on, you see things not as someone will want you to,

but you see them exactly as they are. So even coming out of my addiction and dealing with the pain associated with trying to get clean, I still noticed that why white people have like real services to get healed, you know, And and it doesn't exist or certainly didn't exist in our communities, but this is like really a nice place to go to get treated, and they actually have drugs that they can give you that helps to

wean you off of the other drugs. Whereas when when we were younger and I saw people trying to get off heroin and other addictions, they were like, basically we just thrown to the side and they had to sweat that joint out or you had to go get on methodon which made basically just like shake it out and that was it. Maybe we're bugging, Maybe that was TV. Maybe they did have Look our staff, they I'm not staff, excuse me, my love, our our production crew. They're like, no,

it was going the room. That's it. Yeah. Before we go to the next segment and have our special guests joint, we're gonna take a quick break for our sponsors so our next guest UM can help us talk about this and kind of just go through UM you know what we're seeing happening. And I'd like to call her a

change maker. She's sort of like a changemaker and UM an expert on this area of cannabis and particularly looking at the African American and Latino communities and our benefit and or not enough benefit from UM what we see happening with the cannabis industry. Her name is Jeanette Horton, and she is a co founder of the New Leaf Project UM, which is an organization that was established to address communities harm by the War on drugs and to

help build wealth through the cannabis industry. Thank you so much, Jeanette for joining us today, Thank you for having me, Thank you for having us. So give us a little a little synopsis of exactly what it is that you do. Exactly great. So what we spend our time on is really bringing that mission to life of building generational wealth for the black and brown communities most harmed by the

War on drugs via the legal cannabis industry. And that means we have spent a lot of time funding BIPOC owned, primarily black owned cannabis businesses because there is a you know, big gap, there's a wealth fab That's what we started with UM, really that wealth gap and eradicating poverty that impacts black and brown communities, but specifically black communities more than any other. And the entrepreneurship period is a really

really effective way to build generational wealth quickly. And we don't participate in entrepreneurship enough black communities because we haven't had the access and we haven't had the capital. So

we spent a lot of time solving that. And we believe that the cannabis industry and the taxes, the new tax money from the cannabis industry really gives UM, gives our community, gives the black community an opportunity, and we're seeing this state to state to redirect that money to things like funding cannabis businesses or any other black business and solving some of those generational wealth problems again using cannabis,

using canvas taxes. So I just have a question. There's a lot of people I know, a lot of my friends, you know, growing up in the Bronx who were locked up for weed and you know some of them have spent axtensive amount of time in prison. What are what are the programs like two? You know, not only try to get the records clean based on the fact and now every thing is legal, but how are they giving those same people who they locked up opportunities to be

entrepreneurs and benefit now or the budding cannabis field. So that's really important to talk about state by state because that's where this is happening. So, UM, the programs that are out there are two things. You first talked about automatic expungement, and I just wanted to stop on that um and point out that not every legal state has put in place automatic expungement, and that's um ridiculous, I

mean full stop. So to have people still walking around with cannabis possession on their record, for example, not even cannabis possession is automatically expunged when the industry is now legal, is something every state needs to do. And then, um, the second thing are the kind of programs that New Leaf Project is. So the City of Portland and this

is where we really got our start. The City of Portland voters said that when they enacted taxes on cannabis at the registers, at retail sales and cannabis taxes, that they wanted a portion of that to go to rebuilding the community's most harmed by the War on drugs. And New York just recently passed cannabis recreational legislation and said the same fift of taxes needed to go um to

reparative justice. And that's important for states to do that and for our community as a whole, states accountable to that. We're really making the change by telling states that either they can't legalize or they can't. I mean, they really need to get accountable to their values if they're going to stay legal, to have those programs that invest those taxes.

And then what New Leaf Project does is we work directly with people, UM, with folks who have cannabis UM charges on their record many of our business owners do, and with folks who are still imprisoned. I'm actually talking to a mother UM coming up this week whose son is still in prison and how we can help him get get started now UM. And then de incarceration would

be the last thing I'd say. Folks should not be in prison UM if it's a cannabis possession charge that got them there, or if it's even a distribution charge that for now we no longer consider UM consider that illegal. It's you know, it's really time for us to hold these states accountable that make a lot of money off

office plan. So the investments that you're making in and funding that you're giving to people, is it that they've already started and you're just trying to help them along or are you for or can I go to come to you and say this is what I want to do and for you to help show show me the steps of how to get involved. Yeah. Absolutely. We work with both businesses who have already started in businesses who are really just people saying I'd like to be in

this industry. What should I do? Do you need money in your hand? Like what I need money in my I'm serious about this, so I'm asking very specific questions.

Do I need money in my hand to come to New Leaf Project and say, okay, I have twenty five thousand and fifty thou hundred thousand, which I'd love for you to tell me what is a good amount of money to have and and to say I'm ready, you know, to start, and and also what I need, um, you know to have like the best credit or no criminal background, Like what would be some of the other things that I would have to have in a package that you would look at and say this is someone I can

fund because I can see that you will ultimately be successful in the field. Great question. You don't have to have money, You don't have to have good credit. We absolutely love to talk to people who have a cannabis charge on their on their record. Um, you don't need to come with anything, because that's you know, what starts to create those barriers, but need you to come with good credit. Then we start to not be able to fund black businesses, black own businesses. So yeah, no, we don't.

We fund based on what we call character um. We give character based grants. Are you an entrepreneur who's eager and excited and really passionate and doing the word cannabis is hard? There's a lot of research you will end up doing on your own um And but that's true for any industry, but Canvus is a particularly hard place to start a business. It does take a lot of

capital to start one. Yeah, I was. I was just telling her that I was in conversation with somebody, you know, really focused on it, and they were just talking about the numbers and what it takes to start it, and then but the numbers of what it actually gross is yearly is phenomenal, you know it is. It's just unbelievable. So I think, I think we really need this. We need education because a lot of our people in our

community don't even know it exists. A lot of these people like they're small, like you have really little small time, just people in the hood selling weed and they don't have any felonies, they don't have anything, and they don't know the process of actually doing illegal you know, and

they want to do it legal. They say, hey, what and they don't know about the process of doing They know, they've studied the strands of weed, they've created strands, they've done everything that they could do, but they just don't know how to legally transfer over to the process. So I think that's something that we definitely need to talk about. They've got the consumer research, you know what, they got the consumer research. Yeah, they do, and that's authentic, and

that's one of the reasons we love UM. We love founders with experience with the consumer and with the plan because that's going to make you a better entrepreneur and it's gonna make you faster to market with innovation. I mean,

it's real. Um, you're bringing bringing the consumer research. That's real, and it's something that the executives who are whitening suits, who don't consume the plan UM don't know anything about, don't have it worked with thousands of folks coming in now the door we're asking for the next train and telling you the last one was fired. That's consumer research. Legitimately, we'd love to fund those entrepreneurs who have that experience. We got a couple for you. Good do you do? You?

Do you have? Or are you interested in starting a dispensary yourself? Is that not the direction that you're traveling? And you know no, because I countl all of our entrepreneurs not to start dispensaries. So that's the first thing. UM, in terms of the money in the industry, making UM good money right now is not in the dispensary business. And UM, you need volume, need volume and retail to

to make good money anyway. So retail game is usually tough, but especially with this particular plant, the market is crowded. Taxes are really difficult. You can't do typical tax write offs. So I can get into the weeds and I won't. UM. But the first thing is no, I wouldn't counsel people to start a dispensary business. And I don't know. I don't want to start a business. I say all the time,

I'm not an entrepreneur. There's a problem that needs to be solved getting funding to entrepreneurs, and that's really what I care about, so that we can build generational wealth. It's a window of time when a small business can start in the cannabis industry because it's not federally legal. That's actually a benefit for small businesses because state by

state you can kind of start smaller. When Amazon does start in the industry, you know they've got the capital to take over the entire market, but they won't yet. They won't tell it's federally legal. So these small businesses have this opportunity to really build wealth. And I just wanna do what I can to be that joint that helps helps black businesses take advantage of that. So what what does she say? I mean, what does you say? What do you suggest? What what would be the path

the entry point to to actually do it? There's so many things, So let's just stay with plant touching. If you want to what you call touch the plant, you could grow. Um. So, cultivation is a really great place to make good margin. So where am I gonna make good money? What's more profitable business? And that's cultivation? So is processing? Processing is really the most profitable. It's more

capital to start. But I'm very, very excited about a black business who might come to me and want to open a processing How do we help you fund that? You talked to ask me kind of how much money. Processing is gonna take you five hundred thousand or more process, thank good. Question. Processing would be taking the plant, matter, the flower and turning it into oil, turning it into hash, turning it into and there's some less expensive ways to

process like hash. I just mentioned um. But most people are looking for the kind of oil you might dab um. And is that can you? I know, I'm we're asking. I mean, I'm deeply into this conversation. I gotta call you afterwards. Shout out to my sister friend uh Amber Foster who connected us. Where does this whole th HC versus cp D like? Tell me about that? That's a great question. So th HC is the compound in the

plant that gets you quote unquote high. That's before the elevated feeling you feel those uforic effects from th HC. C b D is another compound in the plant that most people find is very useful for sleep or for pain um and some people find is better for them. If th HC tends to make you paranoid, CBD will make you feel well. Usually for those same folks makes them feel calm and helps with anxiety. So there are a lot of a lot of a lot of anecdotal

evidence about how great CBD is. And I say anecdotal because we can't do clinical research on any of this yet, but your hundreds of thousands of people love CBD. Cb D is now federally legal, and so one council that I often give people to start a cb D business instead if you want to start a THHD drink business or you want to even start. We had a company who wanted to sell sell blunts, um, like pre rolled blunts, and then they pivoted to cb D because it's less

expensive to start a CBD business because it's federally legal. Um, there's a ton of competition, but again, if you know your product and you know your market, those CBD blunts are doing wonderfully. Um. And that was a pivot they made because it's a better it's a less expensive way to get into the market. Wow, this is interesting. What are the process somebody? We have to reach out to you? Do you have a website? Do you have and what

kind of stuff do they need? Where you know they got this ship together and not just comment see you with you know what we need? You know what? So we talked to everybody. I'll start with that We get so many emails from folks who said I want to start a dispensing We say, great, let's talk to you, and then we counsel them out of that. But and we all you get people who say I have no idea what I want to start, and then we say, great,

we'll talk to you too. We talk to everybody. UM, so you don't need to come with anything, which is a part of breaking down those barriers, because we always get told we have to come with something, right, We've got to be literate or in order to vote, and so we don't. We don't have any of those barriers for folks. And you can look us up new Leaf project dot org and it's in you leaf and then UM send us an email info at new Leaf project dot org and we'll set up a meeting with you.

I can't believe that you exist like this is like I can, yeah, because so if you had if I'm sorry, and I know y'all gonna kill us, but hopefully we can take up this little bit of time. Do you have to go now? Okay, let me ask you, so, if you have a hundred thousand, a hundred and fifty thousand dollars right now, which means you got a little bit of something, a little jump start. And then and I called new Leaf and I say, listen, I've got

I have this hundred and fifty thousand dollars. I have a family member UM who has a great credit UM and also resources. And then I have two friends that were also in the industry at one point. They was street hustlers, you know, so they know the consumer marketplace. What would what what would I have an advantage not I. I I understand you're saying everyone, you try to work with everyone, But would you look at that and say, okay, they're really ready to jump into this particular space and

let me try to help counsel them into that. Yeah, our level of support would would increase for someone who came with all of those resources, only because if you come saying I don't know what I want to do, we give you some resources, We ask you some questions over the phone, We tell you to schedule a follow up call with us in a month, and we'll see how you progress. We do the same if you have a hundred and fifty thousand and all of those things. But if you have a hundred and fifty and the

consumer experience, you are ready to start a business. You're ready and we're ready to help you launch it UM And we've still got a number of questions. Are you mobile or do you want to stay in one state? Do you really want to start a business? Maybe you want to invest without a hundred and fifty thousand UM and help build other businesses, which isn't something we do often. But you can actually get those multiple streams of revenue if you think about your investing your hundred fifty in

another way. So we'd be on a different path because you're you're ready to go, and the faster we can move for ourselves, for our community, the faster we can secure a piece of this industry. How many women are in the industry right now that you know a black women? A lot? Actually, um we there, it's a so a lot is didn't really come across, right, I know a lot of black women in the industry. This industry is not represented well by black women. Low numbers and black

women in the industry. So there's not a lot of diversity in cannabis. It's less diverse than corporate America where it came from. So there's a problem in terms of diversity. But I know a lot of great Black women in the industry with cannabis businesses um doing amazing things. I think. I think that feeds, that feeds to the process. What

I was saying to you. A lot of us just don't know, you know, and a lot of us want to get into a lot of people because if you go to the hood, most of the black people is in the selling and not most I mean same Jesus please, I mean the weed sellers are mostly black people in the hood. I'm not saying most of the black people selling hood with the people who are selling you saying that the Latino people, folks, don't they do with is way more in my hood away a lot of them,

you know what I'm saying. So you know, you can get right to get can't wait you come here? What I did said listen, man, we can call a new Leaf project, right. No, that's that's amazing. So I know people who have machines, they're making oils, all types of stuff. Oh good, they already they figured it out, you know. So that's great. Yeah, I mean, that's that's yeah. What can people do to help you? What can people do

to help new leave it? Can? Can folks? Are you like a C three C four Like, can people donate to you so that you can help others get started? Yeah, people can definitely donate to this work. We are not a non federally recognized nonproblem that we're not a C for C three because the FENDS won't give nonprofit designation to anything that touches cannabis. That was a new rule under the Trump administration. Really um considering that administration, but

that's where we are, where state recognized nonprofit. But so people donate to us, and we have a lot of businesses that give to us because they believe in what we're doing. So other cannabis businesses who who support this cause, larger businesses who realize that this is something they need

to work on. Is creating diversity in the industry. That means that for folks listening, what I'm hearing is you can give some money because you believe in it and walk away from it and not expect to have a tax right off or some type of deduction from the donation that you've given an investment, as my son often says, and I think it's important. I'm definitely going to donate um because I'm going to invest, certainly in New Leaf because, Um,

first of all, I buy stuff every day. I eat at least eight times a day because that's just my thing, um, which it needs to not be, because my stomach is not agreeing with the process for how much I eat.

But I waste money if you will, on things. And but I see this, even if it's twenty dollars a week, even if it's a hundred dollars, you know, at a time, UM, when I see that I have a little bit of change, it's important for somebody to help our people figure out what is a way out of the conditions that we've

been in. And it is not fair and it's it's literally criminal that people have spent years and years and years in prison away from their families because you know, if you get arrested for marijuana or whatever, when you come back to your family that may have Section eight living in the projects, you can't even return as a man and or a woman to your household because of

the way that the government subsidies are set up. So we have so many points that our communities have been impacted by, um, the war on drugs, And I think that we need people like you, We need more genets out there doing this work and and and helping our people figure out how to navigate this space. So I'm in in we need some weed. I will say this though,

about investing. We do have one company that's working with us that is helping us make our loans, and so they're actually going to give us money they get back with a little bit of interest. We do low interest loans at large sizes for companies with really slow payback terms to make them very affordable capital. But um, if a company is willing to work with us on a larger scale, they can get their money back. So that's just where did you what? What in the street did

you come from? What's your background? Because you sound like you you figured out so many things, which tells me that you were doing something that gave you a way to understand business and what people need. That's true. Um um, yeah, So I came from I worked to Coca Cola for a long time before I got to cannabis, and before that I did a stint to home depot in ups, so I did some corporate rounds. I started working in

corporate early, right out of high school with Inroads. I don't know if they'll know the Inroads program, um internship got a lot, got me someone who none of my family was in business, So this was not something nobody went in a suit and tie job. So this was not something that I had any of my head wrapped around. But um, I spent a lot of time in corporate America, a lot of time understanding business, what people want. I don't know funding. So this is a new world I'm navigating.

But if I don't, I feel like if I don't navigate it for us really understanding where we come for um, then who will you know with the opportunity to to do something here? And I landed in this industry and it just feels like the time is now for us to take this industry and create that reparative justice, that economic justice that's it's due. It's time. It's time for the reverse course on where you know where income is going for black communities to change. Wow, Jeannette Horn from

the New Leaf Project, been amazing, so enlightening. En. We need another hour and too, you know somebody as we as we might, we need we need to visit. We need a meeting. We'd love to schedule a meeting with you to discuss um how we can be helpful and and we want to make sure also that all our friends are supporting you, because we know we have a lot of friends that's in funding. I'm thinking about our

board chair, Monique. I let do you know Monique? Okay, these are people, I mean, this is what she does. Us is Monique and her partner through rain Capital. They fund companies and startups black owned and women owned businesses um and they have a major fund And she's a black woman. Who's our board chair. Obviously, you know we know Snoop Dog. That's he's our uncle. Snoop is on our board. These are individuals who are already either in

the business or they have great connections. And we want to make sure that our people are supporting you and make sure that you get into places and platforms on the Breakfast Club and other places so people can know that New Leaf exists because we need you. Thank you. Yeah, I'd love to chat more. Thank you so much. Thank you for being with us today. We're gonna get money, Yes, we are alright. Take care. She's good. I mean she

knows some stuff really good. You're gonna get us this weed, buddy, man, do listen. That's what they don't want you to say flower. The flower, you know, that's the that's the clinical term. You know, that is the term, the legal term. So they take away the negative connotation that has been attached to weed. So we have the flower. We're gonna get us this flower. People something else. They just know how to flip it. But with the newly project, definitely no,

really we should be supporting that. We got to do that. So now we're gonna go into our streets talking segment in which our resident brand expert, LaToya Bond, will introduce somebody doing dope stuff, entrepreneur owning something something dope. We don't even know what it is. You're gonna be We're gonna be just as surprised as you are. So let's go to LaToya Bon. Let's get it. Thank you to make it and mice and welcome to the brand market.

I am LaToya Bond, your resident brand whisperer. As we all know, the legal cannabis industry is growing steadily and it's now a billion dollar industry. For years, the black community has been criminalized, prosecuted in jail for the sale and use of the plan and of course, now that it is a legal business, we are priced out and policied out of having a seat at the table. For

this reason, I wanted to highlight the brand Candidus. This woman of color founder found the way to get her foot in the door with a line of the core inspired smoking accessories made with a contemporary woman in mind. The goal of the brand is to create smoking accessories you don't want to hide. Here's more about the brand from the founder, Tore Owen's thank you so much Toya

for having me. I'm Tory Owens, the CEO of candidacs Co. Our mission is to not only be stigmatized with the cannabis consumer looks like with our aesthetically pleasing, luxurious smoking accessories, but we are as so here to help position other minorities as owners within an industry that has previously been known to criminalize US Canada. Lux Co is a firm believer that you do not have to minimize your enjoyment of the plant, nor your belief in its health benefits,

for the sake of your career or social judgment. We acknowledge that consumers who indulge in the plants are equally among high profile individuals, and we all play in a central role throughout the economy, no matter what tax bracket you may fall in. The best part about our collection is that each piece was curated with a unique intention to provide smoking accessories that you never want to hide. Therefore,

each piece double serves as home to the core. They each represent an individual who is confident in who they are, confident in the power of the plant, and know exactly what they line. If you're interested in purchasing smoking accessories that you never wants to hide, please visit us at www dot Canada LUTs dot com. Thank you again for having me, and now back to Utay. Thank you Tory, and thanks so much for creating this brand. Before you guys start calling Texan and tweeting Tamika and my son,

we are not promoting the use of cannabis. However, we are promoting that any business should have people of color represented, especially a business that has criminalized our people for such a long time. So if this is a way to get our foot in the door and get in the industry, we supported a hundred percent. It's gonna sit back and enjoy my wine and my smoking and some oh and

before I forget. If you're interested and having your brand or products featured on the brand market head of it for our Instagram at the b Agency and click the link in the bio. Yes, yes, I know, yes, don't know off for a little bit because our Streets is Talking segments came a little We're a little discombobed just that talking to talking too much. We had other people that were supposed to come. We just improvised. You know,

we're the number one show. When you're the number one show, you figure out how to improvise and on the move, you do what you gotta do. So you know what, you got a little switch shout out to the trade for this week's segment of Streets is Talking. So that brings me two. I don't get it, you know, since we're talking about candids with toobo these industries, who candidates can abyss the flower? We're talking about the flower, the flowers as we're talking about the flowers. What I what

I don't get right? Like the government is really weird, right, you don't get that. I just don't get how we don't get it right. How we've allowed this to keep happening right throughout history everything is illegal right everything before prohibition, they was making liquor in the basement as soon as the government feels the figures out, how can we taxes

it make some money off it? Right? Right? So what if I don't get how they continue to criminalize us for things, and then soon as they figure out a way to get rich off of it, it becomes the most legal thing. It becomes. Ever, you can't it's still criminalized if you are not doing it exactly if you're not. So if you if you're trying to sell right now, if you was making liquor in your basement, they're gonna

lock you up. Every corner, every corner, every store jokes because they want to figure out how they can make some money off everything you do. Like the reality of the situation is nothing is illegal if they can make money off of it. And I just don't get it. I justly every industry. If you try to sell your own COUCHI outside and you ain't paying and you ain't paying no taxes on it, it's illegal if you're just making money. I don't know, Like, let me see where

how is that really true? I'm trying to see, how do they it's escort, it's called escorting. You don't actually you can't say that you're selling the vagina, which is flower. It's a flower you escort and they paid you paid dates. It's a dating service, right, so you pay and they tax the dating. Okay, how much did you make? We're gonna need our cut, so you can't. They want They cut off everything in the world, and if they don't

get a cut, it's a crime. As soon as they figure out how they can monitor it and make sure they get a cut if it comes late. I don't know why you don't get that. I just don't. I don't get how it's legal. How is that right? How is that? Why do we go for this? Listen, y'all got research over there. It's actually sex work. Sex working you can legally, yeah, but sex work is legal in some places. That's true. But I don't know exactly how

it's being it's definitely being tech. You have to speak up because the people may not be able to see you, but they can hear you. Lace toize prostitution and stuff like that. And they have these houses now where honestly, Wow, and y'all sitting the pimps to jam. They get you. Listen to me, they need to go to jail. No, but listen to me. But they hopefully it is some

kind of if you choose a woman's decide. You know, this guy right here, I want you to make sure I'm safe, control my money, all these things for me. This is what I've decided, right and we gotta we gotta's a thing on that. It's called human trafficking. It's slavery. It's human slavery. They've given you seventy eight years. Okay, but is there a protection that the government has that you as the pimp. But I don't like that word. You as the business partner, the business partner, the supporter

or whatever, the protector. You can't whip my ass and rape me yourself, because then that violates some kind of law. See the problem with the old because a lot of a lot of the people who have been locked up for these laws, they wasn't beaten. Man. Crew is like your nick nick nick nick nick. Yes, they work a lot of them. Weren't. Man, Come on, man, these women

were being these women brutally. See over here we have brutalized rate um all kinds of killed at the hands of somebody who's supposed to position that quote unquote every pimp who is class, not every There's no such no absolute things. That's what I'm trying to tell you. And there are pimps who have never put their hands on what I'm saying that. Yeah, police helping a woman who agreed to manage. Right, Okay, managers, oh man, now we're calling manages. But especially if he's not. It's just they

don't do a lot of work. Though they do, that's the problem for them to protect you. Like if you're going out there, right and you want the strip, and you out there and you want somebody can take advantage of, the pimp is supposed to make sure that nobody takes advantage of they don't take your money. Do you realize, let me just let me manage, Let me help you are giving place. Let me help you understand what you're saying. I'm just telling you, but let me help you understand

what you're saying. I my statement was that the pimp manager, he's now the manager. That's the new language. Is a manager. He doesn't do a lot of work. And you come back and say, yes, he does. He doesn't have to screw some fat stink thing, but he doesn't have to go out and find his client. Okay, All yes to do is get him a little. That's part of his job. Manages the clients in there, and he looks over the people you go see. He makes sure you're good when you go see him. He might have to. He knows

where people already. He provides residency. That is what Vegas. Vegas was one of the first people. This one over there, Look a man, there's a man on our team. That's that's he does. He gives residency. Lord. This is something else. But but sex work is work. I supported a hundred um. So I am not here saying that it's wrong, but I do think that. No, it's not that, it's that I know I support. That's why we've been saying sex work is work, right because there has to be some

protections and provisions. And so people not just saying sex work is work because we support prostitution and we just want people to be out here selling there. Behind what we're saying is that we know people are out here

engaging in that type of work. And when you politically say with a political consciousness that sex work is work, that means that we're expecting that there be some provisions and some safeties and protections provided for women who are out there It's just like when we start talking about people who are using drugs and we say that they deserve to be treated as humans. Now that means that they can walk into places and get clean needles. It means that they can get help, they can go, you know,

to programs. And so what I'm saying is to your point, you like some there's a lot of um uh pimps or managers who never put their hands on a woman. But there's a lot of police officers who have never unlawfully shot or hurt or harmed a person. Right, However, we're fighting for but but well listen what I'm saying. We're fighting for federal and local regulations that would make them accountable if they did, and also stop people from even having a mentality of the few. Right. So that's

what I'm saying. The managers need some rules because they don't have no rule. I'm trying of. These managers are not locked up for assaulting woman. They're not in there for assault harm on the woman. They are for being the management for Nobody cares about whether or not they was doing the stuff to the woman. That's the part that's the problem. Then the issue is that there is nobody.

That is because by the way, they ain't got no victim because the woman is not getting ready to tell people, well, I was being managed by John. They're gone. They don't want to even be caught up in that. So the abuse, the sexual assault and everything else that happened, they may never even be closely connected to that woman that they did it too, or you know, they may not ever receive any charges for that because at this point they're being charged for being in the space, for being in

the industry, but they're not. It's not many women that's gonna show up talking about It's like me going somewhere saying, oh, when I was out, you know, when I was using right, Oh, I got some bad drugs. Who am I going to tell that too? But I'm just asking you, like, who am I supposed to call and say I bought zanex off the street and I'm gonna go to the people downtown and walk up and there say they sold me a bad batch whom the lords are protecting all because sex. Oh.

Now you know I'm saying that's what we're saying. Now, That's why That's what I'm trying to tell you before that if you catch a pimp and a woman who is underneath the management manager in the worker, the worker. The manager is the only one that's they're not lucking. We're hearing, we're hearing. Now. I think the new person is the woman is not being arrested. Yeah, yeah, no she's not. In some states she's not. But the manager, but hopefully the manage well, because the manager could be

a part of what is called sex trafficking, sir. So the traffic curve in the traffic key. Yeah, the dude, it's different things. If you're not you don't Okay, that's what I'm trying to say. But so what happens in the the one that had the opinion you were an artist, your manager exactly, So she would have to pay his manager, and he would have to do his contract and he would have to put his name on the papers. Ah oh no, the forcing thing. No, that's yeah. But yeah,

she's explaining to you how it looks. That's how it is. Yeah that in no situations like I've been trying to tell you us, man, we got it bad man, go on moving on, Yeah, exactly, because it means not me per se, a man, a manager, and you know when a woman decide you were don't get some money to get all right? Cool? Cool? When the police come, women said, look, I don't know. I didn't want to do this. You know what, YO, trust me. He needs a professional business.

He needs a professional bit. That's what's gonna for a saxon. He needs a professional business, similar to having a club or having a brothel or whatever. Sex. Nat, You basically said, I don't disagree. I never disagree you. All I'm saying is that no, no, no, I didn't say that. I never said that. I said you should have a contract yet. And still, once you have that contract, if the person says no, no me so exactly so your man and you say cool, and you go into the room. You

can't make me go into the room. Went into the room, you decided halfway through it that you didn't want to do it. And the man just supposed to come and get you out on his job, and he supposed to lodge it. Now you're supposed to give me out two minutes, two seconds. Yes, he of us had life. He's supposed to have a book. He's supposed to put it down, and then he's supposed to call authority. It's over. Everything is over. That's not funny. No, but it's not funny.

We're laughing about it, but on a serious note, we're saying it in a light way. No, we're saying it in a light way, and it it sounds whatever. But the bottom line is that a woman's body and her ability to process and make decisions UM with her full mind, heart and soul should always be respected. It should always be that, no matter whether you think you're a manager or pimp or whatever they are calling it these days. As they have gone from weed to flower, they've now

somehow gone from pimp to manager or whatever. It is. Still in all there is a human in the middle of um, the sex trafficking I mean, excuse me, the sex work field, and not human. They they have they should have more rights and they should also have more protections because that person's body is actually being used and in some cases abuse. So no, I agree, I definitely agree. Um,

a woman's body is completely her control, you know. And I just think we need to pay attention because sex trafficking is up, especially in the bronx amongst black and Latino women, so we need to be real careful. It's a young girl that's missing somewhere now that I see on Instagram. They keep posting and she must have been like a beauty pageant or something and she's missing in some state, um, you know, a young woman. And and

and people getting snatched off the streets. It's really crazy to me every time I think about the fact that people being taken and just disappearing and nobody's really talking about it. So you know, we gotta we gotta be very mindful of that, you know. And the brothers deitely need some contract just and whatever. A man and a manager. You got an m a and at the beginning and get you a contract champ, you know, to make sure and they still can break it. So you just gotta

be gotta be real careful man. Everybody, everybody needs to be careful. And so that brings you know, that was the thought of the day. Was pretty much about the government controlling everything. My idol get. It was really about the government controlling all aspects and how they turn illegal things into legal because they can make money off and you know, we came into that so but we veered back to that. So but I still just don't get how we allowed it. Like the government is really genious.

They figure out where to tax everything that we do. And until they can tax it, it's a crown, that's a business. America is the best at controlling and business and every aspect big business and every aspect of our lives. That brings us to the end of another episode of Street Politicians. We appreciate y'all. You have any topics, ideas, any feedback you want to tell us, how don't we are? You want to tell us that we're the number one

we know that about. But if you want to tell us, we appreciate this in us some messages DM all of that follow Street Politicians Pod on Instagram, go to out with a TV if you want to watch the physical show, but on our heart Black Effect Networking, listen to it. We appreciate you, guys, really do appreciate it. All good. I'm not gonna always be right for me. It's not always do we both always always. That's how we own it.