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by Denise Foster
January 18, 2025
Transcription (computer-generated):
News Talk 790 WNIS. Dr. Denise Foster is here from Hemp Haven Wellness doing the 10 o’clock show today. Hemp Haven Wellness, currently in Chesapeake at 480 Kempsville Road and soon to be moving to Moyock.
We’ll have more details on that coming up. Her website hemphavenwellness.com, her phone number 757 -609 -3767. The podcast on all major podcast platforms, also on the website cannabisnursetruths.com. Hello, Dr. D. Welcome back to the Mighty 790.
Good morning, Happy New year. How are you? Happy New year to you too. If it’s not too late, is it too late to say Happy New Year? I don’t know what the rules are.
My new year starts every day because I never know what to expect. This is true. A new day above Earth is always better than a bad day below Earth. You do never know what to expect. In the world of cannabis, it is the schizophrenic United States of cannabis. As we are still trying to navigate all of these confusing laws, especially here in Virginia, which you do on a regular basis.
So how are you holding up? It’s been a struggle, but hopefully we are on the other side of our dilemmas, and I’m going to talk about our dilemmas today. Because cannabis has been demonized, and it’s especially demonized in our old dominion, unfairly. The theme for today’s show is gaslighting. We all know what gaslighting is.
We know that individuals who are guilty often reflect or transmit, they project their faults and their wrongdoings on others. This is never truer than what’s happening in Virginia. No, they don’t. Dr. D No, they don’t.
I’m gaslighting you right now. No, they don’t. Cannabis bad, bad for you, gateway drug.
Gateway drug use our drugs, use our alcohol, use our tobacco. Absolutely.
Use our healthcare system that is imploding, imploding. We hear these stories every day in the shop. That individuals are taking advantage of the free consultations that our cannabis nurses offer. Cannabis nurses are doing a bang-up job. Now that we are an actual recognized subspecialty of nursing, we are educating.
My next Cannabis 101 lecture series has started, and after three years, I am super excited and proud to say that. We have a classroom full of nurses, nurses are finally going. Maybe I should check into this because this is the wave of the future. Whether our administration in Virginia acknowledges that they’re going to resist it to the very end, obviously, but we are. This is something, a phenomenon, that cannot be stopped. And we have both federal movement with the oncoming administration in many ways, and we also have local movement. As we are underway in moving and transitioning from Virginia to North Carolina. So where should we begin, Dr. D.
With the stuff in the news, we’ve got a lot of headlines we could run through, certainly a lot of science, a lot of research out there we could start with. Oh yes, the research is just continuing to explode.
It’s amazing to me as a healthcare provider who is always focused on, first of all, harm reduction, safety principles. How do we keep our individuals who want to use this safe in either access, testing, usage, dosage, administration route? So this phenomenon from the research and healthcare side has been exploding, and that’s mostly due. I must say I have to give President Biden some props, even as he’s exiting in such disgrace. We see this reflected this implosion or this explosion, I should say of research. Because of his 2022 law that wasn’t signed in December of 2022. We talked about it in our shows, the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act. It’s acted two things.
It moved the focus of federal research away from how it is a drug of abuse to how is it a drug of wellness? While still investigating now the harms or the risks that could be associated, for instance, we’re very much focused on adolescent and youth use. And what are the risks related to impaired driving? But now that law has flipped the research to where we are discovering and publishing evidence that shows that. These cannabinoid compounds that can come from the plant in my shop, that’s the hemp plant, they have incredible health benefits. And then, on the other side of that, the other part of that law, was it removed the liability from physicians to even discuss this with their patient population. Prior to this law, it was very unlikely that your physician, your PCP, would even want to discuss cannabis use with you. Because of where it continues to sit at Schedule 1.
They felt like they couldn’t. Yeah, absolutely, because then it would have been the same as them. Recommending that you go out and get another illegal, prohibited substances and that would take care of your problem. But now you have the option to report them to your board. So between the referrals that we have been getting from physicians and other practices, I think psychological practices, pain management, substance use practices, then you add in the wellness aspect from the research. We can now use all of this evidence and combine it with not only educating our communities, but our healthcare peers as well. Because this is a phenomenon that is taking hold and it’s not going away. So what are some of the latest? I guess? Discoveries? Well, one of the biggest discoveries is that. We now have data that we can retrospectively dive into to consider most of the risks. Because as more and more states across the United States are legalizing cannabis in some form or another, we are worried mainly about two things youth access and driving impairment.
And in fact, just recently. We’ll go into this in our little segue when we talk about how Virginia’s administration continues to use these to gaslight us. Unsafe gateway drug, drug of abuse, where youth are accessing it, and, of course, the risky driving behaviors. The latest study published from the Medical from the. I should say the youth marijuana use. Now we’re looking at data that has been considered, where we are finding that youth marijuana has not increased. Across all states that have legalized it, and surprise, surprise, the states where we have seen legal, state -regulated cannabis integrated into their economies. There are significant declines of youth use, meaning that now that we are age gating, meaning that we are checking IDs at the door. We’re not allowing you to purchase it if you are underage, and we’re telling you, you got to bring your ID. This is something that shows that legalization does not increase cannabis use. According to this report published by the Marijuana Policy Project, they looked at 21 states.
They looked at 19 out of those states, 21 states that legalized adult use cannabis, so now this is anyone 21 and older can access cannabis. They found that it is less likely that these underage accesses will be supported, we found. This particular report found that cannabis use among 8th, 10th and 12th graders is now even lower than it was before, when states first started enacting adult use legalization laws in 2012.
So here is where gaslighting starts. We have data now that show that in states where it is legally allowed to be consumed and used and accessed like you would, perhaps alcohol and tobacco. We have that model. States are showing that there is actually significant decline in youth access. So any claim that if we legalize cannabis, any claim that that’s going to lead to an increase in youth usage? Or people driving while high or something like that, that is not based in reality, that is true.
When we look at how, the industry is extremely focused on safety. And this is the difference between the illegal, illicit market that has no interest in your safety, there’s the gaslighting. When we’re talking about safety, we’re talking about the illegal illicit markets that are not lab testing their product. That’s where you’re getting your tainted products.
The guy in the street corner is not carting you. They’re not looking for your ID. They’re looking to just sell you a product to put cash in their pocket or kick it up to their own dealer. So really, the safety issues when we think about the legalization, I have to pop the bubble here. No one is interested in selling underage children weed.
Just like we’re not interested in selling you alcohol or tobacco, we’re not interested in putting cannabis in your Halloween candy. That’s not happening. And for that reason, this is where the highest leader of our drug war. Her name is Dr. Nara Valcow, and she has been the administrator of the National Institute on Drugs for forever. And actually, she is a proponent of cannabis legalization from the regulation perspective.
She reads the data, the evidence, and she herself has said that there is an unprecedented trend going on right now. Because legal cannabis entities youth of drug use overall is falling to historic lows, meaning that these younger people are not using the drugs that they claim that they are. Another piece of this research showed that. When they asked the perception of these 8th, 10th and 12th graders in this survey. How easy is it for you to get it? they all stated With a significant majority, It’s very difficult now for us to get it.
So here we’re going back to the back alley. When you put this product into an adolescent’s hand, that adolescent doesn’t just take it home, do they? That adolescent more than likely has taken it to school, or just before school, or on the bus, and they’re sharing it with their friends. Well, now this next layer is, well, how easy is it for you to access it? As an 8th, 10th or 12th grader? It’s not very easy at all.
And it apparently seems that we’re doing a good job in our primary education system. Because the other piece of this is, they’re asking, is it good to use at this age? And a majority of these 8th, 10th and 12th graders are saying no, it brings safety risks at this age. We’re on the pathway in relation to our youth access, to reducing and or eliminating the risks related to adolescent use and access, and even perception.
One of the hardest things in a culture is to change the belief, the perception. Now, the perception in these youth environments is that not only is it difficult to get, it’s also unsafe at this age for us to use. So don’t let them gaslight you that the youth are being harmed, they’re not, so we know that about the youths.
What do we know about driving? Driving has also been shown to be significantly reduced. The reports related to driving indicate that those individuals who are less, who are using cannabis in states where it has been legalized, are less likely to use it on the road. I don’t have my piece of paper here that gives you that particular information, but we, we for sure, we for sure, have reviewed this at length.
In fact, our Cannabis Nurse Truths podcast, we spent two episodes, that’s right, two episodes digging into the critical data that reflect that. Stoners. People who use cannabis instead of harmful drugs or harmful alcohol or tobacco, they are responsible users. They manage their party, they understand the effects that cannabis will provide to them, and when we think of cannabis in relation to intoxicating effects, we focus on one compound, the THC compound.
All the other compounds have no intoxicating effects. But when you’re using a marijuana product, you’re getting a concentration that is more likely than going to cause some impairment. The responsible drivers are reflecting that in the. There are 24 states that have adult use legalized, so that’s almost half of the country’s state populations.
Then you have more states that have medical cannabis legalization, so you combine those, and we have over half of the country using some cannabis in some form. And what do we see reflected in the data related to motor vehicle incidents? Well, we see people getting arrested for drunk driving because that has never gone down, and in fact, in every state, the number one effect of drunk driving is that. It remains the number one reason that people will have fatalities in motor vehicle accidents, despite our years of advocating and educating against that.
And who sells you the alcohol? the government, the government sells you the alcohol. So they’re the biggest drug pushers there, and the alcohol that causes fatality, whereas the cannabis users are being very responsible and staying home.
They understand how their product addresses their either needs, and so they’re only using it for their medical needs, or they’re using it to replace alcohol. And that brings me to the next segue, which shows that legalizing marijuana has shown a reduction in alcohol usage. This is one of the things that has been extremely concerning to the alcohol industry. Why? because who is mainly using marijuana right now?
If you’re looking at the two populations, medical marijuana, those that are using it truly for the treatment of conditions, prevention of pain or better sleep, the medical marijuana community population averages age 60 and older. This is where we as cannabis nurses are most concerned. Because not only are these individuals more at risk for safety concerns, like for instance, when you’re impaired, you’re more at risk to fall. Or to forget that you put a pot on the stove and now that it’s burning. But we also know that it is the older population that are using more of the prescription drugs, so there are some drug -drug interactions, which is why when we meet with our individuals for their pre -cannabis consultations, we ask them to bring their drug list. That’s why it is so important. If you’re going to use cannabis products, to be talking to a professional who knows how any prescriptions you may be taking will interact with the cannabis. And so on, and so forth. You don’t want to just be going to a dispensary or some young person who does not have a medical background or something like that.
That’s why what Dr. D does is so important. That’s a great point because you know how many medical people work in the medical marijuana dispensaries. Not very many, not very many, not very many at all.
You typically are going to have a 21 -year -old bud tender handing you a product saying, Try this. So, the medical marijuana is 61 and older, and we know that these individuals are using it to treat many conditions. It supports their safety. And, of course, many of these are retirees, so we don’t worry about drug testing on that level. On the other side of that population are the recreational or adult users. Those are the young adults between the ages of 21 to 40, who are the majority users of the recreational market.
And this report that just came out again. This came from a report and it was published at the beginning of January in the journal. Data Insight showed that among the youngest age group, frequent cannabis consumption was three times as common as alcohol use. Young adults are now three times more likely to use cannabis on a near daily basis than alcohol. The alcohol industry is in a tailspin. The kids are saying no to booze, the kids are saying no to booze.
And big booze is going to fight and claw and scratch as much as it can. It’s not going to go down without a fight. Big booze is already fighting, big booze is already seeing these effects. We again last year did a podcast, a podcast if you will, on Cannabis Nurse Truths that we took a deep dive into how cannabis is bad for beer sales.
Right, right, just this year, just a few days ago. Whiskey sales This is a report from the International Wine and Spirits Record, which is a global drinks data and analytics provider. They showed that whiskey, for the first time in history, has hit a negative almost 5 yearly change in sales volume. So much so that Jack Daniels has laid off is getting ready to lay off 12 of their workforce. For the first time since the whiskey maker went into business, cannabis is bad for booze and beer sales.
Now, why do you think they’re fighting so hard to prevent its legalization? Because once it takes over, it now is going to interrupt the alcohol sales. People are recognizing that alcohol is poison. We just had our own.
Who is our leader in the secretary?
Was it the Secretary of Health and Human Services? Oh yeah, it’s about to be RFK, right, right? But they came out and announced that alcohol is bad for you.
It’s poison, yeah, that it’s the third leading cause of preventable cancers. But yet the government has no problem selling that to you. No, no problem selling that to you.
So, once again, who is doing the harm? It’s not us. Don’t gaslight us. Because when you overdose on cannabis, you get a pretty good night’s sleep, but the next morning you’re not hungover. It doesn’t remain in your system long enough, it’s moved out of your system to where you’re no longer intoxicated and impaired.
It doesn’t destroy your cells, in fact, it makes them healthier. So this is another piece of the gaslighting, where the sales of alcohol begin to suffer. The worst thing that will happen to you if you use too much cannabis is maybe you might pass out or you might throw up or something like that. But you’ll wake up and you’ll be fine. Whereas with alcohol, that hangover can last days.
That’s right. We now have evidence that indicates that. In order to overdose on THC, meaning a fatal overdose, you would have to consume per day 280 ,000 milligrams. And Snoop Dogg’s not touching it, No, that’s approximately 3 ,000 or more joints per day.
Didn’t you tell me? It would be like? The joint would have to be the size of a telephone pole. That’s for the hemp to smoke. a hemp joint, it would have to be the size of a telephone pole. For you to get high, right? But in order for you to overdose on THC, you’d have to smoke over 3 ,000 joints per day. Eat over 1 ,500 brownies per day.
No one is doing that, no one’s doing that, no one’s doing that. Two more areas where we’re seeing incredible cannabis benefits to tie into the alcohol, we now know that CBD reduces cravings for alcohol.
Not only cravings for alcohol, so there’s where many people get very concerned about stopping their substance use, right? Talking alcohol, talking tobacco, methamphetamines, heroin, methadone. CBD, remember, is the non -impairing compound been getting a lot of press for the last several years? But now research has shown, and this was published in December in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
Molecular, meaning that these researchers are serious. They found that CBD reduces cravings for alcohol among people with drinking problems, such as substance use disorders. Not only does it reduce the withdrawal cravings that typically people quit quitting because they can’t handle. With the withdrawal symptoms, CBD also affects the withdrawal symptoms related to tobacco, heroin, methadone, and opioid dependence. Don’t tell me, our government -run methadone clinics are going to have to shut down because you can use an alternative known as CBD. Moving further, we found that legalization of cannabis leads to decreases in use of prescription anxiety medications, and it also reduces prescription opioid payments to physicians. Meaning that your physician is no longer prescribing opioids because these individuals no longer need them because they are switching to cannabis.
The data do not lie, and once is an offset, it’s your outlier, twice is a coincidence. Three times or more is a trend. And the trend here is that cannabis prevents damage, helps people in chronic conditions. Some of these, for instance. Substance abuse has always been one of our challenges. Because the government sells you legal, addictive substances known as tobacco and alcohol, and you’re hooked.
Now we have ways to help, either on the front side, prevent or treat or manage chronic conditions. While at the same time helping those who are addicted to a particular substance manage that and transition safely. The gaslighting in this industry just continues, one more report.
Another stereotype that we gaslight is that we’re just lazy stoners. We sit on the couch, we munch our bag of goodies and eat big pizzas, and just don’t want to get off the couch. Well, this report that just came out January 15th. Just a few days ago, in the journal Addictive Behaviors, we’re focusing on cannabis as an addiction. So now we wanted to look at their activity levels. This report indicates that people are more physically active on days they use cannabis, this new, federally funded study shows, which now has smashed the lazy stoner stereotype.
And this makes perfect sense, because, first of all, what happens when you take cannabis in an appropriate amount? You feel better, your pain is controlled, your anxiety is lowered, you get better sleep, so you are better rested.
You have a very positive, uplifting outlook. Remember? The THC molecule mimics our body’s own THC molecule, known as anandamide. Which is the reason that we now can physiologically explain runner’s high. So when we have this compound, that gives us all of these positive aspects while managing the risks. I’m not going to take my cannabis until I get to the gym because I don’t want to drive impaired. And now I’m going to take just the amount that’s going to give me what I need to control my pain and keep me motivated. And by the time I’m done an hour, two hours at the gym, or I’m at the concert and I’ve enjoyed my music for a couple hours, the effect is worn off. We’re not selling you $18 beers at the concert.
You’re taking your small amount before you go in. I’m not advocating for this and manage your party, please, people. But this is where the lazy, stereotypical stoner is moving away from this bias. And so this is another piece of gaslighting.
And if you think about who the people are that are most likely using cannabis, well, we have a data on that, too. The federal data that was related to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report came out because they wanted to know who’s using these cannabis substances. So, this was published in the American Journal of Public Health just this month, and it was data from the CDC’s behavioral Risk factor surveillance system. They wanted to see who is it that’s using cannabis and how can we now gaslight them? But we found in this report that the most people who are likely to use cannabis are your food preparation workers. Your creatives, such as in the arts, the entertainment and recreation, like your sports individuals, your music artists, your actors, and then, not surprisingly, your construction workers.
These are the individuals who are most likely, as we dig into the federal data, using cannabis on that near -daily or daily basis. Many of them young workers, young construction workers who don’t want to have aches and pains, who want to manage their anxieties. Food preparation, that’s, you know, come on, cutting carrots all day or selling you a burger behind the register is not very exciting. So what do they do? They take a little bit, and not to mean I want you to be impaired on the job. But if they manage their party, they’re using it.
And then, finally, the creatives. We know that cannabis has been used for 6 ,000 or more years to connect to that creativity piece. That’s why it’s part of a spiritual ritualism. So the creatives, their artists, the actors, the musicians, they feel that they can become more in tune with their creative sparks when they use it. We cannot continue the gaslighting.
It does not work. First of all, we see your tricks, we’re on to you. We know that we’ve been lied to, and we also now have data that can refute all of these points that are continuing to be promoted through their prohibitionists.
She’s Dr. Denise Foster from Hemp Haven Wellness that’s her website, hemphavenwellness.com in Chesapeake, now moving soon to Moyock. Also, the podcast can’t wait for people to hear the latest episode that we recorded together this past week.
That will be available in a couple of weeks, but we have a new episode for you that launches every Wednesday at Cannabisnursetruths.com. So if you like what Dr. D is saying and you want more of her, just go to the website. Or wherever you get your podcasts, we’re on Spotify, iHeartRadio, all the major podcast platforms, and search for Cannabis Nurse Truths.
We’re here with you on News Talk 790 WNIS until 11. Short timeout. We’re right back after this.
News Talk 790 WNIS HemphavenWellness.com is Dr. D’s website, hemphavenwellness.com. Right now, she’s at 480 Kempsville Road in Chesapeake, and soon she’ll be in Moyock. Right off of Route 168 Caratoke Highway in beautiful Moyock, North Carolina, right below the border. Right by the transmitter for our sister station Bob FM, and we’ll get you some more details on that new location coming up. First, we’ve got to talk about what the Feds are up to these days, Dr. D We’re watching a movie u.s. In the cannabis industry, we were first amazed last year. Before the election season was over, the campaign season was over, when both candidates very historically came out in favor of cannabis. Per se. President Trump (President-elect Trump) had to weigh on his opinion because of the Florida amendments, and then, of course, Vice President Harris had to explain her stance. So as we move into this new administration, the cannabis industry is looking for two things.
One of the first things is we have to clear up these constitutional messes. One of the first things that I used to be questioned on, especially from our veteran population who was interested in using medical marijuana, is whether or not. They would be considered a criminal felon because they also possessed firearms, in addition to going on to a state medical registry that allowed them to use marijuana. And if you’ve ever applied for a firearm permit, a gun license, if you would, it asks There Are you using any federally prohibited substance? Well, now you’re in a pickle. Because if I go on the state registry and say that I’m now a state medical marijuana user and I’m also a gun holder. They now can legally come and not only seize my guns because I’m a drug user, but they can also put me in jail because I lied on a federal form.
So just recently, just a few days ago, again on January 15th, the National Rifle Association has come out. They haven’t come out to say cannabis should be legal or not legal, that is not their position. Their position is calling into the question the constitutionality of the federal government’s ban on gun ownership. Stating And I quote from the lead in the N.R.A about Second Amendment rights. Marijuana use is no longer limited to the domain of Indigenous religious customs or youth -oriented counterculture. And now includes a wide variety of people who use it for medicinal or recreational purposes. Many of these individuals are otherwise law -abiding, and because of the federal government’s stance as a prohibition -based element. This has led to a confusing regulatory landscape.
So one of the first things that we’re hoping this administration does, either through revision of the gun laws or revision of the permitting process, is clearing up. This question about whether or not cannabis is a legal drug. That would be definitely helped by the Justice Department, who is supposed to be working with the DEA, the Drug Enforcement administration to move cannabis from schedule 1, where it sits at a prohibition level, to schedule 3. And hearings for this testimony for this type of movement were scheduled for next week. Until they’re not, this is the big mess right now. There are groups, so there are anti -cannabis groups, the prohibitionists, and there are pro -cannabis groups, the advocates.
It was in July of last year that the DEA collected over 45, almost 45,000 narratives about where the general public believed that cannabis should be placed. The majority of them said it should be either rescheduled to schedule 3, where testosterone, your anabolic steroids, your oxycodone, sit, or de-scheduled altogether. Take it off well, these pro-cannabis groups, the advocate groups, they recognized. When the DEA released their testimony list, who was going to be testifying at these hearings that were to commence next week. They noticed the majority of them were the prohibitionist groups talking about why it shouldn’t be legalized or moved to schedule. 3. Stacking the deck. This is called collusion because these groups sued and the DEA Administrative Law judge recognized that there is a problem here, that there was collusion. In the legal term is ex parte communication between the DEA and the prohibitionist groups stacking the deck.
For instance, the deck was stacked from states like Nebraska and Tennessee, who have anti -cannabis positions. But yet, when? Governor Jared Polis, governor of Colorado, who have been selling regulated cannabis on both medical and adult use markets for decades. His testimony wasn’t even considered. The DEA didn’t even give him a polite no thank you. They ignored his testimonial request completely. So it is because of this that the drug enforcement agency’s own administrative law judge, John Mulrooney, said that you’re stacking the deck. Your unwillingness to share this testimony, the process that you have used to build this testimony, is unprecedented and astonishing. Defiance, meaning that the DEA is worried they’re going to lose their jobs because the majority of the DEA budget is on cannabis enforcement, which is why we’re still living in the schizophrenic United States of cannabis.
It’s the fox guarding the hen house. They are worried. Do we have less fentanyl, less heroin, less methamphetamine? VIRGINIA BeaCh Just recently, Virginia Beach law enforcement just posted that they had the biggest methamphetamine drug bust in the history of Virginia Beach. So what is the DEA doing? They’re demonizing and going after cannabis.
They’re going after those individuals who are using it appropriately and still putting them in jail. We had over 600 individuals last year being arrested and thrown into prison for simple possession. I’m not talking violent offenders, I’m talking simple possession. So the DEA, in its idiocracy, has almost basically laid their cards on the table and said that we’re going to fight this tooth and nail.
And so for that reason. The Justice Department says that the case should be paused, meaning that it’s going to be paused for at least another three months. So we are moving from January, where testimony was to begin on why it should be removed from schedule 1. And now we’re going to turf that now into March -April and let the Games begin. But we’re back to what’s happening at the federal level. When this Trump administration moves in this month and begins their processing, the question is, could the new Trump administration ease federal limits on cannabis? Where we’re going to look for? Not only the gun rights conundrum, where if you’re a gun rights advocate and you possess firearms and you are a cannabis user, you’re a felon because you’ve lied on your gun permit. The other question we have in this industry is even bigger than that.
It affects all cannabis workers, it affects businesses like mine. It is the banking question, because cannabis sits at controlled schedule. 1. You know heroin dealers, they can’t get banks, you know, your cartels can’t get banks.
Cannabis businesses are also outside of that banking system. And you’ve heard me talk before about how my own business in the hemp legal world was not only kicked out of two business banks. Within the first year of me being in business, I was just recently denied a small business loan that I completely qualified for and was assured that I would get. Until it was decided that, oh, you traffic in hemp, you traffic in cannabis, you don’t qualify for small business loans. And that’s because people are still conflating. What it is that you sell, that’s correct, everything you sell is derived from hemp, which is completely legal in all 50 states.
I had to go to the alternative funding sources this used to be called the usury services. Because not only am I getting charged an interest rate for my construction loan that would mirror a small business loan. I’m charged percentage points above that, and my terms are extremely, let’s just say, heightened. I have a short payment window, I have obligations I need to meet.
So this is where we are hoping. The cannabis industry is all abuzz, so to speak, because as a business individual, whether you like him or hate him, Trump sees money. For instance, last year, Michigan, who has been in legal sales, reported $3 .27 billion with a B dollars in adult use cannabis sales. This means, since they began selling five years ago, five years ago, in December 2019, they have now eclipsed their $10 billion revenue mark. That $10 billion went into revenue services, which then allowed them to tax that, and their taxes have been going to things like school lunch programs.
Arkansas just announced that their medical cannabis sales are going to be used to provide school lunches for their whole state. So Michigan uses it for substance use programs, it uses for veteran and homeless housing, just as many of these cannabis entities across states that have legalized it. Take those tax dollars, give them to the state, and then the state reinvests them. So right now, according to the recent Pew Research Center, 88 of United States American adults say that marijuana should be legal for either recreational or medical use, and that over 50 say that legalizing cannabis is also good for the economy.
And this is why, this is why, and so we’ve talked it before.
Cannabis in the United States by the end of last year had hit a total of more than $50 billion.
$50 billion spread out through the states where it has been legalized. We’re hoping that with the Trump administration, at least from the financial aspect. Seeing that all of these numbers cannot be shared federally, it can’t be shared federally. They all stay in the states. We’re looking for Congress to finally pass the Safer Banking Act. This is an act that has passed the House 11 times, 11 times. This act has moved through Congress at the House level and into the Senate, where exiting majority leader Chuck Schumer has prevented it from moving to the floor for a Senate vote.
We’re hoping that with Trump’s lead, because he had to come out and say he agrees with medical marijuana. And he sees things like $10 billion in sales in Michigan that the federal government can’t touch. We’re hoping that the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Act will pass. Not only will this open up avenues for cannabis businesses like mine to access. Small business. Loans take advantage of tax structures, meaning that they don’t get to claim tax deductions for their employees. Their employees can’t get mortgage loans or car loans because they can’t use their employer to list as their place of employment for their own income. So, rescheduling and fixing this Safer Banking Act would decrease government interference, and that’s what we have right now.
As we move into the Old Dominion news, this coming out, the Old Dominion is in a pickle. Because we legalized, we as a state, we voted, and in the year that we voted, it was Governor Northam’s turn in 2021, who legalized adult use sales to be implemented by 2024. It was Governor Youngkin who campaigned that he would not interfere with those laws that were already enacted and voted on by the population of the Commonwealth. And then when he got into office, he did just that. Yep, this is coming off the heels of, for instance, New York.
New York legalized their own adult sales a month after Virginia did, and they reported their first year of adult use sales in 24. Reached. $1 billion could have been U.S. $1 billion in revenue, and then those revenues were then returned to the states through their tax programs and social programs. That provided for many different school lunches, safety programs, drug abuse programs, substance abuse programs, et cetera. And then just this year, just a week ago, New York cannabis consumption lounges are now in the mix.
So forget about going to your alcohol bar now. New York is presenting cannabis consumption lounges, and this was a model that came to us from New York. I mean, Nevada, Las Vegas, where the consumption lounges out there are doing a great business. New York is jumping on the consumption lounge bandwagon. And they’re going to be operating and opening their own consumption lounges. Maryland is also jumping into that model as well.
Maryland is about to open their own cannabis consumption lounges, and both of these entities are going to allow cannabis sales and food and beverages. During their events that they host, think bands, think DJs, think music industries, coming in concerts. So this is where our two senators, or I should say, our two leaders in our Virginia Legislature, Senator Aaron Rouse and Delegate Paul Kritzke. I hope I’m pronouncing his name right? Last year, about this time, they introduced a bill to again force those marijuana adult use sales, that the governor vetoed promptly upon it reaching his desk last year.
Well, they have done it again just a few days ago. Senators Aaron Rouse and Delegate Paul Kritzke once again have just updated the dates that they want. But in this short session that they’re going to uphold this year, they have reintroduced this bill that would allow retail sales to begin as early as May of 2026. Tick -tock, the clock is ticking. It’s going to take Virginia at least a year to iron out the regulations. To put a plan in place that first addresses safety, age, youth access impairment. We’re still up on the boards on that.
We don’t know what classifies as impairment. That’s another story, right? But what we’re looking at here in this bill filed by these two representatives is that we would have adult use. Being able to purchase up to 2 .5 ounces, or up to the equivalent amount determined per each regulator, there would be a tax of 11, .6 that includes a state retail tax of 1, .1, on top of an 8 new marijuana -specific tax.
And what has Governor Youngkin come out again and said, doesn’t matter? As soon as it hits his desk? He’s going to veto it, claiming that legalizing cannabis sales would harm children and increase crime. We’re back to the data that we gaslighting.
Yeah, and we started the show with gaslighting. So, Virginia, talk to your representatives right now. With less than a minute, you will be moving soon to Moyock. Yes, we will be open this time next month in Hemp Haven Wellness Dispensary at 726 Caratoke Highway in Moyock.
More news to come on that, for sure. Hemp Haven 2, .0 Oh, better and much improved Hemp Haven, Hemp Haven 2, Electric Boogaloo. Looking forward to it.
Soon as I leave here, she’s jetting out of the studio to get over there, so go see her. 480 Kempsville Road in Chesapeake and check out the website hemphavenwellness.com and then the podcast CannabisNursetruths.com. We’re on the move.