Stay Tranquilo - Exploring Medical Cannabis with Curaleaf? - Stay Tranquilo

Episode Date: April 17, 2024

Andre Dunand2:20 PM (3 hours ago)to meIn this episode of the Stay Tranquilo podcast, powered by Stay Tranquilo, we are joined by Matthew Keller of Curaleaf FL.We touch on a ton of different topics:- benefits of medical cannabis- who is Curaleaf and what do they stand for as a company?- Matt Keller’s personal story with medical cannabis- upcoming 4/20 events- rapid fire Q&A with Matt0:00 - Intro3:00 - Intro to Matt and his path to Curaleaf9:30 - Who is Curaleaf and benefits of medical cannabis?16:00 - Medical card process22:00 - Matt’s story with cannabis35:30 - 4/20 Curaleaf events41:00 - FL Recreational Bill45:00 - Rapid Q&A with MattThe podcast "Stay Tranquilo" is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The discussions and content featured in this podcast are not to be construed as legal, medical, or professional advice.Any references to cannabis consumption or related activities in the state of Florida are made solely for the purpose of discussing legal and cultural topics surrounding cannabis. It is important to note that cannabis laws vary by state and individuals should always comply with the laws and regulations of their jurisdiction.Listeners are solely responsible for their own actions and decisions based on the information provided in the podcast. The hosts, guests, and producers of "Stay Tranquilo" do not endorse or encourage any illegal activities, including the illegal consumption or distribution of cannabis.Furthermore, the company Stay Tranquilo and its affiliates do not assume any liability for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented in the podcast. Listeners are advised to conduct their own research and consult with appropriate professionals for personalized advice.By listening to the podcast "Stay Tranquilo," you agree to hold harmless and indemnify Stay Tranquilo, its hosts, guests, and producers from any claims, damages, or liabilities arising from your use of the information provided in the podcast.Thank you for your understanding and for being a part of the "Stay Tranquilo" community. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It is a medical cannabis company. I mean, we're all over the world. In fact, I think we just started doing medical cannabis sales in Czech Republic. Yeah, we're expanding everywhere. In the state of Florida, specifically, because I work with the state, we have 62 locations that are either, you can either shop there or delivering. But yeah, basically it's a cannabis, we distribute cannabis products from the plant. Now, people are used to hearing cannabis or marijuana and they're thinking people smoking joints and getting high. But, you know, when I got the job at the store, I said part of this journey is I also want to learn the science behind stuff.

I want to learn about the products. I want to learn why we use certain things for certain ailments and reasons. And so there's so many products now and so many parts of the flour that are being extracted and used for health and wellness benefits. Right. So Cureleaf is basically a distributor of all. alternative medicine where people don't have to use the medicines that have been pushed down their throats for so long. Yeah. Specifically for the pharmaceutical. All right. What is up everybody? We are here, another episode of the Statenachilo podcast. We're here at Vic Garcia Studios. And we got Matt from

Careleaf on. And it's going to be a hell of an episode today. We're excited. We got 420 coming up. So there's a lot of exciting things going on. But I think we got a lot of good things coming in this episode. We're going to talk a little bit about just the education around cannabis and kind of the current stigmas around it. We're going to talk about Matt and his journey with cannabis. And then some of the awesome events going on with Kira Leaf that they have going on for 420. So before we get into things, we'd love for you to introduce yourself, tell them a little bit about yourself, you know, the journey that your professional journey into how you started working with cannabis and with Kare Leaf. So, you know, whatever you want to let the people know. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, I'm actually a Floridian. I grew up in Florida, Orlando. I went to school at the University of Florida. Go Gators.

But when I graduated from college, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. And my mom's advice was to make a list of things I was passionate about. So I literally made a list and, you know, I had so many random things. But then she said, all right, now go through it and see how you can, like, make a career out of something. Like, can you find a career? And I saw basketball. I saw community. I saw early. I went on there and I said, hmm, I wonder if I could work for my favorite sports team, the Orlando Magic. Applied for an internship, got it. And that was the start of my professional journey. I worked my way up to an assistant director level at the Orlando Magic.

I ran basically all the entertainment at the game. So if you've ever been to a sports game, I did everything from the anthem and halftime, the guy shooting the $10,000 half court shots, you know, all the fun stuff when they're not playing. And that was a super fun journey. I was there for 13 seasons. One year we went to the finals against the Lakers, Kobe Bryant. That was a super fun journey.

Yeah, Magic had a nice little run there for a couple of years. They did, they did. And they're back right now. I was going to say, I had a good year this year too. So that was the start of my professional journey. It was great. In 2018, they kind of rearranged some things at the organization. And I had to find a new,

a new journey. I actually decided to do the same exercise and make a list of things I was passionate about because I think for work, it's important to do something that you really care about. And, you know, in Orlando, I was magic mat. You know, being with the magic was part of my identity. So I really wanted to find another career

that I really felt the same way about. And I realized that cannabis was the way to go. Now, I didn't have any ins on, the cannabis industry. I wasn't even really familiar how the industry worked, but I decided the same way how I started with the magic with an internship. I was going to have to get my foot in the door. So after an assistant director level, you went back and basically almost started at a dispensary. Wow. I applied at multiple dispensaries and finally one of them gave me a chance. And was it a cure leaf? It was, yeah. A couple of them told me I was overqualified, which I probably was, but again,

I was willing to start there because I wanted my foot in the door. That's a pretty, I guess you could say like humbling experience to say the least, but you know, it's cool that not many people, you know, can put their egos aside for a second and say, hey, I'm going to kind of almost start over in this journey, right? I've worked for 15 years in my career and, you know, that path ended and that journey ended and that chapter of my life ended. but here I am looking to start something new, and you were willing to say,

hey, I'll start from here and start from the roots and grow from there. And that's pretty admirable. Not a lot of people would say that they would do that. Yeah, and I appreciate that. I mean, at the same time, I was applying for other jobs, and I was interviewing at places, and I just didn't feel it.

And to me, again, the passion is really important for me. I agree. Because I want to believe in what I'm doing. 100%. Yeah, I mean. I think people nowadays are becoming more aware of that, right? Where it's like your work life can also be something that you're passionate about. It doesn't have to be your ultimate biggest hobby in the world and has to be your job at the same time.

But if you're going to be spending at the minimum 40 hours a week for the rest of your lifetime essentially, right? You should enjoy it at some capacity, right? If you're waking up and you're miserable every single day, one, you have the choice to be able to make that change and say, hey, you know what? This is not for me. Maybe I go and I write a list of things that I'm passionate about and start at the bottom up and look what it led to you for you, right? Like I think that's something that a lot of people can learn from because not a lot of people, they're, you know, they might be an accountant or they might be a lawyer, right? Or they might be a doctor. All great jobs, right? But they're showing up every day and they're not happy, right? And I think, that alone right there should be the trigger that there's a sign for change there and to be honest with you you know the part-time job at the dispensary what wasn't

really it financially what I wanted of course yeah but I supplemented with Uber at the time too you know because I knew what I wanted to do and where the opportunity can take me so that's that's awesome man I really admire that and I think more people need to be able to to do that to get the life that they want and and take a little bit of a risk because it is a risk, right? Like that you don't really know when you're making that decision, you don't know if that's even the right decision to be making. I'm sure for you, you were like, it felt right, but in the back of your head, you're so like, damn, do I really want to do this? Like I'm going to take less pay,

work less hours, become an Uber driver. Like those are things that not a lot of people would say that they would be willing to do to get what they want. I felt like I was out of place my wife where this was what I needed to do to make this opportunity happen. I also felt pretty confident. that once I got my foot in the door and you know I was able to learn about the industry and to know people that I'd find some growth which actually happened pretty quickly for me I went from a part-timer to a full-time and then I actually became an assistant manager of the store and this happened more rapidly than you know the typical movement in an organization I remember though there was a

marketing associate that came in one day we had just launched our new plant precision it's a topical gel and she came and she set up a table in the store and she put the skirt on and promoted it had all the stuff and I was like ah that's what I want to do got I used to you know yeah you were used to that world I used to promote the Orlando magic in the community I can I can promote cannabis so I so I told her I said you know I said well when she was done I said can I help you carry your bin to your car and I did and I introduced myself to my turn of my background and said this is what I want to do I want your job she said yeah everybody wants you know gave me some advice and I stuck with it, and now I have that position.

Absolutely, good stuff, man. So that was what year? 20? There's a few, I'm going on about two and a half years at Curleaf. Okay. About two and a half years ago. So two and a half years that you've been with Curleaf. So now that you've been with Curleaf, can you tell us a little bit, you know,

what is Kear Leaf? What exactly do you guys do? You know, what is it that you guys stand for as an organization? I'm sure everyone's seen the signs, right? But it's a lot deeper than just like, hey, there's marijuana there, there's weed there, there's cannabis there, right? Or there's some gels there. Like, there's a lot more to it, and I know you know that, right?

Oh, absolutely. Can you tell everyone a little bit of what Cure Leaf is? Yeah, Cureleaf is a medical cannabis company. I mean, we're all over the world. In fact, I think we just started doing medical cannabis sales in Czech Republic. Yeah, we're expanding everywhere. In the state of Florida specifically, because I work with the state, we have 62, locations that are either you can either shop there or delivering.

But yeah, basically it's a cannabis, we distribute cannabis products from the plant. Now people are used to hearing cannabis or marijuana and they're thinking people smoking joints and getting high. But, you know, when I got the job at the store, I said part of this journey is I also want to learn the science behind stuff. I want to learn about the products. I want to learn why we use certain things for certain ailments and reasons. And so there's so many products now and so many parts of the flour that are being extracted and used for health and wellness benefits. Right.

So Cureleaf is basically a distributor of alternative medicine where people don't have to use the medicines that have been pushed down their throats for so long. Yeah. Specifically the pharmaceutical industry. Yeah. I think that's the biggest one is obviously the reputation around pharmaceutical drugs has been one that's not very great, right? I think there's a lot of people that have used them in the past, and it hasn't been the best thing for them. And I know we'll kind of touch on that a little bit deeper. But it is good to see, right? You want to look for more holistic and more natural remedies, essentially, for whatever those issues may be. Right.

And you can kind of correct me here wherever I might, wherever I may be wrong. But, you know, a lot of the things that cannabis is helping people is there's the issues with PTSD, there's, there's, there's, stuff with anxiety and depression. You have people with cancer that it's supposed to ease some of the symptoms when they're on doing their chemo practices, right? So there's a ton of research, right? And I think that's also one of the things that goes into this industry, right, is how can we back this off, back this up with research behind it and prove to the people that, hey, this could actually be a solution for you, right? Just like anything, what might work for one person may not work for another, right? And I think that's a big thing too. And it's like there's no

and all be all for everything, right? I mean, some things work, some things don't. And it depends on the person. But you always have to keep your options open, right? And I think that's where cannabis comes in. It's like, how can we facilitate this in a way where, hey, this might actually be for you. You might have this problem. You've tried everything. You've tried the pharmaceutical stuff. You might be drinking. You might do all these other things, right? But you refuse to try cannabis for whatever reason that may be. Well, yeah, and a lot of times it's because it was against the law or there was a stigma around it, you know, but you mentioned a research piece of it. You know, Israel's been doing research on cannabis since the 60s, 1960s. So a lot of the current research comes from them,

but, you know, I think there's an opportunity for a lot more research and investments, especially here, especially if we go recreational. I'm sure we'll chat about that at some point as well. Definitely. Yeah, I mean, that's crazy. I didn't know Israel was doing. not but there wasn't there a point where it seemed like research budgets were going to kind of get ramped up and then i forget which president it was which kind of took some of those budgets away for research out here yeah i want to say it was like in the 60s and 70s well yeah because there was the huge you know just saying no you know drugs are bad i want to say it was probably i'm going to guess it was nixon or rata i mean a lot a lot of the cannabis uh stigma stem from

racism and there's a history behind it you know it didn't it wasn't it was wasn't called marijuana until they decided they wanted to make it illegal and try to keep people outside the borders. Got it. So, you know, it was a cannabis or hemp product. And then all of a sudden, you know, they started calling it marijuana and then it became illegal, right? But I think there was other reasons behind that. And unfortunately, we got stuck without being able to use this miraculous plant for so long. Right. But now times are changing. Yeah. It's a work in progress. I don't It's not going to happen overnight. It's one of those things that maybe the more people you get in their hands and the more

education is out there and there are more dialogues like this that you have, you know, you hope to kind of shift that narrative out there. Really quick, before we get into your story, right, what are some of the benefits that you've seen from maybe some potential customers that have come by and some of the testimonials that you've heard from some people that maybe weren't using cannabis in the past and now are using it now? Like, what are some of the things that you've heard out there? Well, I don't know if I should talk about this later or not, but I will say one thing I want to mention is that a lot of people don't know is you actually have an endocannabinoid system within your body. Okay.

So you are producing cannabinoids, but a lot of times you're not producing enough or the production gets shut down for whatever reasons by medications we're taking or whatever's going on in life. So with that being said, the plant helps balance your endocannabinoid system. The plant has the cannabinoids growing within. So a lot of people are using it, you know, we talked earlier about it, but you know, a lot of people are the biggest use, I would say is sleep, right? Okay. People want help sleeping. So I think like the number one selling thing is like the indica gummies, right? Got you.

Just because I want to sleep and they don't want to take meds. I mean, for me personally, I was not only on a sleeping pill at one point, but that that pill gave me a bad dream. So then they said, oh, well, we'll give you something for PTSD, right? So now I'm taking two pharmaceuticals for sleep when I could be using this natural plan. Gotcha, got you. Anxiety is another big piece. You know, I know you asked about testimonials. When I worked at the store, I used to work at the Lake Worth store in Florida.

I had people that came in that told me that by consuming cannabis on a regiment with a doctor, that their tumors have gone away. You know, consuming cannabis and some of those cannabinoids when processed in your body, create a really uncomfortable place for cancer to grow. Gotcha. And so that's one of the biggest benefits. I know we've heard about it with cancer. And a lot of people think it's to help stimulate the appetite, which it can do that, right?

Especially for people going through chemo and treatment. But it also creates, like I said, a very uncomfortable place for cancer to continue to grow. And sometimes people have told us that their tumors have gone away. Interesting. There's a lot of miraculous stories out there of, you know, how it's worked for people, you know. And again, it's one of those. things like you don't know unless you try. And again, you, you obviously have to go to a doctor now and, and get this, is prescribed the right word? So it's actually called a recommendation.

Okay. And actually, you touched on this earlier when you said people react differently and everybody's a little different. So they don't write you a prescription for specific things. They write you a recommendation to use medical cannabis. And then it's up to you to figure out which products work for your wheelhouse. Because everybody is different. Okay. So then, I go to a doctor, right? I get this recommendation that you should try cannabis, right? And then when I get this recommendation, am I receiving my medical card too? Yeah.

So what happens is you go to the medical cannabis doctor, medical marijuana doctor throughout in the state of Florida. You do have to see them in person for the first time. Okay. After that, right now, they allow telehealth, okay, to renew your prescription or your recommendations. Basically, if you have a Florida driver's license, you can walk out same day and be able to purchase. You're not, it is HIPAA protected, just like any other medical prescription. You are HIPAA protected. But if you have a Florida driver's license, they can pull your information through the DMV

to verify you, you are who you say you are. And you can start purchasing that day. The card comes in the mail maybe a couple weeks later, but as long as you have a valid Florida driver's license or passport, you're able to shop at Cure Leaf during that time. And then once you get your med card, you're able to go into the Cure Leaf and then out of Cure Leaf, someone is there to kind of guide you on what is the right product for you? Yeah, so every Cure Leaf has a consultation room. And some people want to sit down and talk further about either what they have going on,

what brought them in, or have questions about products. You know, it can be a little overwhelming for your first time because there are so many options and so many strains. And then people are talking about turpines, what are terpines? You know, so we love being able to share that information. talk about the products. Again, back to the passion. Because I mean, I think there's the market that, you know, people will get their med card. They know what they want. And they'll go there. They're purchasing and they'll be done. And that's, that's a market in itself. But there's a whole

other market, which is like the curiosity market is what I like to call it, right? Where it's like, maybe, right? Like maybe I can use this. Maybe I don't use it every day. But, you know, if I want to take the edge off one day and I want to go home and just kind of mellow out a little bit, you know, maybe there's something for that person. Or maybe like you said, there's, I've having trouble sleeping and I can't figure something out that works for me. Maybe there's something there. But it takes a level of obviously the curiosity portion, but also the education side of things where it's like I want someone where I know I can trust, one, and two, know that I'm getting

a product that is safe, obviously, and two, that's going to work, right? Like I think that's the biggest thing because people, like you said, are taking prescription drugs all over the place and they're just handing them out like candies, right? Like that's how it feels like almost. But here they are and they don't really work. And if they do, they come with a 7,000 other side effects, right? Oh, yeah. So it's like really pick your poison, right?

And find something that does work for you. And I think more people that maybe want to make a transition to whatever that transition is are now going to be more inclined to know, hey, if I walk into a cure leaf, I know I'm going to be educated, I'm going to be guided, right? And I'm going to be, there's a level of trust there that now I know that, whatever I'm getting might actually work for me. Well, and back to the trust piece of it, you know, everything that Cure Leaf produces is grown from seed to sale, right?

So in the state of Florida, we're growing everything here in the state of Florida. The Department of Health is part of that process. They're checking the plants. They're going in. It's awesome. Yeah, we saw that. I mean, that experience was crazy. And then the plants get processed in a factory.

And again, every batch of every single product gets randomly tested by the DOH. and that's how you know that you're getting safe medicine. Right. I think that's the biggest thing, too. Yeah. I mean, they can track it from the seed to the leaf. Yeah, they have the barcode that literally tracks it from the moment it's created to the moment it's to the store. That's pretty cool.

But it makes sense. Like you said, there's nothing to worry about when you know everything's being tracked and held accountable, I guess you could say. And then the other big piece, you know, when they come in for the information, especially as a first-timer. I'm really big on making sure people understand that they should be journaling or keeping track. You don't necessarily have to journal, but you should keep track of what you're using, right? Because sometimes we'll use products or we'll get a few different products. You may not remember how this one may be made you feel, how long the onset time to hit you was. You know, certain, for example, certain gummies are good for falling asleep versus staying asleep.

And then they make, you know, they're made with different technologies. So I tell people, you know, and then a lot of times they'll buy in all these different ones. So take it, test it, try it, and then write down. How does you feel? That's a good valid point. I mean, if you're going to be doing something, you want to make sure that it's working. And if it's not working, why isn't it working? And then you go to someone like yourself or other Cure Leaf employees.

I could say, hey, you know what? I know exactly what the problem is because you've been tracking it. We can say, hey, you know what, try this. This might be a better solution for you. Exactly. And it's important to keep track of your milligram doses, right? because everybody, like you said, reacts differently. So people do process differently as well.

So it's important, like you said, to keep track of what you're using. And when you come back, you can say, instead of coming back and be like, oh, yeah, I had some pineapple, whatever, you know, you have very specific. It's like, okay, you had this. Got you. Yeah. Makes total sense. So one thing that we were talking about beforehand, I know you've had your own journey

with cannabis. can you kind of speak on how cannabis was introduced into your life and how you use it to today? Yeah, absolutely. I'd love to. So first time I ever tried cannabis was in college. I waited, or is the summer going into college. And I liked it. You know, I was a little, the funny thing is I actually wrote a paper on medical marijuana for my senior, it was like a final senior paper I had to do. I had never tried it before. I don't, know if this is subconscious or not, but both my parents were teachers, educators. Okay.

I knew they were cannabis users, not super heavy, not in your face, but I knew that they used it. Yeah. But I also knew that they weren't drug use, right? They were very responsible professionals. So I knew that there was something with it as a medicine. I just wasn't 100% sure. I waited to try it.

I tried it. I loved it. You know, I became what they would call pot head in college, right? I mean, I was smoking in the mornings, you know, all the time. You know, back in college, I didn't get to choose what I wanted. Right. I had very few options. I had, you know, this guy, that guy, or maybe a friend of a friend.

And you're just trusting saying, hey, this is what I got today. I got the sour pineapple with the hybrid and this is what you're going to get. Oh, they wouldn't even tell you all that, man. Back when I was in college, I was getting seeds and stems, and I was lucky if it smelled all. Yeah, yeah. I was lucky if the guy came back with the flour. A lot of times I'd give, you know, you have to trust. someone to give them money and then they go and then oh something happened yeah so with that being said

then you know i i graduated college i moved back to ralando i started working for the magic and when i was at the magic um there was a definitely a stigma around uh smoking in general um so i definitely kind of hid my cannabis use but i was a user of it uh instead there were it was a big drinking culture right i mean sports is huge drinking sports the schmoozing i was in marketing and entertainment entertainment, you know, you were out drinking with people and, you know, especially the arenas downtown, everyone goes out after the game. It's just part of the, I guess part of the, I guess part of the culture and the culture. So with that being said, I became more of a drinker.

I kind of went away from some of my cannabis used to try to fit in with everyone and feel like I belong. Well, that was not necessarily a good choice for me because drinking led me to a, down a path of a lot of drug use. well. And, you know, I don't need to get into the battle stories and war stories, but, you know, I became an alcohol drug addict for quite a long time, and I hid that. You know, I felt like I was almost living like a double life. Yeah. You know, the funny thing is I remember sometimes coming home from work and I was like, hmm, should I smoke a joy and just chill tonight? Or should I have a beer or a cocktail and then go hard? And I was, it's funny, I would make that conscious decision to go hard, you know, knowing where it would least.

me. Well, with all that being said, I eventually went to a rehab program down in South Florida, which I'm very thankful for, and I learned so much there. But they put me on a ton of pharmaceuticals. I think when I first got there, I was on, it was either 11 or 13 pharmaceuticals. I was shocking, really. Now, I understand I was detoxing and there was reasons to be on stuff. As I moved through the program, you know, they said I needed these, it was basically six medications that I needed to be on to maintain who I was. And, you know, I continued to go to the AA program to, you know, I found out that AAA wasn't as much about not drinking,

that it was more about thinking, right? So I had to learn how to deal with life. I was turning to alcohol and drugs for my solution to things, and that's not my solution. I had to learn to deal with life on life's terms. With that being said, all these pharmaceuticals to regulate me, I just didn't feel like myself. I also had gotten over 300 pounds.

Wow. I was a very unhastened. happy. You know, I was trying to live in the moment, but I wasn't very happy. Now, I decided to do some more research into the cannabis industry. I knew that medical had become a thing, but I didn't know much about it. So I started doing research as well as trying to get a career in it, because I kind of wanted to, I wanted to go all in. So I got my med card before I got hired by CureLeaf, and I started using some of the products. I was able, within my first week, I was able to get off of two pharmaceutical pills.

Wow. A sleeping pill and a PTSD pill because I was having nightmares from the sleeping men and what have you. And this was just by taking a little gummy. And I wasn't getting high. I was just literally replacing my pharmaceuticals. I also was on blood pressure medicine and anxiety medicines during the day.

Again, I found some products through Cure Leaf that helped take that edge off without getting me high. I was able to get off of five of my six pharmaceuticals. because I only take one pill anymore. And even then, I've been talking to my doctor about tapering off because I've found that cannabis has helped my life so much. I lost over 100 pounds.

That's incredible. Cannabis helped. A lot of people think that it's going to give you the munchies and make you fat and lazy. But my anxiety was crippling me. I would wake up in the morning and my body would be tight and tense. My head would be going a million.

And even when I took the pill that they gave me, it didn't really do much. Maybe it calmed me down. It made me a little tired almost. But then I started using the cannabis products and I started going to the gym and started like going out for walks and then eventually started jogging and I got really into pickleball and it wasn't, you know, again, I wasn't using the cannabis products to get high. I was using them to literally medicate.

Right, yeah. And get you almost calibrated essentially. To balance my endocannabinoid system. I was not a balanced person and like I said, I lost weight. I feel healthier now than I did pretty much most of my life. That's incredible. Yeah. That's incredible.

I mean, you hear a story like that, and it's like, damn, you know, like maybe there's something there, right? Because, again, going back to what we were talking about earlier, people don't want to maybe make that decision, yet it might be the best decision for them, right? And I think more people need to just, I think there's a struggle where a lot of people are not very open-minded to things. right? Absolutely.

And it's like, it's this way or no way. And people get stubborn in their ways. And it's not just with cannabis. It's not just with medicine. Politics. I mean, with everything, right? And I forget where I was reading it, but, you know, there was a, oh, it was, I wasn't, reading it.

It was actually a Huberman Lab podcast. And he was saying how people that are more open-minded to things, you know, have tendencies to be more creative, they're going to have more energy, they're going to be happier people. Why? Because they're just in that state of mind that it's not so rigid, right? It's not like if you got a square and you're trying to fit a circle into it, right? Like it's just not going to work. You got to kind of figure out what works for you and through your own journey, you were able to figure that out. Yeah, I think cannabis is important. Like I said, for me, it helps me stay mindful. It helps me stay grounded.

Again, like you said earlier, there's some people that just want to use it recreationally get the high and go with it. And that's great for them. For me, like I said, it's been a blessing to be able to help me become the best version of me that I've been in quite some time. Yeah. And my family would all agree. You know, my family thinks I'm healthier now and I'm dependable and I'm always around and, you know, I'm definitely by far the best version of me I've been. Now, I do go to AA still because AAA helps. AAA to me is group therapy.

It allows me to go and talk about my problems or work through situations. But again, I don't have to talk about cannabis there. I go back to my rehab and I talk to the current patients. Again, cannabis isn't the solution to my problems. Cannabis is the solution to my medication problem. That's a good way to put it. That's a really good way to put it. By any chance, have you seen this show, Loudermilk?

Love it. Very funny. I figured. Yeah. It's funny. And the only reason I bring that up is because you see what that that group is, like the AA group, right? And he leads that group. And it's almost like they become like a family, right? Like they are there and they just want to go there because they know that they're going to be around a bunch of group of people. They're not going to judge them for anything, but they're there to speak their mind and speak their truth. And we should be able to do that with everybody, right? I think a lot of people are very just judgmental overall. And sometimes you kind

of like put this shell on almost, right? And it's like, you're only going to peek your head out when you're around the right people, right? Absolutely. And it was not to bash AA, but AA was, you know, we can talk about this on a different podcast. But AA was a, it's a book that was written in the 1930s, right? And it says no mood or mind-altering substances. But again, they're really quick to put you on all these dopamine serotonin boosters that are pharmaceuticals. Right. And those are 100% in my opinion, mood and mind altering. So again, it's not being used to get high, but it's about that. Now we know you can actually medicate with cannabis and not get high and get off of these pharmaceuticals. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think there's something to be

said that it definitely works. And again, if you go through these journeys, you do your due diligence and you really study and put yourself around the right people, you know, to figure out what, what works for you, even from the smallest thing to sleep to the biggest thing, like having, you know, an addiction problem, there's something clearly to be said about it. And you're one of many cases at the end of the day that I've proven that it has worked, right? Again, it goes back to what works for you. And I think you have to put yourself in that mindset that, you know, what, I'm going to give this a try and see, see where it takes you. I think it's something worth people exploring. Well, and back to the open mindness, you know, I do a lot of speaking engagements,

Especially at the 55 plus communities. You know, we are finding that seniors are one of our fastest growing population of cannabis users. And it's because they've been told their whole lives that it's a drug and it's so bad. You know, the reefer madness, stigma. They have pain issues. They have, you know, they have inflammation. They have so many issues per se. And the pills aren't working.

Yeah, they're old enough now to be like, I've been trying this for so long and their doctors are actually telling them. I remember my grandma, right, she was on. And she took care of herself for the most part. She took care of herself later in life, right? She was always going to the doctor, making sure that everything was okay, and just making sure that she would stay up to date on the things. But she was on plenty of meds and she still had the pains and she still had stuff. And I remember having the conversation one day, like, maybe you should explore cannabis at some capacity,

whether that was through a cream, right? I wasn't going to have her smoking a joint, but like, you know, an edible of some sort, something, right? Like I told her, I'm like, maybe she should explain. for it. And I remember for her, it was like, there's no way in heck I was going to do that. Right. Like that was like how you said. Like the elderly don't, didn't think that way. But the more I talked to her and the more she realized like, hey, this isn't working, she became more open-minded to it. Rest and peace, she ended up passing away just of old age. But she became actually curious

on the fact that like, hey, maybe this could work strictly on the fact that what she was doing wasn't working. Yeah. I remember something. I remember my Nana. Yeah, that's what I called it. I called her anna too. So my nana was trying some remedy where she was soaking raisins in gin because it was supposed to be good for arthritis, right? I mean, it didn't work. Yeah, that's all my grandma had arthritis.

But if only, I think she would be amazed and I believe she would have been open-minded to try it if she was still around today as well. But I've given the topical gel, for example, you know, I've used it on my knee and other people have told me that they've used it for their arthritis. And within minutes, their pain in their hands has gone away. I believe that my grandmother would have been amazed by that product. It would have been dangerous for him. I need that all the time.

Put it on my hands. Yeah, and it doesn't get you high. So I mean, she would have loved it. Exactly. That's awesome. Well, really cool. And I appreciate you for sharing that. I think that was a very insightful story.

And I think, you know, a lot of people can learn from that, which is always, I think that's always powerful, right? Like we we learn from each other's stories. We learn from each other's experiences. And I always think that whatever you can garner out of someone's journey, I think is powerful. Because we all have our own journey that we walk and we all have kind of the challenges that we face throughout life. And it's not easy, right? But you did your part and I think that's powerful.

Not a lot of people will do that. And I'm sure you had a great support system around you through that journey, which is also very powerful, you know, having good people and just kind of lifting you up. So I appreciate you for sharing that and, you know, telling that story. Yeah, again, I'm very open. You know, I don't want to have anything to hide. Yeah. My journey helped kind of shape who I am today.

100%. But, you know, even people that didn't have like an addiction problem, you know, how many people are just on blood pressure medication? Just from their genetics or their age or what they're eating, right? I was able to get off of blood pressure medicine. Yeah. I mean, that has not, you know, by just using some cannabis. Yeah, that's big.

Yeah, that's big. So anyway. 100%. But no, it's really awesome. I really appreciate it. But other note on some of the other things that we wanted to talk about today, obviously 420 is coming up, right? Yes.

So what does CureLeave have planned around 420 this year? And what's some of the things that you guys overall just kind of do for this holiday, I guess. Yeah, so 420 is like our national holiday. You know, it's a big exciting day. the stores are all going to be have ridiculous sales right they're already receiving i can tell you now i'm not going to tell you what but they're receiving boxes of gifts and swag that they will be giving out at all the cure leave stores really cool stuff too very cool um i'll see if i can get you something yeah or maybe come in and visit i was going to say i'll be at the at the at the pickleball tournament so yeah

pickleball so what we decided was pickleball is been you know back to the health and wellness side of cannabis we actually sponsored a pickleball tournament in Boka. And we realized like how many athletes out there are using cannabis, you know, and they were excited to see Curely sponsoring a sports type of event. Yeah. So with that being said, we decided let's hold a little pickleball. I want to call it a tournament. It's more of an activation.

Yeah, pickleball playing. Yeah, we're bringing out a pickleball court. We got custom pickleball paddles. We'll be given out for free. Nice. We have food trucks. We have music. We have local artists and vendors.

You know, we're big on trying to get some of our local artists and community vendors to come and pop up and be a part of our Cure Leaf family as well. That's going to be a super fun. This is going to be, we're actually going to do that for two days. It's a 420 weekend extravagance. 420 and 421 boat. So that's down in like West Palm area. Yeah, it's going to be in the Palm Beach Gardens Cure Leaf. So it's right off of North Lake is the road.

And again, it'll be 12 to 7 both days. It's open play. We're looking at doing some instruction. There's going to be some practice courts. So don't feel like you have to come and start, you know. Yeah. Go out there and try to win something. Yeah, exactly.

Everybody will be a winner. Let's put it that way. In our Tampa market, we are doing an event with the Tampa Skate Park, which is going to be super fun. Yeah. So you go to Kure Leaf, you get your goodies, and then you head on down to the skate park, and they're going to have some really cool,

like a private activation there for any of, the patients. That's cool. And then in Orlando, Central Florida, they have this cool spot called the acre. And there will be a private cure leaf puff and paint for any of our patients that shop with us and then come visit us at the acre. Very cool. Yeah. So you can check them all out. I don't know if you. Yeah, I think I got an Eventbrite link here. So I can, I could share that. And I'm sure it'll be on your guys' website. I'm assuming as well. We got it on on Instagram. Join our email list. If you're not on our email list, you should definitely get on because we do a lot of our event advertising through there. We're out in the community all week long throughout the week.

No, yeah. These are big four, 20 events. You guys do do a lot. I mean, the little that we've been working together now, I've seen the involvement that you guys have in the community. It's pretty awesome to see you guys get out there. You educate people. You let people know what it is that you guys do, which I think is, I think to me is the biggest thing, right? Like to get people to get to jump on board, It's just a level of education, which I think that, you know, that begins with a lot of things that you do and that community outreach portion of it. Yeah. So, yeah, my job as a community outreach associate basically is not only, I mean, some people refer to me as like a pharmaceutical rep, you know, because I'm going to different physicians offices. But, you know, again, the physicians, I don't need to sell them on what we're doing because they're already into it.

They already know that cannabis works and they're already telling people about it. So I go visit the doctors, but a big part of it is just being in the community. you know, you swaying that stigma, you know. So, uh, sponsoring local, like I said, a pickleball tournament. We did three or five day in Miami. We did, we do, uh, pausing, uh, you know, pause in, uh, you know, we did a seafood festival. So, you know, we're just trying to be a part of the community. Uh, and be, we're big in the golf space. So I know we've talked about maybe doing some, um, some, uh, you know, Kear Leaf and golf, uh, tournament or something around those lines. Because there's a lot of, there's a lot of cannabis in the, in the golfing community, too.

We did a little thing with a little PGA tournament. Did you? Yeah. When was this? Yeah, up in Palm Beach Gardens last year. I think last August. Okay. Yeah, it was a special like round robin type tournament.

And yes, there was a lot of interest. They loved that we were the sponsor. They said we were the best sponsor that came in, you know. Usually it's some tech company or investment company or Honda, you know. But we were fun. You know, again, it's about having fun and being professional. 100%. and helping the community.

Yeah, amen to that. Cool. So the other big thing that's coming up in the, I guess in the pipeline this year is the yes on three here in Florida. Just high level. What exactly is that bill that's going to be present on this year's election? So if you can give a little bit of context on that. Yeah, yeah.

And you'll have to forgive me because I don't know all the details on it. But the idea is that Florida has been trying to go recreational with the cannabis for a while. And there's a lot of positive benefits as to why, you know, for the state, but also for the people. But we are a big tourism industry as well. So the number of people, I was at the South Beach, Cure Leaf today, and the number of people that tried to come in and purchase something. Just thinking that they get walk in and. But didn't realize that you had to be a medical patient.

So if we get to that point of recreational, it's going to allow for more people to be able to use the medicine. I think that basically three is. is saying that the state of Florida will now serve recreationally. You know, we're definitely saying we've got to move forward with this. Right. The only way to progress is to continue with this. And basically, it's following the same steps as other states, right?

So, you know, they go recreational and then they make changes and they move forward that way. Yeah. And again, it goes back to the whole thing, right? You, you, on the recreational side, right, it's still for medicinal purposes, you know, for the most part, if you're going to look at it in that lens, right? but now you can just walk into a store essentially and be able to purchase without a medical card, right? But it's still coming from a source that you can trust, right? I think that's the biggest thing for the recreational side, right? Because obviously the cannabis on the medical side, you know, we went down that whole path of why it's so important, you know, for certain people. But there's going to be the recreational side that's going to open up a whole new market where people are just going to want to, you know, partake in cannabis.

But you at least know that you're getting something good. You can talk to someone that knows what they're talking about. and you're getting it from a very reliable source. And it gives people the opportunity to try before you buy, basically. You don't have to get your medical prescription and go all in, not knowing that cannabis, you know, a lot of people are nervous to try it for their first time. They're 80 years old and have never tried it. Yeah, I imagine.

So, you know, maybe they want to try a little something first and go in recreational or allow for that. Like you said, it's still medicine. And to be honest with you, you know, there's still going to be benefits to stay in medical patients for a lot of users as well, you know. So once you decide what type of user you want to be, whether a recreational or medical, it's going to be out there for a both now. Right now it's just a medical market, but how great it will be when we have the market open to everything.

No, it'll be something to see. I know when we went to the factory, everyone was like, it's a great thing, but I don't know if we're ready for it because there's going to be a lot of people that are going to want to be purchasing cannabis. But we're ready for it. You know, I mean, we, we're getting ready for it. The state is preparing. It's preparation.

Yeah. Like I said, it models the way that other states have kind of gone through the process, so we're just, we're on our next step. Exactly. The next part of the journey. So go out and vote yes. Yes, on three. Yes, on three.

Oh, yeah. All right, cool. So before we wrap it up, I wanted to just do a little quick rapid-fire question, brought to you by Kira Leaf, and make it fun. nothing, nothing cannabis related. But if there was one meal that you could have for the rest of your life, what would it be? Like the full meal? Yeah, full meal or specific food.

But I would say meal. That way you're not limited to one item. Well, this may sound strange, but I really like beef tartar. Okay. Raw beef. I like really good tartar with a nice quail egg yolk and some truffle on it. That would be my appetizer. We'll just start with that.

Okay. For the dinner, I also like a nice filet or a nice cut of red meat, seared or Pittsburgh style where it's still raw in the middle, but you have some nice flavor on the outside. Accompanied with a lobster tail, of course. Can't go wrong with a little serpent, turf. Yeah, and I'm not a big carb guy. So for sides, though, I am a diehard, flash-fried Brussels guy.

Brussels are good? They are by far my favorite vegetable. I like them specifically flash fried with like a honey saracha, maybe a little bacon in there or something like that. That's a pretty good. That's a pretty good deal. Yeah. And then for dessert, for dessert, I'm a big fan of a nice dark chocolate mixed with raspberry, something like that. I don't know what it looks like yet.

Yeah. That's around that, around those lines. Yeah. Yeah, for me, I'm a big steak guy too. So I feel like steak would be in there for me. The dessert one is a little tough for me because I'm a huge. key lime pie guy love a good key lime pie and uh but then again i'm a sucker for like just like fudgy chocolate situation you know so like a fudgey brownie with ice cream that's that's that's one that's

that's a toss up for me i will say i forgot my favorite dessert and i'm sorry but banana fosters is my favorite dessert the flambayed bananas with the brown sugar glaze oh my goodness oh yeah that's good stuff. I'll have it all. Absolutely. Next question. You have one celebrity or famous person or just anybody, it can be anybody that you can go to dinner with. Who would it be athlete? Anybody. That's a great question. I mean, I'm going to give you two answers because I lost my mom when I was in my 20. So if I could go to dinner with my mom, especially as an adult and go over my journey, I would 100%. Amen to that. You know, no question. No question. Not a doubt. I would say this may I actually have met this guy a few times, but I would say Shaquille O'Neal.

And the reason why I was growing up in Orlando as a kid, you know, that's what actually started my passion for the Orlando Magic. I think that kind of kid started my career with that. And I really, he was a hero to me growing up. And so I would love to dine with my hero. We got to find Shaq and send them this clip. That would be sick. That would be cool. Shaq, Shaq's one of my favorite people.

Oh, he's awesome. He is, like, from every, I mean, he's jovial, he's a smart business guy, obviously great, iconic basketball player, one of the best ever, and extremely giving. I mean, the guy checks all the boxes of, like, how, you know, someone would want to live their life. Also, coming from, you know, nothing was given to him. He's earned every single thing in his life. So I admire the hell out of Shaq.

And I love how we just is always having fun through it all. Like even when you see, I don't know if you've seen some of his documentaries, but in the back and day when he was young and he was, he was always messing around. He was always having a good time. Yeah, he's been a big kid for his whole life. He's just like a bigger, older kid. But yeah, I mean, I like the inside, the NBA show that they do on TNT after the games.

It doesn't, it's so. The dynamic between him. and Barclay. They're just so good together. And I absolutely love that show. Me too. They make it. Those guys will go there and they will never take them off.

And Ernie is a good compliment to that. He's wonderful too. Yeah. I agree. Who's your dinner guest? My dinner guest. That's a tough one. That's a tough one.

I think it would be a two-part question. I think it would be my grandfather. He died when I was young as well and I never really, you know, I would like to have a relationship with him at this part of my life, right, and have that kind of diet. dialogue. But on the celebrity side, Shaq is a really good one. Like when you said Shaq and I'm like, damn, Shaq is a good one. But I don't know. I don't know. I'm not like a super fanboy kind of guy. I think, is there anyone's brain you want to pick? I think like a Matthew McConaughey would be cool. I've always kind of like gravitated to his energy and kind of like

the way he kind of goes about life. Bob Marley is a lot. another one that, oh my God. If that guy was alive, I would like to just sit with him, have a little spliff with him or something on the beach and just pick his brain. I would say that would probably be my guys. Unfortunately, they're

all not alive, but I guess that's... Those are good answers. But yeah, Bob Marley is like a big inspiration for just the way of... Yes, I did. I saw the day it came out actually. Yeah, yeah, yeah, awesome. Yeah, it was awesome. I like... Some of the things I enjoyed some of the things... I'm like,

I'm just such a big Bob Marley guy. I think I wanted it to be longer. And I think it was a little almost rushed. And I feel like we could have seen a lot more. But for the most part, I think they did a great job. The acting was great. The incorporation of his music into the movie. And showing the thing that I didn't know as much was the whole aspect of his wife slash, you know, girlfriend, you know, whatever you want to call her.

I haven't seen it yet. Oh, no. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I don't see it. I think so. Okay. Don't get away now.

I highly recommend watching it. It is really good. It is really good. But last question of the Rapid Fire is what's your favorite Kier Leaf product? Oh, well, that's easy. It's called Squeeze. So squeeze the day instead of Seize the Day. That is a drinkable THC product.

And I am, in fact, when I was just an employee at the store before I got my marketing gig, I created an Instagram account for Squeeze just as a fan. Because I love it that much called Squeeze the Day. Like I said, it's a drinkable THC, but it's a fast acting product. So usually when you're ingesting THC, you process it in the liver. When you process THC in the liver, it usually takes longer to hit you because you have to metabolize it. It lasts longer as well. I like someone that likes instant gratification.

So what they do is it's nano-encapsulated, basically water-soluble THC. So it bypasses your liver and go straight to. your bloodstream. So crazy. You feel it super quick. So in fact, when I was telling you I wake up with anxiety and I used to be on anxiety meds, I use squeeze in the morning. I mix it with coffee or a caffeinated beverage. Interesting. So you have coffee with that. Yeah, yeah, because I still need my up with wake up. Right. You're up. Yeah, it's a wake up. But, you know, because even though I'm anxious and I'm feeling tight in my heads like this, I still feel tired. Right. Right. It's the anxiety that makes me feel that way. So mix with my caffeine, it just gives me the most beautiful wake

up. If I have time, I'll go play pickleball or to the gym. Like I said, otherwise, that I just go on with my day. And then I also don't drink alcohol anymore. So it allows me to go out to these social functions because, of course, alcohol is still part of the community. So, you know, when I go out with people to watch a game or other places, you know, they won't let you necessarily light up a joint at the bar. But I can bring my squeeze and I mix a little bit with some soda water and it's sugar-free. I get my, I get my nice relaxation going. Cool. Hands down. Best prod. Very cool. I got to check that out.

Cool. All right. Well, that about wraps it up. I think we covered everything that we wanted to cover today. So again, thanks for jumping on. I'm sure we'll do something like this again soon. And yeah, we hope to see you. We got a bunch of events coming up for 420. We got the pickleball tournament. If you're down here in South Florida, Tampa's got the skate park and the painting in Orlando. So plenty of things coming up. And yeah, we got a couple of things coming up on our end on the state. Granquilo side that we're excited about. And yeah, just happy to be able to do this today and share that, all that knowledge,

I think, that we were able to share today. Well, I appreciate you having us. You know, we obviously like working with you guys. And we like working with, you know, the state. We like to be able to educate and communicate with everyone. So thank you. Amen. Yeah.

100%. Well, cool. Appreciate it guys. So make sure to follow Kiraleef. I think it's Kiraleef. Dot Florida. Curleaf. And then careleave.

for the national page, but give them a follow on Instagram. And yeah, like, subscribe to the podcast, share this with friends, share this with family, whoever you want. And we'll see you soon. Cheers. Pass.