Diana and JR delve into the intersection of intimate wellness and cannabis, discussing the benefits of CBD-infused products such as High Priestess's Drip lubricating sex oil and Avexia Bath Soaks. They address the controversial topic of cannabis industry regulations, inspired by Brad Bogus's LinkedIn post, debating the need for childproof packaging and the discrepancies in how cannabis is regulated compared to alcohol. The episode also includes a Local Look segment with Shiloh Bigles from Level Mind CBD, who provides insight into the challenges and successes of the CBD and cannabis industry in Georgia. Despite restrictive laws and slow legislative progress, Biglis shares a powerful testimonial of a customer who transitioned from liquid morphine to CBD edibles for pain management.
Diana and JR delve into the intersection of intimate wellness and cannabis, discussing the benefits of CBD-infused products such as High Priestess's Drip lubricating sex oil and Avexia Bath Soaks. They address the controversial topic of cannabis industry regulations, inspired by Brad Bogus's LinkedIn post, debating the need for childproof packaging and the discrepancies in how cannabis is regulated compared to alcohol.
The episode also includes a Local Look segment with Shiloh Bigles from Level Mind CBD, who provides insight into the challenges and successes of the CBD and cannabis industry in Georgia. Despite restrictive laws and slow legislative progress, Biglis shares a powerful testimonial of a customer who transitioned from liquid morphine to CBD edibles for pain management.
0:16- Welcome to Your Highness Podcast
1:08 - Fave Pot
6:00 - Fave Not Pot
12:11 - Main Segment
28:04 - Local Look
Important links:
Mitragaia.com (use code Plantpod for 10% off)
00:16 - Diana (Host)
Welcome to your Highness Podcast. I'm your host, Diana.
00:20 - JR (Co-host)
And I'm your co-host, JR.
00:23 - Diana (Host)
How are you doing today, jr? Doing amazing, yeah, yeah, because we're hanging out together, we're hanging out.
00:30 - JR (Co-host)
The weather is gorgeous. Yeah, you're gorgeous, you're gorgeous.
00:33 - Diana (Host)
All right, that's enough of that. We're going to start this episode, as we do every episode, with our recurring theme Fave Pot and Fave Not Pot, and, as usual, I will go first. Um, okay, so before I start, I want to apologize for my nasally, the nasally sound of my voice, because, even though it is beautiful outside, allergies are abound, right, seasonal allergy, seasonal allergies are out of control right now. Um, okay, so my fave pot is actually a lubricating sex oil called drip, and the company or the brand, um, is named High Priestess, and if you were able to check out our Mother's Day gift guide on our sub stack, go check it out if you haven't yet, because I feel like it's relevant all year round, because you can treat yourself whenever right. And also some of the things that I listed on there I feel you have to have in your life, and one of them is not some of the things, all of the things you should have Great endorsement, anyway but one of the products that I mentioned was this product.
01:53
It's called Drip and it is. It's really fantastic, because it's not your typical lubricating oil, or I should say it's not what I envision typically. It has a really great combination of herbs. Um, it has, in addition to hemp, derived cbd, which increases blood flow and enhances sensation when applied to intimate areas. It also has marshmallow root in it, which I'm currently obsessed with, and marshmallow root is amazing for so many reasons. So, anyway, it also has coconut oil in it. There are other ingredients, but I'm just obsessed with the fact that it has marshmallow root in it, and High Priestess has an amazing line of products, so definitely check them out, and I will have that linked in the show notes. What is your fave pot right now, jr?
02:50 - JR (Co-host)
My fave pot is actually the Vexia Bath Soaks salts.
02:56 - Diana (Host)
Bath salts. Bath salts yes.
02:58 - JR (Co-host)
It's a soak. Yeah, it's a long.
03:02 - Diana (Host)
I took the long way to get to the fact that it's a soak.
03:06 - JR (Co-host)
But no, it's a bath salts. You know, sometimes your body hurts.
03:13
What Sometimes yeah or as you get older it's like all the time, and while just straight topicals can be nice, you can't be just going around rubbing the lotions all over your entire body all the time. What? So this isn't the wanted movie where you can just sit in a bath of lotions and heal yourself. But you can sit in a bath of bath salts. So take yourself a nice relaxing time. Put some of those bath salts into. So you know, take yourself a nice relaxing time. Put some of those bath salts into the water and it gives like a very nice relaxed body feel. So you know you can do some self-care.
03:55 - Diana (Host)
You'll put the bath salts in. I'm gonna throw you off here, okay, because I know you can answer this. So what is the difference between the transdermal? Don't ask me that.
04:07 - JR (Co-host)
I'm not prepared to answer that. I'm not getting into that right now.
04:12 - Diana (Host)
Well, I feel like you set yourself up here because you said rubbing it all over your body, and then now you're saying by going into it.
04:20 - JR (Co-host)
I didn't set myself up for anything, just trying to think of a favorite part, isn't it?
04:24 - Diana (Host)
true, though, that the soak can enter certain mucous membranes in the bath, situation that it can't.
04:31 - JR (Co-host)
You're not going to get high.
04:32 - Diana (Host)
No, not high, just it would be a different type of body.
04:35 - JR (Co-host)
It's a little bit. Yeah, it's a looser body. It's going to be more of a muscle relaxing. It's not just going to heal like a very surface level pain. You know. It's going to get a lot deeper. It's going to relax the entire body.
04:50 - Diana (Host)
Right.
04:50 - JR (Co-host)
You know, and that's really what you're looking for, you know you Right before bed. Right before bed you put the soak in the bathtub, you lay down in there, you put on your favorite podcast. Most likely it's your highness podcast, you know, and Highness podcast.
05:03 - Diana (Host)
I love that, right, yeah, that's great.
05:05 - JR (Co-host)
Listen to it Listen imagine you're in a bath right now. You got this nice salt that's just making your body feel relaxed, and you hear these two beautiful voices coming out of your phone just talking to you. Okay, all right, it's just this amazing situation.
05:22 - Diana (Host)
This isn't going to be a bath time podcast if we go too far here.
05:26 - JR (Co-host)
Oh, we can do a bath time podcast. Get some candles, get some lavender.
05:33 - Diana (Host)
I mean, who am I talking? Who am I to talk? Who am I talking?
05:37 - JR (Co-host)
Who am I talking now?
05:40 - Diana (Host)
Who am I to talk? I mean, I listen to true crime in the bathtub.
05:44 - JR (Co-host)
In the bathtub I listen to the comic book and horror podcasts.
05:48 - Diana (Host)
so not the most relaxing thing To each their own?
05:51 - JR (Co-host)
Yeah, and your own, I'm assuming is your Highness Podcast or Getting Personal with Plant Medicine.
05:56 - Diana (Host)
Oh, another great one.
05:58 - JR (Co-host)
Oh, you like that plug.
05:58 - Diana (Host)
I love that, I love that and, speaking of that, all right, so that's a great segue to my next fave, not pot. Another item I put on that Mother's Day gift guide is they are called the Daily Bite. They are these. They're different flavors, they have different flavors. The one that I put on is the Double Strawberry and the company is called Rootless and the item is called rootless and the item is called the daily bite. Soon you'll be able to see me doing this because we are going to be moving to video soon. I'm saying that because I'm holding up the bag as if I thought you're gonna watch people watch you eat it.
06:39
Well, no, because no, but I wouldn't be recording. I guess I I could record, but it would be pretty bad.
06:45 - JR (Co-host)
What is it called the Munchbees or something like that?
06:49 - Diana (Host)
No, the Muckbang, the Muckbang. Oh no, no one wants to see me do a Muckbang. Nuh-uh, nope, that's a hard no, and I hate that. I even know what it is. Anyway, just for those listening, I just, jr, just found out what a mukbang is. Yes, if you want to know, go on TikTok, you'll be entertained. Anyway, back to my fave, not pot. They are called the Daily Bite. They are seaweed bites but they don't taste overwhelmingly like seaweed and they have sorry, hear the crinkling. It's because I'm holding up the bag. Anyway, each bite contains your daily dose of iodine from seaweed, which supports your thyroid and metabolism for all day energy without the crash, and I can definitely attest to that. I think it really has helped regulate my energy and it's an easy way to get seaweed in my diet. For those of you who don't know, which would be probably everyone, I used to be allergic to seafood, so I wasn't able to eat seaweed for a long time, and so now I I'm really excited that I can and I really love this product.
08:20
I love what they're about and I encourage you to check them out. The brand, again, is called Rootless and they are the Daily Bite, and my favorite right now is the Double Strawberry. Anyway, what is your fave? Not pot.
08:36 - JR (Co-host)
My fave, not pot, it's Eurovision.
08:40 - Diana (Host)
Oh.
08:40 - JR (Co-host)
Oh I, year after year, I love it. I just absolutely love it. You know, some of our US listeners may not fully know what I'm talking about, but we have a really strong listening hub in Ireland.
08:57 - Diana (Host)
We have quite a few countries who listen Exactly.
09:01 - JR (Co-host)
So I'm sure they are fully in the know of uh, of what I'm talking about. This year, another banger of a year. Uh, obviously my favorite was not, obviously because it's just because it's my favorite doesn't mean it's everyone's favorite. Uh was baby lasagna from, from croatia. I just I'm still listening to it but a lot of really great ones. Speaking of ireland, you had bambi thug, bambi, they, they did an amazing job, they did you had Bambi Thug.
09:23
Bambi Thug, they did an amazing job. They did. You had Windows 95. Man with no Rules that was the one with the jean shorts. That was amazing. Was it Switzerland? No, switzerland won. No, that was Finland. That was Finland. Yeah, switzerland won with Nemo, which they did an amazing job as well. You know, while not my favorite the way they were able to pull off both operatic and rap and being able to hold those notes while they were spinning on a disc it was amazing. They truly really did deserve to win.
09:56
And while there was some, some toxic energy, uh, this year it was nice to see that for the most part, I'll say 99% of the countries really banded together and supported each other, and it was really just one or two countries that not so much. But we don't want to focus on the bad aspects of it, because there was a lot of greatness and a lot of beauty that came from this year's Eurovision, especially being with Nemo the winner, being the first non-binary winner to win Eurovision, and even Bambi Thug being the first non-binary performer because they performed the day before Nemo. So a great year all around. I'm still listening to most of the songs on a playlist that I created and just an absolute jam. So all the people in the States next year tune into Eurovision. It's not just a movie with Will Ferrell, it's actually a really, really solid three-day performance Extravaganza, if you will.
11:09 - Diana (Host)
I agree it was fun. I had fun this year watching it with you. I mean, I had fun, but every year yeah, ever feel like life's stress gets to be too much. Welcome to Meet your Gaia, your natural wellness partner. We are the number one rated provider of Kratom, a 100% natural plant-based solution used in Asia for centuries to help increase focus, energy and relaxation. Want to know more? Use the code YHPOD to get 10% off your first order. Today. That's meetyourgaiacom and code YHPOD for 10% off. Okay, so this episode we're raw-dogging it.
12:17 - JR (Co-host)
You've been waiting to say that.
12:19 - Diana (Host)
I just want to sound like I'm young. You know, that's all.
12:22 - JR (Co-host)
That's why I said danger earlier. I was like'm gonna, I'm gonna reach the ears of the young, the young kids, because they banger yeah, well, um, I don't even know if they say that anymore.
12:34 - Diana (Host)
The kids no so we're just going to chat a little bit about a very, very controversial take on linkedin recently. I mean, I say very controversial only because there was a lot of responses to this and some may think it's it's hot, a hot take, and some may think it's just stating the obvious. Anyway, to give the original poster credit, his name is Brad bogus and I apologize if I'm mispronouncing, but I don't know him in real life. So, um, anyway. So he put out a post a week ago and I am going to paraphrase because it's a long one. So I I will read the top and the bottom and if you want to read the whole thing, I will link to it in the show notes. Okay, so he says the following is not an inflammatory take for the sake of being edgy, but an honest assessment of the cannabis industry as of current.
13:42
We need to dismantle the regulated cannabis market. There is no hope in this system. It is designed to crush operators. It's designed to only benefit a very privileged few. It's designed to fund state and local coffers, not line the pockets of hardworking operators. The track and trace needs to be eradicated. Testing needs to be standardized only to protect consumer safety. Do away with potency requirements. Childproof packaging is a travesty. End it all. We're not saving children, we're pandering to fear mongers, destroying the planet.
14:31
Remove license caps and allow anyone to enter and compete without requiring millions in investment capital. Reduce taxation to the exact same level of regular businesses. Model it after existing industry sectors agriculture, manufacturing, distribution, retail. The only thing regulators should be involved in is ensuring safe workplace environments and safe product. That's it In short, make cannabis look like regular businesses. The whole system is going to crush the entire sector. It's probably designed that way, if not intentionally, recklessly unintentionally. My only existing hope lies in the hemp industry a very ironic place to land for me, considering how many qualms I've had with it over the last two years. Okay, anyway, all right, so that's about it. That's the gist. There's a lot to unpack there.
15:22 - JR (Co-host)
There's a whole lot to unpack.
15:23 - Diana (Host)
I'm going to start. Can I just start, really?
15:25 - JR (Co-host)
Absolutely.
15:26 - Diana (Host)
Right off the bat I wanted to say that I agree with him about the childproof packaging Absolutely. It's like that one stands out. I mean a lot of them. Anyway is because I've been talking about it a lot lately and you know we've seen a lot of evidence out there that in all of the states where adult use is legal meaning that you can purchase cannabis 21 and over or 18 and over- whatever the state allows that the use among children is actually going down? It doesn't. It most certainly isn't going up.
16:03 - JR (Co-host)
No.
16:04 - Diana (Host)
That's, that's been proven.
16:06 - JR (Co-host)
No, and a lot of this you know. You hear like these one-off scenarios of of a kid taking some, some candies to school, and then the fully non-existent situations of of strangers giving kids these candies on Halloween and stuff like that, all just fully designed into the sphere-based structure to build upon more regulation when you know alcohol just off the top of my head isn't in a child-proof package right at all.
16:38 - Diana (Host)
It's really about, I mean, as we have gone on and on and on about and continue to go, we have plans to do a lot more to nail this point home. It's about education. It's about having honest discussions with children.
16:52 - JR (Co-host)
Exactly. Okay, it doesn't matter what the package is. I will say- If a kid wants to get into it. The kids are smart.
17:00 - Diana (Host)
Right is, I will say if a kid wants to get into it, the kids are smart, right?
17:02 - JR (Co-host)
they're not like we had those poison stickers.
17:03 - Diana (Host)
Right, and I've already talked, yeah, and I've talked about how that has done a lot of heavy lifting. Those stickers did a lot of heavy lifting in our childhood. However, one thing I will credit my parents for doing is that, even though we had a you know, an anti-drug mentality as a household, I say we, they did not me.
17:21 - JR (Co-host)
Definitely not me.
17:24 - Diana (Host)
They, they would kind of parse like which ones were worse. Right, like I knew cocaine was not something I wanted to mess with. Yeah, because they gave me literature to read on it. They, they had me read books.
17:37
They, they made me research the drug yeah and and I saw also in real life what it could do to people, so that that made me not want to mess with it. Right, yeah, I didn't want to experiment with it, and even though they never came out and said, oh, cannabis, wink, wink is fine, there were a lot of other signals that made that clear. So it's like they pick up on your whole attitude, right, like you can't sit there and say, well, this is okay, but this is not because I use it. No, we need to talk about all of the sides of it. You have to be honest.
18:13 - JR (Co-host)
And a lot of the things too that are being child packaged. It's being done needlessly.
18:18 - Shiloh (Guest)
Right.
18:19 - JR (Co-host)
And it's just just we're creating all this harmful waste for, like this, this green industry. All this harmful waste for no reason, like, if you want to say, oh, gummies, you know, you can have your argument with that. But when you're talking about just flour, like what's the kid gonna do when they get it open in the first place?
18:37
they can't just eat it, it's not gonna do anything to them right you know we're unnecessarily creating all these unnecessary packagings that are just being thrown in the landfills and just polluting our environment. Right, landfills, if you're lucky, you know. Unfortunately there's a lot of dispensaries that have a lot of packaging litter just in their parking lots from people ripping open the packaging and just throwing it away.
19:05 - Diana (Host)
No one keeps their packaging neighborhoods, I mean just walking my dog.
19:11 - JR (Co-host)
I see so many pieces exactly of of unbiogradable, unreusable, biodegradable yeah, what I say?
19:19 - Diana (Host)
I think you said unbiogradable. Oh anyway, I don't know. Anyway, but unreusable packaging that's just throwing waste onto the planet, just so that somebody feels a little bit better about the fact that you have it in your hands yeah, and as someone can control. But even that's just all mental that's just mental gymnastics that are unnecessary, because it's just for plastic companies to make more money exactly it's for the bigger companies that handle all of that to make more money the regulatory systems, the, the you know compliance groups, all of that.
19:55 - JR (Co-host)
They're all making all the money speaking of the compliance groups, I'm going to jump on to the next topic, and that's going to be the seed to sale tracking. Right, and this is something that I've gone back and forth on, but really, when you look at it, we need to basically find out what kind of industry we are actually working with here. We are actually working with here Because right now, there's no defined way of doing things. We can't say that we're medical, you know, because basically what seed of sale does is it tracks to make sure there's no diversion that is occurring, which could be very important for things like pharmaceuticals, you know, things that have a high addiction rate, chemicals Exactly things that you need a prescription for. So when you're dealing with stuff like that, if I go to refill my prescription, it takes at least 45 minutes just to have it ready for me to pick up, because everything has to be done in such a slow, small-scale way to be able to track every single pill, every single vial for a tracking system. So the government knows exactly what is going in and what is going out. Now in the cannabis industry, which is run in a very retail-centric aspect, things are a lot more fast-paced. We don't have time to take one person, take 45 minutes to fill one person's order. So what that does is it creates human error, which is naturally occurring in all retail environments.
21:28
When you have the seed to sale, that basically gives regulatory agencies carte blanche to come in and deliver fines, because no location is ever going to be perfect. There is not going to be a single location that does not lose an eighth or a vape cartridge. So what that does is that allows the regulatory agents to come in and say well, what happened to this? And when you can't answer it, you can then get fined. Shakedown atmosphere where once a quarter if you're lucky, sometimes once a month a regulatory agent can come in, find something that they know is going to be an easy hit because it's impossible not to have it happen and automatically deliver a fine.
22:12
So the seed to sale system isn't actually protecting anybody. It's just creating a shakedown atmosphere and with access to be able to view from governing agencies. So really we need to decide are we medical, are we going to take 45 minutes to fill someone's order and treat it like we are a pharmacy, or are we a retail establishment? Are we actually just delivering people's wants for money in our capitalistic society? Because we can't have both. And right now things like the seed to sale is acting like we're in this perfect world where people can produce and deliver at the speed of a retail environment and hold the same exact, strict follow throughs with their inventory, as a pharmacy in which one person fills every order and it can take them at least 45 minutes to fill it.
23:05 - Diana (Host)
And then I'm going to piggyback on that and then you can speak more to this and then we'll end it, and if you want to have us further the discussion, let us know. Anyway, not to cut you off, but just to speak to what you're speaking to. Not to cut you off, but just to speak to what you're speaking to, where he says how the only thing that regulators should be involved in is ensuring safe workplace environments and safe product. That's it.
23:29 - JR (Co-host)
And that's the last thing they're looking for.
23:31 - Diana (Host)
Exactly, I mean, what you're talking about. It's like you're doing this, like what is the word I'm looking for, when you're like, like everybody has to be in and out in a certain amount of time.
23:43 - JR (Co-host)
It's like an assembly line. Assembly line that's it.
23:46 - Diana (Host)
So they want this assembly line production. Consumers want you to treat each person individually.
23:54 - JR (Co-host)
Yeah.
23:55 - Diana (Host)
And who's actually looking out for the employees?
23:58 - JR (Co-host)
Yeah, it creates this nightmare hellscape where no one can actually feel good about what they're doing. Either you're taking too long or someone in your shop could miss something and accidentally give God forbid somebody an extra gummy, you know, and that delivers a fine, and then you're at risk of losing your job. And that delivers a fine, and then you're at risk of losing your job. It's not a system that's designed to allow people to thrive or allow businesses to thrive and do well. It's almost like they're chopping off everyone at their knees.
24:44
I understand that it's still federally scheduled one, but on a state level, if it is legal, it needs to be treated like it's legal, and right now it's not. It's still treated in a very hush-hush way and a very unnecessarily rule-driven way. If it's legal for adult use, then it's legal for adult use. It should be treated like alcohol. If someone comes in and they're over 21, they can buy the alcohol. It should be the same exact way. Regulators don't go in on a tracking system with alcohol companies and say, hey, this Budweiser is missing, what happened? And someone says, oh, it fell on the ground and shattered, and then they get fined. That doesn't happen. You know why are things like this happening in the cannabis industry and then they don't let you get paid.
25:30 - Diana (Host)
I know I said that was the last thing, but now just like to top it all off. You know, because, like there's so many financial blockages for people who are in the cannabis industry.
25:40 - JR (Co-host)
Even people who talk about it.
25:42 - Diana (Host)
I was shut down by Stripe and they didn't just double down, they tripled down. They were like you talk about CBD. Even talking about CBD can keep you from getting paid. And it's not even just getting paid, it's like getting loans and getting houses, and it just goes so far. And it's all because cannabis threatens all of these other big businesses, right.
26:09 - JR (Co-host)
Exactly.
26:10 - Diana (Host)
And so that's an opportunity for a lot of bad players to come in and take advantage of the propaganda machine.
26:21 - JR (Co-host)
It keeps us from living in a real industry, when you're still having people in the industry being told that they have to close their bank accounts because they're getting paid through cannabis. It's like what is this Right? Is this legal or not? Are we making progress or not? It's like we're making progress in name. We're showboating. Oh, we're doing all this. Look how progressive we are. Oh, I'm thinking about signing this bill. You know, it's like what is this?
26:50 - Diana (Host)
it's like just do it yes, I mean it's like just on an environmental level. Yeah, what could be?
26:56 - JR (Co-host)
done exactly the the studies have shown in the states that have gone adult use. We're not a bunch of dystopian, freaking mad max people running around freaking, killing each other.
27:08 - Diana (Host)
We're all just completely civil people, just trying to consume a little nicer, exactly more considerate, a little bit more aware of things yeah, it's like when are we going to end this?
27:17 - JR (Co-host)
oh, I'm thinking about it. I'm going to think about it up until november, and then I'll say it's like just come on, just do it.
27:25 - Diana (Host)
Oh, we know what it's about. But like, why would they actually do it when they can just trot it out every four years?
27:30 - JR (Co-host)
yeah, make everybody, oh I wasn't able to do it before this november. But trust, if you vote me in in four years, I'm gonna do it then.
27:37 - Diana (Host)
Yeah, you know it's like this plant that's been uh in use for literally hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Oh, let's act like it's brand new.
27:45 - JR (Co-host)
It's brand new, like no one's ever heard of it before anyway, we'll stop ranting.
27:48 - Diana (Host)
Yeah, so, but that's not all for this episode. Stay tuned for our local look into the georgia cannabis scene with Shiloh Biglis. And now for our closer look. We are actually going to take a look at the Georgia cannabis and CBD scene with Shiloh Biglis from Level Mind CBD. How are you doing today, shiloh? Level Mind CBD. How are you doing today, shiloh? Good, how are you? I'm fantastic, great, I'm good, maybe not great, but I'm good. So, shiloh, let's start by taking a snapshot of the Georgia cannabis scene, and I know that your position in it is a little different, but can you give us a little bit of background about the current attitude among consumers and, you know, cannabis enthusiasts in the area?
28:51 - Shiloh (Guest)
Well, in Georgia we have the most restrictive medical cannabis license that there is. There is only 18 conditions and it's only approved for a 5% THC. Yes, you heard that right 5% THC.
29:07 - Diana (Host)
Wow.
29:08 - Shiloh (Guest)
Okay, I take it back. It's not as bad as Maryland.
29:11
Yes, that's what I'm saying. So it's pretty bad. That was also approved and passed in 2018. That was also approved and passed in 2018. The first dispensary is open this January. So that kind of tells you the political bureaucracy BS that kept people patient with cards, who had no access to it. So it just became available. Licensing were issued last year for the manufacturers, for the dispensaries, and so it's been very, very frustrating for people in looking for medicine period.
29:47
Obviously, my company is Level Mind CBD, so we are on the hemp side of it. So we did what we could, just helping all the patients that were sitting there with a card and still having to break the law and go to another state and get 5% oil. So but for us, I mean we were able to help a lot of people and then, with the hemp bill changing and kind of the wiggle around that we have, we were able to make, you know, stronger, more high powered edibles at least. Can't really get away with it with oil or vape or anything like that, but with edibles I mean at least to help a lot of these people. And like, my best case study was a woman who came off of liquid morphine with 25 milligram gummies 25 milligram, delta 9, and now this is like a gigantic, like 10 or 12 gram gummy.
30:37
It's huge to be able to put that many milligrams in um, but she's now taking five milligram chocolates so she was able to wean herself off liquid morphine from three botched back surgeries, and so, again, this is helping the people who need help, and, yeah, so it's just nice to be able to do what we can to help.
30:57 - Diana (Host)
But you do have a retail location right.
31:00 - Shiloh (Guest)
Yes, we're nine years in business and five years retail. So we got into it as soon as hemp became legal in 2015. And then we actually opened our retail store in late 2018, early. Yeah, right before we had, our first full year was 2019.
31:17 - Diana (Host)
So right before we had, our first full year was 2019. So so not a lot has changed in the last several years. Pretty much it's been very slow moving.
31:29 - Shiloh (Guest)
Very, very, very slow. So, like I said, while that was happening we supported a lot of people, but it was a good thing because we saw so many different people who needed support. We needed stuff that wasn't just THC. So we have a huge market. We have a line which we call our professional and our family line, which is really high powered minors, so really strong CBN for sleeping for all of our active service members or first responders or someone with kids and they don't want to get them high with THC, so they need something to help them sleep. So we, the store, has helped a ton because we see this need and we're like, okay, we'll create it, we'll do it so and we don't work with any just plain CBD. Cbg is in every single product we have, so it's activating both receptors, getting that entourage effect and not having to have you know the psychoactive part of it.
32:29
So and it's in all of our THC products and all of our non-THC products. So CBG, you're saying CBG yes, it's a miracle molecule that really every single person should be.
32:42 - Diana (Host)
I agree. So I mean, I think that a lot of us are unaware of what's going on in georgia. So what would you say to people who have no clue about the industry, who are in the industry in georgia, if that makes any sense, like, what do you wish people knew about the cannabis scene there?
33:03 - Shiloh (Guest)
um, the cannabis scene. There's not a lot that could be said because, like I said, there's 17, maybe 18 conditions. I think they were talking about adding some this year that could have changed um. And then it's a five percent oil. Um, it was an oil only, but they just added a lozagen now five percent thc lozagen. So those are the only two products, excuse me, that can be purchased in the dispensaries. So these dispensaries are open and they are the only two products, excuse me, that can be purchased in the dispensaries. So these dispensaries are open and they have two products, two products, two products. And it was just oil. The lozogens just got approved this year, so it's two products, that's all they have access to.
33:39
Um, no flour, no vape, um, so it's definitely very we're very slow moving in the hemp world, which is obviously my side. Uh, we just passed governor Kemp actually just signed, on April 21st or 22nd, sb 494, which some was calling a pretty restrictive hemp bill. I think it was things that needed to happen in the state, no matter what um big thing like packaging, making sure that everything is in child resistant containers, no alluring to children, no, lookalikes like you can't have a bag of nerves with a z and skittles with a z and show the pictures so restrictive though, even that, you know, because it's like so many things, look like so many things.
34:29 - Diana (Host)
Come on Anyway, but that's not the discussion right now.
34:34 - Shiloh (Guest)
I know, with our packaging, at least in our brand level minds, we've been in child resistant containers, uv protection, and we have very clean labeling and packaging. I think the biggest thing with like making things look good is don't throw like a watermelon sticker on it or like I think that's what they mean like just making it look, you know, bright and colorful. But so for us that wasn't a huge issue because, especially with our packaging and our labeling, we were already set. I'm not very happy about the having to put a sign on my door for saying that anything you purchase in here you have to be 21 plus, because, like I said, I have a line that is for professionals and families. I have a trampoline in the back room and a Lego table.
35:22
I have a lot of kids who are on the spectrum that their parents come in and have a lot of questions for me yeah so it's very difficult for me to put a sign on my door and be like, look, I can't tell you unless you're 21, when I have a whole line which is for all ages right, including that, but even the 18 to 21. I have plenty of 18 to 21 year olds who are in here and using our focus, which they compare to Adderall and ritalin and it does better and they don't feel like a zombie when they're taking it like a, like an energizer bunny zombie it's like so hard to explain so here's.
35:55
I definitely have people like that and it's that part was the most frustrating. And then, um so packaging, um, licensing fees, which I don't think is a huge issue, because there are a lot of people selling stuff that they probably shouldn't be selling and a lot of gas stations, some vape and smoke shops and smaller shops are definitely selling a lot of those products that are on this bill that we're trying to just clean up the act. So I don't mind that Licensing fees. There was manufacturing and wholesale fees as well. There was a really restrictive part of the bill which got amended slightly. Two restrictive parts First they were trying to amend. First they were trying to pass a total PhD percentage, so everything would be tested, total, not the 0.3%, so they would literally be changing the hemp mill. That was amended. And then they also had a really restrictive part of the licensing fee where any person with a felony or misdemeanor for cannabis charges, including all immediate family, that's, anyone with your same last name you could not own a license in the state of Georgia.
37:25
What Misdemeanor. What misdemeanor was amended, but felony is still what so you're telling me what if you're estranged from your family oh yeah, exactly exactly. They have to bear the same last name immediate family and it's very, very clear what like it gives the verbiage of what's considered immediate family, and it's literally like brothers, sisters, aunt, uncle, anybody with the same last name. So they kept in the felony part, which I think is going to be pretty hard hitting for a lot of business owners.
38:02 - Diana (Host)
What if you have a very common last name too, like how do you prove that you're related to somebody like I? I would be so screwed, that's frustrating.
38:11 - Shiloh (Guest)
So I'm glad they at least took the misdemeanor out, because how many people do we know personally that got caught with a joint or a single-based pen or something like that like and got slapped with a misdemeanor? That would have been in there and it's not. So that part was amended. I'm still against the felony part because that restricts so many business owners and licensed business owners to be able to operate. And then those business owners who do have family members like that, they're going to have to make a decision like okay, come October 1st do I sign my business, like literally a percentage of my business, to someone who doesn't have the same last name as me, or do I shut down Because they cannot operate in the state? So that was really restrictive.
38:54
And then the last one is THCA. If you don't know what THCA is, thca is found in both cannabis hemp and cannabis marijuana. When it's lit and heated it turns into thc, delta 9, but psychoactive thca by itself is not psychoactive, you have to activate it. Um. So in the state of georgia thca has brought flour specifically, and vape pens has brought so many, just thousands of people out from the underground. People literally are coming into my store and being like, oh, thank goodness I don't have to message some stranger on Instagram and have them deliver a bag of flour. I'm like that's so scary. Like they're like, yeah, you're telling me I didn't know what I was getting and it's not clean. You never, you have no idea.
39:46
So we opened up this market. Where again we're in Georgia. This is all we can do. We have to work with mflower. This is all we could do, and so for us to bring so many people out of the gray black market, it was awesome. And then the actual verbiage in the law that was passed, which I think it was like four, maybe 14 people said no, and then it was like hundreds said yes. So it wasn't just the governor, it was passed unanimously pretty much. So it wasn't just him signing it, but he in that one. The THCA it says that they will be all THCA, so not just flowers. So all the people who have THCA edibles on their shelf we don't have any THCA edibles but all the people who do, or drops, or vape pens, all of those, all THCA will be decarboxylated, converted to Delta 9.
40:41 - Diana (Host)
Okay, so you can't sell THCA anymore as of October 1st In Georgia. As of October 1st In Georgia, as of October 1st. Yeah, that's terrible.
40:50 - Shiloh (Guest)
I love THCA so much For people who are even using it on the side. Like I said, we've converted so many I'm quote-unquoting real flower users that are like this stuff is fantastic because again you're getting a little bit of CBG, you're getting these other miners in the plant where it's not just like a straight high powered THC Delta 9 flower, you're getting a more complete entourage effect and just a better feeling. So it is very frustrating because it wasn't hurting anyone. It's taking away dangerous flour, dangerous safe pens and it's going to go all back underground. So that's the THCA side of it.
41:35
So the rest of the bill, like I said, licensing fees, manufacturing, wholesale fees, the new packaging and labeling Everything has to be UV resistant. I think they really just don't want kids being able to see that it's a bottle of gummies, a drawer of gummies. I don't mind any of those as a parent and, like I said, all of our stuff is in child resistant containers and our labels are really clean. Everything is covered. So for us it wasn't, you know, hugely restrictive because that's how we're already operating, but I know it is going to hurt a lot of people.
42:09 - Diana (Host)
For us it wasn't you know, hugely restrictive, because that's how we're already operating, but I know it is going to hurt a lot of people. The thing that I, the mental gymnastics that are going on in my brain, are that you know, I do give my son CBD gummies, and so I tried to talk to him about. These are your special gummies. Oh yeah, oh yeah. Same with all of our parents, Right?
42:32 - JR (Co-host)
But so it's.
42:32 - Diana (Host)
I mean the childproof thing. It's like I said before, we could go on and on and on about that, but the the the part where they're not able to see what it is, I don't know how. I just feel like that's so unnecessary. I mean, obviously there are a lot of discussions about how much waste that creates and how environmentally unfriendly that is. But just like logistically, just thinking like right now, like if my son saw me take a gummy out of a bag and put it up, it doesn't matter how if he's able to see in the container.
43:00 - Shiloh (Guest)
It's the same as any medicine. It's the same as any medicine. As parents, we are responsible for talking to our children about medicine and keeping medicine where our kids can't access it. But I will say our bill was definitely way less restrictive than Florida's. So Florida, all hemp products. Even if it's just straight CBD, you have to list the national poison control hotline on your label.
43:26 - Diana (Host)
Okay, having lived in Floridaida, that's hilarious I'm like seriously, I was like that's going to keep anyone from doing it.
43:37 - Shiloh (Guest)
All of our labels and I'm like really poison control yeah I'm like what, what?
43:45 - Diana (Host)
so it's like that's ridiculous.
43:48 - Shiloh (Guest)
It's frustrating. Obviously we have to list everything. Part of the label was anything with THC. We have to list our warning Again. We're already listing it Don't drive heavy machinery. Make sure you know how you feel when you're taking this and I'm like, yeah, I get it, but actually is that warning even on wine and beer?
44:05 - Diana (Host)
and liquor? No, it just makes me think about a story I read about, like how in Tokyo they have like skulls on their cigarette packs. Like you know the skeleton, like you're going to die if you smoke these, and that's you know makes sense because they can kill you. Yes, exactly. Makes sense because they can kill you, yes, exactly. Anyway, so what are your hopes for the future of the cannabis industry and the hemp industry in Georgia?
44:35 - Shiloh (Guest)
Obviously way less restrictive. I don't mind the licensing fees and a little bit of restriction because, like I said, it kind of weeds out the bad apples where you're like, okay, I know this person is not going to be getting people sick with like super, super high THC stuff For me. I'm definitely in the industry of trying to heal people and change lives. Don't get me wrong. We have our recreational people too who take our high powered gummies and they don't have exit pains and they just want to feel good. But again, if I can offer that person a clean source something I know is in place, with God only knows what, um, and being able to walk in and like use their credit card to pay for it and not sit there and have to meet somebody with cash on the corner and risk getting mugged, so, um, for me, that's my hope, just to be able to continue to do that For the cannabis industry. I hope and pray that obviously the THC percentage goes up. 5% really doesn't do a whole lot for people and they're having to consume more and more it's not a cheap oil at all and it is only 5% and for the people who are really needing it cancer patients, ms, sickle cell patients. All these patients 5% isn't going to do a whole lot, so they're having to consume more, which is costing more for everyone manufacturers, users, everything. So biggest hope is that the percentage is raised. I don't mind having a medical side of things.
46:08
Obviously, my hope and dream is that it goes recreational and is removed from scheduling, not transferred to Schedule 3. I'm very, very against it going to Schedule 3. But it is removed from scheduling. It needs to be decriminalized, legalized everywhere. It's a plant. It's been used for over 6,000 years as medicine, with zero recorded deaths. It's not something that is dangerous and definitely should not be something that is being controlled as it is all around the place. So my hope is that it's legalized completely and then there's just even more access for people who truly need a good quality hemp, because again, we have so many people in here for healing that aren't just in here for the recreational side, and if we lose those recreational customers, to real dispensaries that open up here.
47:04
that's fine. We'll still have our market and I'm okay with that.
47:08 - Diana (Host)
Absolutely All right. Well, tell us a little bit more about your business before we go and how people can support you.
47:15 - Shiloh (Guest)
Okay, well, it's levelminds with an S cbdcom. Like I said, we've been in business nine years. It's my husband and I. We have a great staff. We got into business as soon as hemp became legal.
47:29
Came back from actually a vape trade show where we met our first trade partner, a grower out in Kentucky, and one of our employees had really really, really bad Crohn's disease Couldn't touch beer, couldn't touch tomatoes, red sauce, anything Constantly in a ton of pain, a lot of anxiety too, because of course, with really severe Crohn's like that, it causes pretty severe anxiety. He was already a cannabis user and was smoking daily and we came back with these hemp full spectrum CBD capsules. We're like, okay, give these a try, let's see what it does. And within about five days he was consuming food he had to consume, his anxiety was lessening, all of this stuff. So we're like, maybe there's something to this, maybe there's something to these other molecules, and not just the THC side of it. And so started looking into it just the THC side of it.
48:30
And so started looking into it and everything we were finding on the market either had horrible flavorings mixed with disgusting oil, food coloring, artificial sweeteners or really really, really low strength like 10 milligram droppers and we're like I don't think this is enough, and so we just started doing our research. And just tons and tons of it, um, and found again that stuff wasn't really strong enough and it was stuff that we personally, as a family, wouldn't consume with the other ingredients. So we just set out and started creating level minds and um producing our own products, and that's how it all started. So, um, and then for myself, um, I'm actually graduating the end of this month, uh, with my functional nutrition counselor license. So helping people heal with all forms of food and herbs and cannabis, of course, is included in that. So for me, it's about, you know, healing, changing lives and helping everyone of any age to just be their better self.
49:38 - Diana (Host)
Awesome, I appreciate that. I really do like that Well. Thank you so much for joining me today, and I'd love to have you back on anytime.
49:49 - Shiloh (Guest)
Yay, thanks so much for having me have a great one.
49:52 - Diana (Host)
Thank you for listening. Until next time, stay high and beautiful. This episode was produced by your Highness Media Audio editing by JR Krach. Intro music by your Mom Likes my Music. Subscribe to our Substack Your Highness Media Newsletter for the latest announcements and event updates.