Steve and Stephanie

foreign once again I am back from my horrible vacation it was not a vacation I am Stephanie this is Steve joining me on the show today hey Steve hi there Stephanie how are you uh well you know I've had better weeks I'm looking forward to this one just because you know we've got a town meeting on the docket Cinco de Mayo is coming Kentucky Derby is coming we're not going to talk about those rotten Bruins last night we're gonna look forward to the Celtics positivity may day today is the day we're getting out the vote bro I'm with you on that yeah right so Steve talk to everybody about why it is that you're joining us on the show today hi everyone hi there well first of all Stephanie I want to thank you very much uh for for having me here today uh um I'm here because uh this evening in the town of Bourne uh there's going to be a town meeting and within that town meeting is a special town meeting and the meeting itself starts at seven in the in the special town meeting starts at 7 30. but there are two articles that are particular interest to a group of people in the community and it's uh the repeal the first article is currently in Born uh you cannot have a cannabis dispensary so uh what we're looking to do in this movement is repeal that ban uh and that would allow for marijuana establishments to be in the town of Bourne the second thing we're looking to do is Implement zoning bylaws so that we can regulate this industry regulate the number of dispensaries that would be allowed to come in town regulate where they would go a little bit of background on me I used to be on the the town of board planning board and I serve as chairman for a number of years so I'm very familiar with Zone and bylaws and how important they are to the town I've also served on the Bourne school committee uh I was the chairman of the committee that wrote the local comprehensive plan which is a 10-year vision from of the town and I also served as the chairman of the committee that hired the most recent superintendent schools so I'm I'm very heavily invested in the town okay yeah because I'm sure that people are wondering who's the Steve guy and why are we listening to him right now good morning Christiana good morning Adam Josh Dave thank you so much for joining us once again this is Steve and he is here to talk well you have your background's in real estate also yes it is yes it is so uh you know I have a couple of different perspectives on this interestingly enough Stephanie I didn't start out to be the face of this movement right I don't think anybody does but when you see something that's wrong well well that's it I this industry is here to stay uh it's a four billion dollar industry it's closing on closing in on five bills incredible worth of sales the state takes collectively 20 of that so the state's about to collect a billion dollars in taxes with regards to this and three percent of that is directly kicked back to the town um in out of the other remaining 17 obviously that money comes back indirectly uh in school funds and chapter 91 funds and local Aid and whatnot so um it's it's a big cash Boon to towns but you know I understand this issue is a little bit controversial for some folks so we're not focusing on just the money this is going to bring in because for some people it doesn't matter yeah it's not about the money Adam says there are too many positive benefits for this not to be allowed taxes Alone um but there are people that are afraid of cannabis in there and that's absolutely true um they they think that if we do this in the town of Bourne it's going to somehow unleash the dogs and I think we know now we have enough of a look back period uh to see that that this isn't a negative for a community it it turns out to be a positive I mean Mashpee has it sandwich has it Cava has it I mean it is all around born and one of the things we complain about and born more than anything in the world is traffic well let's take advantage of that traffic let's have a few dispensaries that we've put the limit on three dispensaries because we feel that's the number that can service the town adequately let's take advantage of that traffic these people coming through born because you have to drive through Bourne to get anywhere on the cave let's take advantage of those folks as far as let they can stop they can buy the product and they can go anywhere on the cave Martha's Vineyard Nantucket wherever they want but let's get the benefit of those that traffic those people coming through I think that's in important factor because there is one in Wareham all there we're him also yes oh yeah yeah like every surrounding towns all have it absolutely absolutely and you know what what we've been trying to do here is educate people because it's it's interesting to me that people don't really understand these dispensaries how they operate how they work and and that's sort of the message we've been trying to get out we've tried to be very open and transparent about what we're doing here I've been in front of the select board I've been in front of the planning board I've been in front of the finance committee twice I've been in front of the bylaw committee on this we're trying to get the word out people don't understand these dispensaries you know an interesting fact is when you buy a product at a dispensary from the time that product is a seed to the time it becomes a product and it's sold to an individual that that product is tracked the whole way it is yes and there has been talk about well what if these products get diverted to kids and I I think one thing we can agree on this debate no matter what side of the debate you're on and we care about kids and and I'll certainly talk about that but when you go to a dispensary you give them your driver's license they have a record of what you buy your you have a limited amount of what you can buy on a daily basis if that product gets diverted to kids you know they know where that product came from you're going to be in a world of trouble if that happens so we think that's an important fact that people maybe don't understand it and don't know what upsets me about kids are going to get into whatever they're going to get into they get into alcohol they were buying vanilla extract from the grocery store because it had alcohol in it and we had to chain up the vanilla extract at one point there every single thing whether it's cough syrup or all of these Pro they're eating Tide Pods okay like I I dislike when people use that argument that this is going to get in the hands of kids because kids are going to get at things just out of curiosity Factor anyway no one's marketing to children no one's confusing this Within things that aren't everything is properly labeled even the items themselves on the actual whatever product it is is labeled yeah absolutely and what's what's interesting about the kids aspect of all of this is you know when I got involved in this four years ago I was on the plan aboard and we wrote Zone and bylaws and this was an issue and Lauren says Steve please keep speaking up for everyone yeah well thank you Lauren that's that's the goal here but uh when I got involved in this uh through the planning board and and I started meeting the players in the industry and talking to them one of the things that was uh important to me was that the black market is out there it's going to exist if there's a market the black market will fill it these These are people that don't care about your kids we've recently had reports of marijuana that's been laced with fentanyl and here is what I would suggest to you is if you care about kids and you want to make sure they're educated on this make sure you keep this product out of their hands you have to be 21 years old to legally buy this in the state then regulate the industry now for about four or five years ago the cost of marijuana at a dispensary was about four times the street value the street but you could buy it on the street so nobody's going to buy it on uh you know a lot of people aren't buying it at the dispensary if they have to pay four times as much well because so much product has come online it's neck and neck at this point so you know drug dealers they're they're bad people and I want to put them out of business they have to import their drugs from Mexico or California they have to get it here illegally the Massachusetts dispensaries that dispense in local product grown here by local companies and that is the way to put drug dealers out of business I I said earlier there's been over four billion dollars worth of sales if we weren't selling marijuana legally in this state right now the vast majority of that four billion dollars would be in the black market it would be with criminals because that's what drug dealers are they're criminals so let's turn the tables on the on on the black market also with the money we're going to get from this closing in on a billion dollars in taxes let's put a significant portion of that money towards addiction care and mental health issues because I'll tell you what everything has the potential for abuse it doesn't mean because you buy a lottery ticket you're going to become a degenerate Gambler it doesn't mean it mean because you drink a glass of wine you're going to become an alcoholic and it's the same thing with marijuana obviously some people will abuse it for one reason or another but let's get to the root cause of that abuse and let's deal with it because if you just vote this and say no we don't want it and born you haven't accomplished anything you haven't done anything in in my mind you're kind of part of the problem because it's here it's a billion dollar industry it's not going anywhere well and I think that you need to also talk about the positives of natural medicine and and more homeopathic remedies for things that are easily readily available I your fingertips for the town of born and not having to go and give all of that money to other towns when this is real medicine for people it absolutely is and to that point one of the one of the points in in this process from you know a few years to today I had a good friend and his son was in Iraq he was in the military and there was an explosion an IED in his area and he was injured uh so he went to all the the Army doctors of course when he got home um you know he went to the doctors here but he has terrible insomnia and he has migraine headaches debilitating migraine headaches the only thing that brings him any relief and he's tried everything the only thing that brings him relief is cannabis what what the people who don't want this in the community for whatever reason what they don't understand I think based on the feedback I've been getting in this process is cannabis has very a lot of therapeutic uses it has therapeutic uses for people who suffer from joint and muscle pain from anxiety some people use this every day to get through the day and cope with their anxiety um also you know people who can't sleep at night you know this helps them get some rest so in and believe me folks I know some incredibly successful people that I've known for many many decades they're uses of cannabis you'd never know it because there's so successful and they get their day done and accomplish they accomplish so much during the day so the idea that you know the people who are using this product are potheads and Stoners that are just sitting around um you know contributing nothing to the community couldn't be further from the truth and and you know ultimately however the vote goes tonight but we you know I respect however you feel your position on this for sure you know it's important and respect to other people in their political positions but when you vote tonight at the in the town of Bourne special town meeting vote on the facts don't vote on you know I've heard things the the one that really gets me is they you know they've been saying there's a few people in town saying uh if you do cannabis it's a gateway drug to heroin and they make the connection okay just about it what I've never heard that one before you'll you'll hear that tonight at Town no stop really honest to God uh it the other night I was at a candidates forum and that's what one of the uh anti-pot people I'll just call them that for the sake of argument the anti-pod people said it's a it's a gateway drug to write to heroin the other thing they said it's a hallucinogenic so that these people who are on it it reminds me of the reef of Madness yeah yeah it really does the propaganda videos from the 50s like seriously it's not oh absolutely so you know what I you know other states haven't done it right in California they did a terrible job of legalizing this New York is the most recent example you know you have in New York they have illegal pot shops everywhere they close them down in the in the police chief said it's like whack-a-mole you close one down another one pops open they have people going in these stores that don't even know their illegal stores those are the states where they didn't do it right now Massachusetts to its credit did this industry write it's heavily regulated the vet in process to open one of these stores and if you've not ever been into a dispensary let me tell you it is a process before you even get in there to get stuff they are making sure that everything is right your license your ID your I did I mean it's hard it's easier to go vote tonight than it is to get into a dispensary you have to be on point when you're walking into these places I want to uh talk to Don says that she's been a cannabis user AM and PM I don't get high I get regulated and I would not be able to live without it Mari said friends of hers back pain it's the only thing that works for them and um many of our friends have worked in commercial and compliance in California and that has been an absolute nightmare but I think that just taking the stigma away from this is really important and um I've been working with a lot of people to do exactly that there comes a stigma with cannabis users and that needs to go away because this is actual medicine these are positive things that we're doing and we're trying to do it right especially here in the town of born and there it is a 50 50 issue people are afraid of it and I challenge you out there to go to a dispensary and see how it's done I challenge you to educate yourself a little bit more on not the reefer madnesses of the world but the actual uses and the ways that people are healing themselves with this plant it is a plant okay so let's talk about tonight's vote Yes okay so uh what they're going to do uh the the process is such that the meat and starts town meeting starts at seven now the only way to be allowed into the auditorium is to be a town voter if you want to go to the town meeting and participate sort of indirectly you can go to the high school that's where the meeting is and you can go into the library library slash media center and you can watch it on a live feed and we do have a number of people that intend to do that because they're they're supportive of this and they're going to hold signs out uh you know as people arrive but uh the special town meeting will open at 7 30 and um they do a lottery system they just pick articles randomly and the first out when the marijuana issue comes up which we expect will be shortly after 7 30. the first thing the voters are going to vote on is whether to repeal the existing band because right now uh the last time this was voted at town meeting was 2019 in the repeal of the ban failed by 31 votes um and um we think that today four years later that there's been a significant shift in the attitudes and perspectives of people so we feel we feel you know confident that the will of the people is we know the will of the the people is to repeal this ban but you have to get there and you have to vote and and that's the thing we've we've tried to guide against and I can't stress this enough there's a lot of complacency out there we've weak people are busy in their lives also right we get it we collected in order to get this on the ballot we had to collect over 350 signatures these people like oh I'm behind not all you know some people sign it so you can get on yeah you get that but we're with you but I'm not I'm not going but but so thanks you know there is the attitude somebody said it to me the other day oh I'm not going to go Steve but you got this this come on at this point in time you know people understand the marijuanas that's what Rob out there said but it's 20 23 people but but that's that's our biggest problem or the biggest concern we have is people going to be complacent and they're going to think I don't need to go you really need to go you need to be there because if we lose by five votes um it's you know that's going to be a real punch in the gut here well Lauren is asking are they going to leave it till the end and then reschedule so that no one can attend no we actually we had we could have put it on the regular town meeting with 10 with 10 signatures we went out and collected uh you need over a hundred verified signatures so that it could be put on for the special town meeting which is held at 7 30 and once that's opened the marijuana will come up it will be voted on then the special town meeting will be closed now you can't revisit it like you can in a regular Town meet him so we looked at the process and we said this is the way to do it so here's your time commitment get there around seven o'clock and you'll be out of there probably by 8 30 and it'll be a done deal at that point I understand it's a huge time commitment I really do but this is such an important issue for the community that we really need to do it so we have the repeal of the band which is a majority vote okay so if if 201 people repeal vote to repeal the ban in 200 vote to keep the band in place then the ban is repealed the zoning bylars are a little bit different because they're Zone and bylaws they require two-thirds vote now the zoning bylaws are really important because if we don't have regulations in place what happens with um businesses in the town like any other town is when you come in front of the the planning board they they match you up with what is the most um comparable uh industry so marijuana is just retail so in other words if we don't have zone of mylaws in place marijuana uh just uh dispensaries in the town of Boeing can go anywhere you can have retail okay anywhere so we have what we did is we crafted Zone and bylaws that align with what the state has given out to municipalities saying hey this is how now that we have this three four five year look back period this is what you should do with your Zone and bylaws align them with the interests of the town and the interests of the state and don't make them so burdensome that nobody wants to come into town and do business yeah initially the idea was oh let's tuck these dispensaries into industrial parks let's keep them off the main thoroughfares let's keep them where you know people aren't going to see them right that's that's terrible for an industry um so I think what we've learned now is that you can put these on a MacArthur Boulevard and you know they're going to fit in there and you know that's that's where we're going with the Zone bylaws now the anti-pot people are again twisting the sort of the narrative and saying well if you put in zone and bylaws that means you you approve marijuana and nothing could be for her from the truth but you can't these these I was at a candidates for them the other night and these people are just shouting at me telling me making statements and and you try to explain to them what what we're really doing here and it falls on death is well it's also difficult because we're in a country that is completely divided already and people are very divisive and angry and very stuck on their ways and set in their their things and it's really difficult to sway anyone's opinion at this point in time it really is very difficult I want to say good morning to Sarah Pro cannabis cancer survivor we're all happy you're here I want to say we have so many people checking in with us this morning and most people are just so Pro my mom 60 uses it for arthritis it makes her life her life would be unlivable without it um Steve remind everyone to attend um on behalf of non-citizens even if he doesn't want to vote for himself their mind is already made up yeah it's really difficult to sway people but can you assuage people and their stresses yeah I mean the two concerns if you ask me that are very legitimate concerns are kids in addiction okay so to me we we need to engage these folks to me it's the people in the middle that are going to make the decision you have the hardcore people that are you know this could bring 100 million dollars into the town of one they still say no then you have the other people that say listen cannabis is such an important part of my life I would love to be able to just buy it and born because those people in Born are using it they just have to drive to Mashpee or wear him or kava or a sandwich or wherever to get them yeah they're gonna get it they're gonna get it so for me what the message that I think resonates uh the strongest for people who are in the middle here and willing to listen with an open mind is let's let's take a significant amount of the proceeds the tax revenue on this and put it towards mental health and Addiction Services because listen I I there's very very few families in in this Commonwealth that aren't touched in one way or another by mental health issues and addiction issues and to stick your head in the ground and just say no no no we want to keep it out of a one and this and that it's not the way to go folks it's not the way to go the other thing is with kids I've been told you know they think that this product is somehow going to get diverted to kids it's just the opposite if you can squash the black market and put the drug dealers out of business drug dealers can't survive on teenagers they don't it's just not gonna work it I I make the uh analogy that you know the reason we don't have Moonshiners and Bootleggers here is because you can go to a liquor store and and buy uh you know a liter of alcohol cheaper than you can make it so right once once this industry goes 100 mainstream it which it's going that direction whether you want it oh absolutely it's more like craft beer at this point it really that's what it's become that sort of industry and and you know I don't use the product my wife doesn't use the product my kids are college age kids they don't use them we need more people like you that are oh they understand the business the science that are educated that I don't partake in it but why am I taking that away from my town I think that that is really important that's the distinguishment there and I also believe in in you know I don't want to get too political or philosophical thank you I think of but I believe adults have a right to choose and just like you have a right to choose whether you drink a glass of wine or buy a lottery ticket or in use the Cannabis products in whatever form I mean there's there's smoke in it there's Edibles there's uh bombs and solves for um you know muscle aches and whatnot I mean the the that's another thing it's not everybody's going to be smoking joints on the side of the road this is not what's going to happen the the product array is is mind-boggling I've been in a number of these different dispensaries to sort of check out operations they're clean well-run places and the other thing I I mentioned I I'm the champ I wrote the local comprehensive plan as the chairman of the um local concept local comprehensive plan committee and one of the things we wanted to do in one as it relates to the economy is we want locally owned businesses we want good paying jobs with benefits and the this industry brings that to town we do have an individual who owns a store in Cava that wants to open up and born I mean the the other day at the candidates Forum I was attacked they said well there are special interests there are people who want open dispensaries and born and and you're here advocating for them and I'm like uh yeah yeah I am you know it's a good thing that if we open up this this you know cannabis in Born the that there are people who want to actually come into town spend millions of dollars getting these businesses up and running and you know what it's it's a for-profit business so these people are you know they intend to make a profit and the more money they make the more money comes into this to the town's coffers and I can tell you one of the big my biggest pet peeves in the town of Bourne is the roads the roads are atrocious we all agree yeah so there is we're trying to build a new fire station I mean there is a need for this money and again it's not all about the money I've never said that no but Mario make a great Point she said the drug problem on the cape started with opioids which were prescribed by doctors not marijuana it's so true though that's a great point I I might actually steal that for tonight's thank you Mari yeah I'm actually I'm going to be speaking tonight to introduce this um the and uh I'm gonna I'm gonna take that and work that into my speech absolutely these are the trusted professionals that were supposedly giving us the thing that we needed and definitely started quite an epidemic yes that's absolutely true so uh again uh we you guys are tailgating this vote by the way this is starting at like four people are gonna be arriving supporting holding signs waving I mean this is what we're drumming we need your support on this we need to get the people out if you've got a neighbor that wants to go vote but can't that has kids go babysit for them if you've got some way that you can throw your hat in to help so that people can get out and vote and support this I think it's important to step it up yeah and to that point you know I've reached out I have I've been in the community now for about 15 years and and I've been I've served um I I think it's important to serve on a local level so I've served on you know the planable and the school committee and these other various boards but um this is really important and I don't typically reach out and ask people for favors but I have texted a lot of people and I've said to them can you please consider coming out and supporting us because in my mind it is really that important um if it if it fails this time uh you know I I don't know where we go from here but again I think the only thing we have to guide against is complacency so if you don't think your vote matters I I honestly God I don't think you could be more wrong on that point because this is going to come down to the wire the the opposition to this is they're they're actually well organized and they will do or say whatever they need to do or say to dissuade you from repealing the band so go tonight uh if you if you haven't made up your mind just listen with an open mind listen to the facts and then make your decision that's a good point you should be going to your town meetings anyway and if you're questioning or on the fence or you're so I go and see and listen to the arguments and hear what people have to say at least be part of your town absolutely I mean in the town of Bourne we've had trouble getting a quorum so that we could even have a town meeting um I'm fairly certain we everybody likes to complain but nobody likes to show up for these things yeah so I'm telling you these are these are your choices well are there complainants sit there forever or go and do something about it yeah yeah and you know what the the anti-marijuana people will be there tonight I can guarantee you that um so the people who understand this you know I don't mean to say things like the people who understand this issue but in my mind if you look at all the relevant facts yeah whether you use it or you don't use it I don't see how you can be against this I really don't and and I've tried to engage the other side because I want to understand their perspective and their attitudes and and it it devolves into this you know I'm against pot and people who use it will go on to other drugs and people are going to die because that's not a Gateway truck but they'll and they even it's even worse than that they tell you people are going to die people are going to get high and drive and kill somebody I mean it's the the other side the things they're saying out there I I mean it's just it's it's impossible to engage on a meaningful level and and I like I said we've tried to be so open and transparent about this we filed papers back in March March 15th we've been in front of the select board the planner board finance committee twice bylaw committee we've we've we've wanted to engage these folks and they're not looking for engagement I know Joanna said if I was on the cape I would give them a history lesson and explain why the war on cannabis is wrong also cannabis saved her life natural medicine is a thing and it saved her life and and that is such a great point and that's the point that for whatever reason Mrs the mock it really does you know you have people you know my family has been riddled with cancer both my parents died of cancer I've had cancer in the past you know survivors here cannabis uh is for a lot of people with cancer a key component of regaining their health or even unfortunately some for some folks it's a way to deal with the disease so that it doesn't [ __ ] down them even more than than that terrible disease already does so you know when when I look at that and I step back and I just don't understand why people are against this um it's just I mean it's somebody said it on one of the comments it's 2023 folks we have enough we can look back over four years um and see that this isn't a terrible thing for the community if anything it's a net positive in in almost every respect yeah so if you've got somebody in the town of Bourne that has chronic pain or maybe they're elderly or maybe they're suffering and they're on the fence on this vote please find a way to get them to this town meeting today and see what is happening in your town uh closing thoughts well statements I you know what I have to tell you Stephanie I I I am so grateful to you for the opportunity to be here today because you know to get the message out nowadays with the internet believe it or not it's even harder to get the message out because nobody goes to Just One Source anymore it's not like if it's in the newspaper everybody reads it we took out an ad in the newspaper we know that you know the newspaper doesn't reach as many people as it used to in the past and people are getting their news from all uh different sources so I have to tell you the opportunity to be here and talk to you and get this feedback I mean it's tremendous for us and I think it's going to make a real difference this evening so I I am very grateful for this opportunity it's it's been wonderful you're you're great to do this and I hope the folks that are watching and listening um you know I I hope if they can get behind the cause and they feel strongly about that they come out for us tonight because truly truly I know every politician says every vote counts tonight I can assure you every vote yeah it's really important Joanna ban the bands ban the bands and born tonight please come out and support this uh vote is seven o'clock seven to eight thirty you think that's the time commitment the meeting starts at seven the special town meeting which starts at 7 30. so if you get there at 7 10 7 15 7 20 you're still good you're still good um and we don't expect it'll go much later than 8 30 and then afterwards we're going to gather at the Trading Post lounge and uh what a great place my favorite my favorite bar pizza in town listen if you can invite me back to do a special I lived in Gray Gables that was my first appointment that was my first place and that was our friend it was the old Trading Post Lounge it was like Gertz or whatever it was and boy have they done a great job at that little spot but I'm so down for that I I consider myself a pizza expert if you told me the best pizza in the world was in Milwaukee Wisconsin you'd go I'd be on a plane in Milwaukee Wisconsin so uh if you want to do a pizza show uh please consider well Steve you're coming back for that then absolutely absolutely pizza show it is Steve make sure you get out there and vote thank you so much for coming on the show and today everybody else have a fantastic day I know it's a May Day it's a little bit gray out there but if you can get out there and do something fun today and support your town then do so if you're not in the town of born or wherever you are still look at your town meetings see what needs to be done and be a part of your area and be present in your situation I'll talk to you guys later have a good one