As we Move into March and the madness of Orioles baseball returns, Wendy Bronfein of Curio Wellness joins Nestor to discuss the education of adult use products in Maryland and better ways to medicate safely and effectively.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
people, dispensary, drank, years, orioles, budweiser, product, medical, wine, adult, cannabis, timonium, baseball, learn, feel, marylanders, talk, wn, liquor store, curio
SPEAKERS
Nestor J. Aparicio, Wendy Bronfein
Nestor J. Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home we are wn St. am 1570, Towson, Baltimore Baltimore positive we’re we’re getting through that weird period where it’s like spring training but it’s like the football thing in the in the free agency and Luke is going to be doing all that all the text didn’t come in this week even when we got Derrick Henry it happened but it’s been a lot of former Raven going elsewhere. Luke’s got that handled wn St. tech service our friends at the Maryland lottery are throwing us back out on the Maryland crabcake tour. I’ll be telling you more about that into April. We’re gonna be live at fade Lee’s on Fridays when the Orioles are home and if you’re watching out on the webcast, I am wearing little orange and black here with our curio friends and foreign data as well. I’ll be giving away 10 times the cash beginning the first week of April not opening day we’re not just going and drinking beer and eating hotdogs everybody else on opening day. But the week after that we’ll be getting that go and of course Luke and I will be sunning ourselves in Sarasota all next week and big appreciation or friends winter nation 866 90 nation where they also do doors and I’m doing tours this year, as well as Jiffy Lube, multi care and our newest sponsor getting me a clean fresh water out of a well and I’m very appreciative. I love Doug and the folks at Liberty pure solutions back on with us for the baseball season. She is back on the program. We took a hiatus after I almost got thrown out of the TODO journey concert a couple of weeks ago. She is the chief cannabis officer for all things we do here at Baltimore positive trying to educate us she in the real world serves as the Chief Brand Officer at curio wellness that’s the side oh the Oh, and the Curie Oh, you know I didn’t think about that Curie Oh Orioles you and your dad’s sister you will figure out the Orioles we’re gonna come back into st ownership. We were all gonna go you and I probably gonna go to a baseball game this year. Because because not because we love baseball because we like each other because that’s what everybody used to do around here when they felt good about it. Right was like, Hey, I like somebody, let’s go to the game and hang out watch the game.
Wendy Bronfein 01:55
Oh, absolutely. I just identified like a handful of games for the season, including that 70th anniversary game.
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:03
Let’s see you’re already got your little pocket calendar out your like when we go into the game and all of that. I wanted to talk to you this week about something very interesting to me that I hadn’t thought about on the on the medical side. And on the adult use side the last, I think it’s like months, like six months, seven months, whatever it’s been since adult use came on. And I want to do the old Mork and Mindy episode here with you this week, Wendy? What have we learned? I mean, I guess we’re six months into this thing. And I come into the store, I’ve been coming to the store for years, I’ve come to the store on the massage side and on the holistic wellness side. And when you had a classroom setting to learn about these things, after my wife had cancer, and I saw Sanjay Gupta, I always go back to that for you to make you smile. Because I think that’s when it kind of came in everybody’s living room like really, really? And here we are, what have you learned six months into adult use? And I think we got to know each other last couple years. This was a real serious ramp up for psychologically for the public, for legal side, but more for the industry side, the people that were first, to get into this to say what is this going to look like from a business standpoint?
Wendy Bronfein 03:16
Lots of learnings. I think that when we talk about who’s shopping, I it hasn’t really shifted in terms of like the archetype of, of who’s there for medical in the sense that you’ve got people of all ages, races, genders, socio economic levels coming through that store, right, everyone has a need and and they’re interested in a cannabis solution. I think it’s pretty consistent in the sense that we’re still seeing people who are looking for what we would refer to as like, quality of life improvement, right? And so with, with there being adult, you just, there’s probably more pervasive conversation in the dispensary that has to do with, you know, feeling good. And maybe it’s like, instead of having that glass of wine or drinking on a weekend or an event, like you’re choosing cannabis for social use, but I mean, overwhelmingly, it’s about, you know, somebody is expressing how they want to feel what they want to fix what they’re trying to achieve. And then we’re there to sort of align what we can offer with those needs, right? And so it kind of goes back to those basic things we’re always talking about, is it like, you know, do you want to relax your mind your body? Do you want to feel happy? Do you want to sleep is something hurting? You know, do you have gi gut issues going on? You know, so there’s a myriad of products for that and and it’s really kind of the same conversations we were having before. I think the biggest thing is that the topic is sexy, right? Like cannabis. I guess it’s kind of funny. We’re
Nestor J. Aparicio 04:55
talking about it on the air and we’re holding people’s attention for the people we hold their attention either in The radio or they click or they come to laugh, smile, learn, learn about a product. Try to talk about it sensibly. I would just say this to you because I was chuckling at you people couldn’t see me. And you’re probably wondering, why is he smiling at me? I’m doing this documentary, Greg from Blue Rock here ago approached me about something and I said, No. And then I said, Yes. And I said, I and then your clients and I want to tell people like you my story and your dad and peep your sister don’t know who I am. She’s not a sports fan, would know about me or whatever. So I’m putting this thing together in every picture, Wendy, beginning in the air, and God bless him He’s alive. He’s well, both of them. George Akon and John Dow, at the winner distributor company at Budweiser. So my first sponsor was Budweiser, and they kept me on the air during literally, the first plague, which was the baseball strike. We didn’t have a football team here. You’re a little younger than me. But like, there was a baseball strike, there was no World Series, it was shut down. I’m trying to start a sports radio career, there’s no baseball to talk about. Budweiser kept me on here. Nobody ever came to me and said, If I drink beer, what will happen, you’ll get drunk. And like, like, literally, and in every picture, there’s a bug. And then it gave way to Coors and Miller, and, and, you know, my thanks to Mike March and to the Footlight family and the Pinkner family, over bond distributing and people like, you know, macro that stepped up for me and helped me keep a career and keep a radio station that I can celebrate 25 years of having and brag about it. But when people asked me like, I lose a move product after busting my ass on a yoga mat, and put this on my back and my spine and makes me sleep better, feel better. I couldn’t get this at the liquor stores that I was promoting, which I still promote, go to drug city, get some tequila, it’s delicious. use it responsibly gamble responsibly. It’s everybody do all these things responsibly. But it is this taboo, between you and me and your industry. And where we are to say, why would we be talking about this, my God, every picture I’ve ever had had a beer sign in front of it. And we all know what, why we went and drank sort of and hopefully didn’t drive or do anything, you’re responsible using power equipment. But I think there’s something so targeted about what you do. And the taboo of it like societally. After 30 years of doing this, I’m proud to be like talking about things that actually help and actually help people sleep better. And yeah, they can make you a little, maybe spacey, if you allow and go to bed, they can lighten your load, you know, loosen your afternoon, whatever. But to your point glass of wine, beer, tequila, I’ve been talking about that my whole life. So it’s not, we don’t Twitter about it anymore. And certainly it’s available. And I think as people like you come with things that really help other things. Beyond Yeah, it gets me high makes me giggle a little bit. I think we’ve moved past that. And when people come in, they really are at a price point searching for a real effect beyond. It gets me high.
Wendy Bronfein 08:02
Yeah, I mean, well, so I mean, that’s kind of a perfect lead in to this, this sort of other piece of the six month puzzle, which is, you know, in the sexy topic, I think that there’s a lot of people who thought, Oh, my God, well, we’re gonna go at all use, and the floodgates are open, and everyone wants it, and everyone’s gonna have it and all this stuff. Well, the truth is, that’s not really what it looks like. There’s plenty of people who are shopping and who want it and who are taking advantage of it. But we are still keenly aware that there is also a lack of awareness by most Marylanders that the option is there. You know, in industry, like when industry people will talk to each other, we compare notes, we still find ourselves in conversations where people don’t know, sometimes they still don’t know there’s a medical program, they a lot of times you learn, they don’t know that there’s an adult use, or they don’t understand that they can use a dispensary that they could go there and shop. And I think part of that is because when we were medical, we had greater ability to talk about ourselves and educate through advertising means and when we change to adult use, the law that was written took away some of those opportunities that we used to have. And so I think part of the reason that the citizenry is less aware is because they’re we’re not allowed to talk about ourselves as much. So you definitely have this thing going on in the state where you know, the will of the people through the election was we are comfortable this we want this it past like well over 60% of Marylanders voted for it. But then you have kind of the legislature who has different kinds of conservative views that have taken us to the next level, but not I think taken us to the freedoms that you’re saying like you know, gambling.
Nestor J. Aparicio 09:52
John, this is Problem Gambling Awareness Month. It’s never a bad time to bring that up and running under gambler and all of that. And I talked to John about out this part of this, this was dice games in an alley with guns, right. And the drug trade. I don’t need to tell you we all grew up with Nancy Reagan, right? Like the fact that drug dealers on corners in places and fentanyl and all of the things we’ve talked about for societal ills. I would say that I when I come into your place, and I go to foreign daughter, and I buy products, and I’m a medical card holder, the whole deal, I would say that more than half of the stuff in your store probably doesn’t even get your high, right. Like it’s so targeted to specifics. And certainly for things like sleep and GI issues in the medical part of balms and creams for people that do hot yoga, when they’re 55 years old, wake up sores L the next day, that it’s it’s moved way past that. We’re educated people and for people that seek to understand it better. And to my point, I guess, on the old Budweiser sports for him and the roots. And you know, what got me here and keeps me on the air all these years later was there was never any like sort of thought that they were going to turn barley and hops into like a bomb or into anything that was medicinally. Helpful. It was what it was. And it’s fine. And it’s still there. And it’s readily available. But But from your perspective, the things you’re doing scientifically that I know about, you’re in Timonium, Maryland, to try to like really help people. I think that’s the thing that moves forward. Your cause that when I’m in there, and I get recognized by people in your store, people I’ve known my whole life, I don’t necessarily think they’re there for the same reason people were finding people in the corners and buying these products 20 years ago. Well,
Wendy Bronfein 11:38
I Yes. And no, because I think that sometimes the even people who like you know, most of it starts from flower, right? You’re spreading flower. So even when you’re doing that, I think some people don’t even realize that that piece is there, right? Because when you ask for that flower, what are you asking for? Right? Some people, some people like all types, some people lead more towards I want to, I want to be relaxed, I want to fall asleep, I want to sort of shut it all down and take the edge off. And like, you know, separate my my sort of get turned on workday, so to speak to like I’m home and I don’t have to do anything. Some people want the other some people want their mood uplifted, they want to feel happy and light and get an extra giggle in there. So it’s like, even if you think you just like quote, like to use a cliche, like getting high, you’re not there’s an element that that effect is giving you that that is improving a part of your life that you’re looking for. Even if you don’t think about it that way, even when it’s like look, I like to smoke and watch a movie. Like there’s something that happens that makes that experience more enjoyable that this adds to it. Like you don’t normally say like I want to get drunk and watch a movie, right. But
Nestor J. Aparicio 12:54
there’s a heightened sensibility is what I would write heightened awareness. Right? Not to go Timothy Leary on anybody here from, you know, from that place, but yes, I mean, but I would say for anyone out there, who’s looking to do that without smoking or inhaling. Now, there are all sorts of, you know, there’s a whole gummy community out there that we discussed that flavors that we discussed a couple of weeks ago. But I think the adult use part of this is the gateway of I only need to be old enough like I was at the liquor store to experiment with what this is going to do that benefits me that’s that’s something that is going to enhance my life, not racket.
Wendy Bronfein 13:39
Yeah, and I think for us, the you know, that’s where the mainstreaming and the normalization and like the shifting out of these stigmas come from right, because if if, like there’s ways to use the product that just you’re sleeping better your stomach feels better, sex is better, your mood is better your body aches are gone like that, that makes it much more acceptable at large. You know, and I think that’s how we feel like we can we can forge a path for this planet.
Nestor J. Aparicio 14:11
Wendy brown find us here she is the Chief Brand Officer a curio wellness and NAR friends of foreign daughter. You can find them over in Timonium stop by got a holistic wellness center in the front. They’ll be glad to educate you can always learn more curio wellness.com as well as a foreign daughter and you can look a little recreational or you click on the little medical and the 18th. And you got to put your birthday in and you could probably go learn about a whole bunch of any new products. Anything happening out there. I mean, I always go back to you. You just brought up the sex thing again, and the OH product and the oils and all that. It wasn’t just a Valentine’s Day thing, right? Like, I mean, there. You have this product that’s there because it felt like eggnog for a minute like you’re gonna take away you know what I mean?
Wendy Bronfein 14:54
No, no, we will you know, now we’ve talked about this a lot that we won’t take it away. You know it seems like the adult use market is much more receptive and less prude about it then I think we saw in medical but ya know I I highly recommend it anything in that line I think that man or woman you will find something useful in there but I do think on this topic of adult use we probably should give people a little bit more context on like what what do you do like you were just saying like okay you go on the you go on the website so you know the engagement in shopping is so there’s dispensaries all around the state you’re 21 and older you show up like a like a bar or liquor store you show your ID to validate you’re old enough then you’re entered into the queue you’re called back into the dispensary someone assist you in what you want to purchase. You can look at those menus before you go on the on the dispensaries website to see what they’re offering. You don’t
Nestor J. Aparicio 15:58
by the way, can I say this as a gateway to booze because I you know, I’m a kid from Dundalk. Like we drank Mad Dog and weed my mom drank milk and like we didn’t have any taste for wine, right? And as I’m 55 Now, I don’t think I like ever drank wine and enjoyed it until I was almost 40. Right? And then you’re like, I had really that red wine hit me the right way. And I drank it warm. Because yeah, we drank everything cold when I was kid, because we’re not European. And then you get to the point. And I remember the first time I met someone that knew something about wine, my my uncle Omar Aparicio, was the wine Sami lay at at the Chesapeake restaurants he and he died when I was a kid. So I didn’t ever had a conversation about it. But I I met a man at a at a liquor store that I used the former sponsor, no, they’re still there. But he’s a beautiful older fellow. And I was having Thanksgiving dinner. And I said, I want to wine to pair and it’s the first time I’d ever like asked such a Bougie question. You know, like, and, you know, I got a $10 bottle of Fetzer or something that, you know, that worked well with a turkey or whatever. And then I sort of, I may have been 3538, at the time, maybe 20 years ago. And I was overwhelmed. And I think being a wine, if you’re a wine person, and you’re a liquor store shopper, you can be really overwhelmed. And it’s only really about the flavor. It all has the same sort of effect one way or another maybe on a percentage point of how much how much alcohol is in it. I think there can be a real overwhelm when I come in your place. And there’s menus and things moving and sort of like, there’s just a lot going on. And it does remind me that you need to be educated, you know about all these things, but spend spend your money, but there are people there, your people are much like this fellow was at the liquor to say, where are you? What are you trying to do? And that’s the first question your people ask literally, right?
Wendy Bronfein 17:49
Yeah, I mean, I think most people who come in, there’s sort of, there’s sort of two main buckets, right? You’re going to identify what you’re what you’re trying to achieve, right? Are you trying to something hurt something wrong that you want to fix? Or is it more of a social use that you’re looking for? And what type of effects do you want? And then it’s like, what is your preferred way to consume it? Right? Do you want to smoke something? Do you want to rub it on your body? Do you want to eat a chew, you know, that you can, you can get it in many different types of forms. So between those two answers, you can really narrow the focus in on on what someone is looking for and try and identify the right product. So you know, there is the handholding is completely available to people because I agree with you. I mean, I often refer to it as like the Cheesecake Factory like the menu is so big, it’s a there’s so many choices. You need you need to go somewhere where people can kind of hold your hand if you don’t know a lot. But that’s really all there is to it. I mean, people should know that. You know, in a lot of cases you can use a debit card you can use cash. Credit cards are not commonplace because of our schedule one status. There’s usually an ATM and a dispensary if you don’t have cash on you. But other than that, it’s it’s fairly simple. And you really shouldn’t be nervous to take advantage of it. Try it. Understand that there are things that can have low very low amounts of THC and feature other cannabinoids that can be beneficial but not psychoactive so. There’s ways to find solutions and not be high. If you would like that.
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:27
I’ll tell you what, next week, we’re going to do showtunes. We’re gonna do Orioles baseball memories. And I don’t know we’ll we’ll find something for spring. We’re getting up on the 420 thing. So the 420 we have to do a whole like history of the 420 thing. We got to talk about that. Well, yeah, there’ll be a lot of they’ll be a lot of well, this will be it’s the first for 20 word don’t use right like so literally right? This is the first one so it’s going to be like St. Patrick’s Day is this weekend and an Irish bar would you say that?
Wendy Bronfein 20:00
yeah I mean for anyone who doesn’t know for 20 is a is a quote is the cannabis holiday and in the dispensary nobody
Nestor J. Aparicio 20:08
knows why like really right there’s a lot there’s That’s what I said there’s a lot of legend and lore as to why that is yeah
Wendy Bronfein 20:14
like what one of the legends is is it was a it was a police code for cannabis right yeah that topic that’s how that ever got us but anyway at the dispensaries it’s a time of year when there’s like crazy sales you could almost think of it as like the Black Friday in the cannabis industry so usually like a lot of vent tising and things going on that are extra special at the store plus all kinds of crazy deals on getting products so I would say if you’re looking for an experience and you haven’t gotten to a dispensary yet good time to go but also if you haven’t got gotten to a dispensary yet, it might be the craziest day to go so maybe that don’t go on for 20 If that’s too overwhelming for you.
Nestor J. Aparicio 20:54
It’s kind of like getting turkey or ham right before the holidays are like yeah, a little bit of a line going on. When they brought fun is the Chief Brand Officer for curio wellness and foreign daughter. You know and we like having these educational chats I’ve learned some things around here as well and showtunes baseball ahead. And by the way you stop I get the shirts if you see my other blunt person shirts, which I think were made specifically for me just perfect. And I’m gonna learn the happy Eddie story here a little bit this week so we’re gonna get try to get happy Eddie to come on here. We’ll get him happy about Orioles baseball and opening day season. So get on over to a foreign body find them over Timonium. Wendy, take care. I will see you next week. We’ll talk Book of Mormon. Okay. Sounds good. Man show tunes. I am Nestor. We are wn St. am 1570, Towson Baltimore. And we never stop talking Baltimore positive when we’re not talking about the Ravens with yours.
