Signing on to make April 20th the 420 holiday that many in America (already) celebrate

You don’t have to be a fan of Cheech and Chong or have an old movie where the clocks are set to 4:20 to know that April 20th and the 4/20 date have always been associated with a green plant with leaves. Grace Hyde of District Cannabis discusses a 420 petition to make April 20th a national holiday in America that’s no joke – but we all do find it humorous!

Nestor Aparicio discusses the 420 petition to make April 20th a national holiday in America with Grace Hyde from District Cannabis. Grace highlights the lack of national recognition for cannabis despite its significant economic impact, including job creation and tax revenue. She emphasizes the need to destigmatize cannabis use and treat the industry as a normal business. District Cannabis, with nearly 300 employees, supports the local economy and advocates for safer banking and advertising regulations. The petition aims to formalize 420 as a national celebration, reflecting the industry’s progress and potential.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Sign the District Cannabis 4/20 national holiday petition on districtcannabis.us and encourage all personal contacts to sign as well.

Maryland Crab Cake Tour and Community Engagement

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the Maryland crab cake tour, mentioning upcoming events at Koco’s and the NFL Draft.
• He highlights various community initiatives, including the GBMC walk to support victims of sexual abuse and the importance of AC maintenance by Farnham and Durham.
• Nestor shares his personal connection to the Bronfine family and reflects on the loss of Michael Bronfine.
• He emphasizes the importance of educating the public about the cannabis industry and its benefits.

Introduction of Grace Hyde and District Cannabis

• Nestor welcomes Grace Hyde from District Cannabis, based in Hagerstown and the district.
• Grace shares her background in education and her involvement in the cannabis industry, including her work with edible kitchens.
• Nestor recalls a conversation with Michael Bronfine, emphasizing the desire for cannabis businesses to be treated as normal, legitimate operations.
• Grace discusses the petition to make 420 a national holiday and the need for recognition and legitimacy for the cannabis industry.

The Movement to Make 420 a National Holiday

• Grace explains the rationale behind the petition to make 420 a national holiday, comparing it to other national days for various products and causes.
• She highlights the economic benefits of the cannabis industry, including job creation and tax revenue.
• Grace emphasizes the need for destigmatizing cannabis use and treating it like any other legitimate business.
• Nestor shares his personal journey with cannabis, from cultural references to his own experiences with the plant.

Challenges and Opportunities in the Cannabis Industry

• Grace discusses the challenges faced by the cannabis industry, including stricter advertising regulations in Maryland.
• She mentions the difficulties faced by social equity operators in securing capital and opening new dispensaries.
• Nestor reflects on the evolution of the cannabis industry and the various regulatory hurdles faced by businesses.
• Grace highlights the importance of safe banking and the potential benefits of descheduling or rescheduling cannabis.

The Role of District Cannabis and Personal Reflections

• Grace provides an overview of District Cannabis’ operations, including their presence in both medical and adult-use markets.
• She discusses the company’s efforts to bring legitimacy to the cannabis industry and the importance of celebrating the plant.
• Nestor shares his personal experiences with cannabis and the cultural significance of the number 420.
• Grace emphasizes the need for continued efforts to destigmatize cannabis use and promote its medicinal benefits.

Final Thoughts and Call to Action

• Nestor encourages listeners to sign the petition to make 420 a national holiday and support the cannabis industry.
• Grace highlights the importance of humor and fun in the cannabis industry, despite the serious regulatory challenges.
• Nestor reflects on the broader implications of the petition, including the potential for national recognition and legitimacy for the cannabis industry.
• Grace provides information on where to sign the petition and invites listeners to visit District Cannabis’ store in Hagerstown.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

420 petition, national holiday, District Cannabis, Grace Hyde, medicinal cannabis, destigmatization, Maryland cannabis industry, adult use, medical cannabis, social equity operators, advertising regulations, safe banking, cannabis jobs, CBD, THC.

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SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Grace Hyde

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W N, S T AM, 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive taking the show out on the road. The Maryland crab cake tour continues at Koco’s Next week. We’ll be there on the 23rd before the NFL Draft, if you want sports breaking news. And Luke will be getting all that out, as we’ve done for like 19 years now, get on the wnst tech service, all brought to you by coal roofing and Gordian energy. I will have the Maryland treasures. For some reason, the boardwalk one’s been like the most popular one. I’ve been trying to give the crab one out a little bit, and the ponies and, of course, the Bay Bridge, not Key Bridge, but also our friends at GBMC, I’m doing walk a mile in their shoes to benefit all the victims of sexual abuse. They have an incredible clinic here at GBMC, but they always need help, and oh, and it’s completely free for anyone who is a victim. So we’re doing a walk on a 74 degree day. You can’t do any better than that. And our friends at Farnham and Durham are making sure when it gets to be 92 you have AC so don’t let it break. Call them Farnan and Dermer. I’m wearing my Costas in shirt. We had a long day on Thursday on the Maryland crab cake tour. You’ll hear all of that up and as many of you know, when your clock hits 420 or it just happens to be 420 or the date happens to be 420 and we celebrated. So last week I did 410 day, which is Maryland Day, 412 day. I didn’t do that because I’m ain’t for Pittsburgh, but some of my Pittsburgh friends did that. I don’t know if there’s a 415 416 seven. I’m trying to think of what all that is, but everybody sort of knows what 420 is. If you’ve listened to me at any point in time, you know, I’ve long been an advocate of medicinal and of information, the freedom and the American stuff and all of that, there’s a movement afoot. And, you know, if we could turn like the, you know, cinco the mayo into a Mexico day, Lord knows, I love Jamaica. So anything allows me to drink a red stripe, I’m down with that. 420 is kind of already like a holiday, but we’re trying to make it like a real holiday. So Grace Hyde is here. She is with district cannabis. They are based in Hagerstown, and also in the district itself. Everybody knows my relationship with the Bron fine family. Wendy, thank you for the tickets. Think I’ve got a farmer’s tan from sitting in those seats the other day. And we lost Michael Bron find my dear friend, and I’ve talked about that a few times. I don’t want to cry in this I already cried once this week on the air, so I’m not going to do it again. But grace. How are you? I know you guys are sort of all in this together, in the industry, in a general sense, and I haven’t talked much about the industry lately, but when 420 comes and I get the opportunity to educate folks, I’m always here to educate them. So it is a pleasure to have you on and your maiden voyage here. How are you

Grace Hyde  02:41

good morning, Nestor, I’m good. Thank you.

Nestor Aparicio  02:43

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Well, this is the year for us. You are you? Yeah, you go honest at this. I mean, I’ve done the research on you Vermont and education and more education and edible kitchens and married into the industry and all of that. And you run a very big operation in the state of Maryland. And one of the last things Michael Bron find ever said to me before we lost him. I had this long conversation with him at the golf course at the BMW. I was a guest there, and I said, What’s your message that you want me to carry out to people? He’s like, we just want to be treated like a normal business. We just want to be treated like we’re normal, like we’re legitimate, because we are we’re helping people. And I see it every day. The last thing Michael ever said to me. So there’s part of this where the taboo part of this, and the old world, pre Nixon part of this, and wherever Trump is on a daily basis. But we’re open for business here in most places in the in United States. And there is a point where 420 is a day where your whole industry stops everything, and anybody that does shop is looking for, I don’t know, the Black Friday deal, the holiday deal, whatever it is, but I think you guys are trying to go a little further than that. What you’re

Grace Hyde  03:54

trying to do online, yes, so we started a petition this year to make 420 a national holiday. You know, there’s there’s national hemp day, there’s national CBD day. There’s national any day that you can think of, you know, national sprinkle Day, National Ice Cream day. There’s every day, but there’s not a national, I know there’s a donut

Nestor Aparicio  04:09

day because I have one every year.

Grace Hyde  04:11

There’s a national day for everything except for for 20 and for cannabis. I mean, there’s hemp and their CBD, and those things are both great, but cannabis is what we grow, and it provides hundreds of 1000s of jobs across the country, provides millions of dollars of tax revenue, both to Maryland and to the federal government, with 280 taxes, they tax us at incredibly high rates, but we don’t get the recognition that we deserved. And like Michael said, we just want to be treated like regular businesses. So we started a petition this year. We hope to get a good number of signatures. And, you know, would love to get this moved forward in a real way. But, you know, mostly we just want to drive some attention to our businesses and celebrate the plant. And you know, to have a real formalized day to really celebrate 420 and bring some recognition and legitimacy

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Nestor Aparicio  04:58

to the plant. So. We say celebrate the plant. You don’t know me from boo, but I grew up in Dundalk and, you know, Sweet Leaf and Ozzy Osbourne, and then the Fast Times at Ridgemont High and I was a big Cheech and Chong up in smoke fan. Even though I was not partaking at all, I just thought it was funny. And I thought it was funny for 20 years before I ever partook. So for me, with thinking this through as to where it used to be and where it is and where it could be in the scheduling and the advertising, and, you know, all of that goes into it, where did you come into this journey? Because I’ve done a little bit of research on you, but you really do come from the science side of this. And you say, celebrate the plant. I want to give you some oxygen for that, because I think everybody comes into it differently, even if it was like, I’m a little older than you, but like MTV would show Reefer Madness at midnight on a Friday night, and everybody would get together and giggle and laugh. But obviously this has been a part of my life since 12 years old, and seeing up in smoke, smelling it for the first time in 1976 Memorial Stadium at a Houston Oiler a Baltimore Colts game, many, many, you know, 50 years ago, so, but how far it’s gone, and what I can talk about on the air. And I remember having some football players maybe 10 or 15 years ago, talking about medicine, and then obviously, Colorado, Washington, California, everything that happened, the exploration of this and how it got to Maryland. But 420 has been a part of this. I don’t wanna say that people wouldn’t be shocked that it’s not already a holiday or whatever. But what are you really trying to accomplish, other than awareness in regard to how far this thing has come since the day you discovered it?

Grace Hyde  06:34

Right? Yeah, so I definitely came in from more of the science angle, fresh out of college, and then I’ve worked in retail, I’ve worked in wholesale, a little bit of both. And I, you know, we now operate in one medical state and one adult use and medical state. And we, you know, we want to bring legitimacy to the day and also to start to destigmatize. THC, I feel like a lot of people lead with CBD as a way to make cannabis more palatable to a broad appeal of people. You know, you always hear like the classic talking points of it’s the soccer mom who wants a high CBD vape and things like that. CBD is incredible. Has amazing medicinal benefits. It’s an amazing tool. But there are also many, many people out there that use THC products all day long, and they go to work. They’re productive members of society. It’s part of their, you know, holistic wellness regime, and it supports, you know, a happy, productive lifestyle for them. So some of this for us also is just destigmatizing cannabis use in general. No one judges you for going to pick up a six pack of beer the same way they shouldn’t judge you for going to pick up a six pack of pre rolls. And we just, you know, we want to destigmatize the use of the plant. It’s amazingly medicinal, and those benefits are vast. And also you should be able to just enjoy it, just because you want to well.

Nestor Aparicio  07:51

And I think of the first time I ever walked into a shop and felt like, who’s looking Am I doing something bad? You know, like to move from that place to this comfort level of different things, including bombs, including edibles, including, you know, anything that, to your point, I never asked what the purpose of drinking vodka was. Or when I put beer on a bus and took people to Pittsburgh or New England for a football game, to think, why are Why are you drinking alcohol? Well, you know, lessen the load, lighten my mood, release inhibitions, whatever, get a hangover, which is where I am at this point in my life, which is why, like, I can’t have the second or third Orange Crush. It just doesn’t. It doesn’t work for me. But I’m now 57 and so this is all like old fart guy stuff for me to be like when I was 37 I own this radio station. I’ve had an FCC license for 28 years. There were just certain things that I never thought. Mean, I didn’t see gambling coming on phones, and I’m a spokesperson for the Maryland lottery and sports wagering. I don’t even know if John Martin saw that 15 years ago, and I’ve been talking about horse racing and slot machines here, and syntax and alcohol tax and paper bag tax and straw tax and plastic like all of these things that go into this. What have you seen in an improvement level for the state of Maryland in regard to adult use and medical and even before that, when it was sort of just coming into itself, and I’ve talked to you’re not the only person in the space that I’ve talked to, but there’s been attrition. You know, there have been people that have, haven’t been funded, didn’t have the right idea, don’t know how to grow the plant the right way. I have walked through in the Willy Wonka outfit and the beekeepers to see how sophisticated This is, above and beyond, whether you were growing roses or petunias or this particular plant that has incredible medicinal benefits that have not been explored by because of our government and stigmatized over most of my lifetime. You’re a little younger than me. Do you feel like it’s changing, especially amongst people my age, in regard to it helping seniors, and there’s no person in your space that does. Now a spot in their soul to say, Yeah, we like to make money. We like to pay less taxes. We’d like to be but at the end of the day, everybody that comes in here, not everybody, but anybody that’s using it the right way is finding a benefit to it that they didn’t find in a

Grace Hyde  10:14

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liquor store. Absolutely, yeah, we there’s obviously having an adult use market. We’ve it’s opened up the accessibility of the product to so many people who, regardless of purchasing adult use, you know, there are so many medical benefits, and you find a benefit that you weren’t even expecting. You were just, you know, going to enjoy the product, and now it’s fixed x, y and z for you. So that is huge. We actually have had a few setbacks this year that we were not, are not super thrilled about the advertising regulations in Maryland, excuse me, are actually getting a bit stricter. Our regulator is restricting even further what we can say. We can no longer use the word relaxing or chill. It’s a, you know, we actually can’t even really describe the product to our consumers. So, you know, that’s a fight that we’re going to continue fighting and look to get loosened up. And you are right that, you know, operators, some operators do try and come into the market. There are a lot of social equity operators that are trying to come online. This year, a number of new dispensaries have opened up and are opening up. Even just this week, we had, you know, one in Kensington, and a few more. So they’re, you know, getting opened up just

Nestor Aparicio  11:25

in time. You’re, you’re a producer who sells to them, just to be clear, right, at district, correct? And you have storefronts, same as other producers do, not many, but it, the whole idea is to to, to be able to distribute it throughout the state, right, not just in

Grace Hyde  11:38

one place, right? Correct? Yeah, we do have a retail but we sell to almost every retailer. I’ve seen

Nestor Aparicio  11:42

your products, yeah, of course, this, of course, yep.

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Grace Hyde  11:45

So yeah, it’s hard for the social equity retailers to get open. There’s not capital available like it was in the late teens. So they are having, some of them are having a hard time, you know, finding the capital that they need and getting open so well,

Nestor Aparicio  11:58

normal banking was a real issue just from the beginning, right?

Grace Hyde  12:02

We still don’t have correct banking, and we’re our hope is that if either descheduling or rescheduling happens, then safe, the safer Banking Act can follow that, and we can do things like,

Nestor Aparicio  12:13

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well, things like credit cards instead of cash or debit Right? Like, or, I’m trying to think of the name of the company that provides that online. But either way, like

Grace Hyde  12:27

Apple Pay. I would love to take Apple Pay.

Nestor Aparicio  12:29

I go back to what Michael said to me, the last thing he’ll ever say to me, which breaks my heart, but we just want to be like a normal business. We just like we’re good people, we’re doing good work. We just want this to be normal. So on behalf of him, I hear him, and I’ll probably hear him on my shoulder forever. Tell everybody about the 420 in the holiday and like, like, you’re trying to get people to sign up to more legitimize this and more destigmatize this, and say, This is how many people are involved in this. This is we voted for this in this state and in lots of states, and they’re not voting for Utah and other places, but we voted for this year, the people want this, and clearly the people want this. It’s clear, yes.

Grace Hyde  13:07

So yeah. So on one hand, some of this campaign is just for humor. I mean, we deserve to have fun. There’s a lot of seriousness embedded in the cannabis industry because we have so many regulations. You know, it’s it can feel oppressive at times. So some of this is just like, let’s have fun, you know, let’s enjoy the plan. Let’s have some humor around the plan.

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Nestor Aparicio  13:24

I don’t do stick here

Grace Hyde  13:25

serious all the time. And some of it is, yeah, just to, you know, really celebrate the plan and how much it does for people. And, you know, we have almost 300 employees like this plan is providing for 300 families, you know, in in the DMV, just from our company alone. And we’re, you know, one of just many operators in Hagerstown. There’s so many jobs that this plant supports in the state of Maryland. So, you know, it’s just a day of recognition and celebration and, you know, just trying to move the needle forward with making some of that recognition and celebration formal and nationwide. All right, so where

Nestor Aparicio  13:58

can people go and sign up? I’ve been up online. It’s got a very we the people feel about it. So I do, I sort of dig that in the 250th anniversary, when we have a complete Antichrist running the country, that we would at least celebrate something that’s We the People, right?

Grace Hyde  14:15

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And we can’t lose sight, right? Regardless of what’s going on in the executive office right now it, oh, I still have

Nestor Aparicio  14:21

that hold, that hope. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have gone to South America last month and come back and try to make it alive. Make 420 a national holiday district cannabis.us. Please be of age when you do that. Nobody young listens to me because

Grace Hyde  14:35

we have an age gate on the website.

Nestor Aparicio  14:36

This country was built on pipe dreams, and that pipe was chock full of Mary Jane, think about it, a small group of settlers taking on the entire British Empire to start a nation of our Yeah, this is, this is fun stuff here. So great moments in our history that we totally maybe owed a cannabis peanut butter, electricity and obviously some levity here going on as well at district cannabis. Oh, Grace, yes. We’re not all serious. Guess. Well, thank God for that. Did I leave anything out? Because I just, you know, I wanted to get, make sure we get this on before 420 but even on 421 this is, like, totally fine to sign this, right? You’re not shutting this down at midnight on Monday. No working.

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Grace Hyde  15:12

We’re keeping it going. I think it’ll take more than just this year. You know, this will be a sustained effort, probably for a few years, to get bring this to reality. But yep, you can keep logging on, keep signing visit our website. See what we’re all about. Maybe come visit our store in Hagerstown.

Nestor Aparicio  15:27

You know, Hagerstown is underrated. Can I say that

Grace Hyde  15:31

it is blossoming?

Nestor Aparicio  15:33

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Are you in Hagerstown? My friend Emily Keller, former mayor of Hagerstown, lives in Hagerstown, and she’s now working for Wes, and like when I was at literally, I was out there with my boy, Johnny Allen, because his band was playing the new cool gig out there the place. And we rolled into Rick’s and got proper in the plaza there, and then we went over to krumpys. And krumpies, for people that don’t know about Hagerstown, crumpies is in an alley with donuts. And the first time I went to krumpus was on the first crab cake tour, and I was in the mood for friggin donut because I had a cup of coffee at seven in the morning, and I looked up donuts, and it said, this joint opens at 7pm and I’m like, what donut joint opens at 7pm I’m like, that’s got to be a typo. And then I did, like, research, like people should be doing on 420 and I found out that, like, it’s like a thing, it’s like a night. It’s like a drive in donut nighttime joint in an alley. Yep, man, so lucky to live in Hagerstown. Some of you, you know that Washington County love you guys have out there. So thank you for your time. Thank you for your efforts. I stand in support with you for the weed of people, so you’ll get my signature. And I do like how you’re going to roll up this petition. I think it’s you’re rolling it out to roll it up. Is that correct? That’s correct. All right, I’m trying to be funny here. It’s the end of the week. Grace. I need more 420 in my life. She is Grace high

Grace Hyde  17:03

and get a free pre roll. Well, there you go.

Nestor Aparicio  17:05

There you go. She, you know, offers always open. Hey, I appreciate you, not just on the 20th of April, but the other 364, or five, depending on the leap year, where you guys fight the good fight for something that probably should have been available here a billion years ago, in a lot of ways. And so I will be signing, and I will be encouraging everyone I know to sign. So there you go. How about that grace? Thanks for coming on, happy 420 to you. Am I allowed to say that? You’re allowed to say that? Happy 420 weekend, I’ll think of you twice a day, and you would be shocked at how often I’m actually awake at 420 in the morning, which is a freak out.

Grace Hyde  17:45

I have the products that can help you with that.

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Nestor Aparicio  17:47

I don’t need any. You know what? I’m good. You know I’m people keep saying, like, you must not slay I just I do a lot of hot yoga. I’m sponsored by making my plan of fitness gear so like, I’m in the best shape of my life. In some ways, because it’s legal and but I would say this, I’m just a four or five hour night sleeper. That’s just where I am in my life, and I’m okay with that. So more on the indica side, not I don’t I don’t need to be down here. I need to be right here is where I need to be. Your way to enjoy life. I would lean far more sativa than hybrid or indica if you knew me better. Okay, Grace Hyde is here. She’s with district cannabis. They’re celebrating 420 we hope for all of you who do celebrate, celebrate responsibly. Certainly don’t be celebrating and doing what I see too much of is which I’m on the freeway and smelling it coming out of people’s cars. Be responsible with this stuff, people, it’s come a long way, and I’m always giving the heads up that don’t be foolish with this. All right, that’s my public service announcement, but celebrate 420 get it up, but keep it down. That’s all good. I’m Nestor. We’re Baltimore positive. Stay with us. You.