Episode Transcript

Trevor: Kirk, we're back.

Kirk: Hey, Trevor, we're back. How are you?

Trevor: Good. So, as might have been alluded to in a previous episode. My Son is now out in the world and earning a living and being a.

Kirk: Are we getting an Eric update?

Trevor: We're getting an Eric update, so he.

Kirk: This can be a future podcast for us.

Trevor: It could. Where is Eric now? So, he got out of school late January, early February and now he's trying to get employed and he had a few interviews but didn't go so well. Then suddenly I got a phone call from my son on a Friday. I'm in Winnipegosis, this is another little satellite store. There's not much I can do from there. Hi, dad. I got a job. Great. Can I borrow some winter clothing? Sure. I'm flying to Saint Theresa Point and you're flying where? So, yeah. So he got a job on Monday, on Friday, and on Monday he flew out to Saint Theresa Point. So, Kirk, you happened to be some what familiar with Saint Theresa Point. What or where is Saint Theresa?

Kirk: I know Saint Theresa's Point very well. It is pretty much Central East part of Manitoba. It's a fly in.

Trevor: You can actually go south from Saint Theresa Point and hit Ontario. It's in that jut out on Manitoba.

Kirk: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's right. It's right parallel to that actually. It's almost right at the elbow of Manitoba. I spent two years there working at the Nursing Station, 2 in 2 out, 2 in 2 out, 2 in 2 out, for two years. I eventually went into the resource pool. Where I flew to 21 of the 22 fly-in nursing stations in Manitoba, but I have a special in my heart for Saint Theresa's Point. So yeah, when you told me that he was going there is to rebuild the bridge I understand, Not the bridge. The church. Is he working on the church?

Trevor: Yeah, he was. He was working on the church now. He was supposed to be up there for one or two weeks. But as we've mentioned a couple times, Manitoba has had a weird winter and the ice roads haven't gone in, so he's actually only there for a couple of days before they ran out of materials to work on and flew back. But in the meantime, he managed to pet every rez dog that was there, apparently.

Kirk: That's a lot of rez dogs.

Trevor: Well, yeah, I think he was in heaven. He freaked his mother out a little bit that. Must be all feral, Eric said. Well, they're really nice. They come up to me, I petted them. So yeah, he met a. bunch of rez dogs. And we mean literally. Literally dogs and worked on a church and flew back and because I'm a terrible parent, that's the first airplane ride Eric can remember. We flew out to the West Coast. My sister's wedding when he was like 1 but yeah, this little tiny little plane up to Saint Theresa Point is his first plane ride that he can remember.

Kirk: It kind of cool that he was in my old stomping grounds.

Trevor: For a couple of days anyway, but now that we've gone completely off the rails.

Kirk: We're going to save this for the Eric podcast.  So we have a story. We have a story to tell our our listeners about cannabis. Remember we're a cannabis podcast.

Trevor: We do.

Kirk: So you started the story and handed it to me. So you started, how did this story start?

Trevor: As usual, I run into people on the LinkedIn and ran into Ian Imrie and he's got a company Tantus Health and they are doing some interesting stuff. Some of the stuff that sort of immediately leaped out at me was things with Calgary Police and Vancouver Fire and but that's really not where the story starts Kirk. You're the one who did the actual interval. Where do you want to start with Ian?

Kirk: Well, let's just start by saying I think this is the first time in 119, 120 episodes that we've actually talked to a Medicinal cannabis dispensary. Right. Because we've talked to, this sort of a companion piece to Episode 96 where we talked to Justina Johnson, but she was a medical cannabis educator from a physician's clinic. This is a fellow that we're actually talking to a fellow that owns a dispensary and where does the story start? Well, I like to get the low down on our guests. Well, this gentleman, was a standup comedian for a while. And then I think he got into teaching, or maybe he was a teacher first. But either way, he's a stand up comedian that went into teaching that stumbled into the cannabis industry due to a relative using cannabis medicinally.  So he's relatively new to the industry, which is kind of cool because he's still got that enthusiasm and you can hear it in his voice. He's not, you know, he hasn't, he hasn't been burnt out too badly by the industry, the ebs and ups and downs, the ebs and flows of the industry. However, he does say that Health Canada gave him grey hair and being an employee of Health Canada for many years, that's probably where the white beer came from. So, I relate to that, but yeah, I think we can get into the story and listen to it as another my cannabis story of a guy that got into the industry and bought his own dispensary.

Trevor: I think that's a good place to start. Let's listen to Ian and Tantus Health.

Ian Imrie: My name is Ian Imrie. I am here in British Columbia, Canada

Kirk: What part of the British Columbia, are you?

Ian Imrie: From so, in the Fraser Valley, right there in Chilliwack, BC, that's, that's where I reside. That's where I do most of my Home Office work. But our office itself is in British Columbia. With Tantus Health is, that's where we're stationed as a company. We can reach Canada wide, so enjoy home being in the Fraser Valley and then move to wherever I need to go to get these meetings done.

Kirk: That's beautiful. That's beautiful. And you are a CEO of a medical cannabis dispensary, correct?

Ian Imrie: Actually, I'm one of the owners. The CEO is my partner, Travis Junk. I pretty much am his right hand, man. He's my right-hand man and we're going after this together. As co-owners of the company and making sure that everyone has an opportunity to work with some educated folks on what medical cannabis is, get the right practitioner in place and make sure that they have a solid road map to their health.

Kirk: OK, fantastic. Before we get into your business, I'd like to learn a little bit more about you. You're a father of two teenage children. How did you get into the legal cannabis industry? What was the path that got you there?

Ian Imrie: Awesome, awesome question. We had a family member that was going through cancer and at that stage of the cancer and their particular age, medical cannabis was the best solution for them at that time. It was turning into an end of life event. So as far as getting the education and support, a lot of the work that they had to do was on their own. And that was with my mother in law and her sister. And they were nomads getting out there, trying to find a place to work. And I found that that was just not good enough. There's more than one person that could utilize something like this. So that's where Travis and I, we went to friends and family and started this company.

Kirk: OK, so you were first introduced to cannabis as medicine I guess, I mean, did you ever grow up as cannabis as recreation?

Ian Imrie: No, never. It wasn't until I was in my late 20s that actually came across cannabis. It was more of a beer league for me. It was hockey, football, rugby, and so cannabis never really made it into those circles at that time. So, it wasn't till into university, outside of university that recreation started to come my way.

Kirk: Thank you for segueing into that. What is? You went to university, you're rugby player and no offense, you looked like a rugby player. Were you in the scrum or you on the wings?

Ian Imrie: I was the scrum. Yeah, no, I was the scrum.

Kirk: I was a hooker.

Ian Imrie: Yeah, yeah.

Kirk: I was a hooker

Ian Imrie: You're a hooker. Yeah, frontline.

Kirk: I was a hooker. Yeah, grade 8 to grade 12. But of course, that only means I was the smallest guy in the group, right? So what did you do? What did you do in university?

Ian Imrie: All my knucklehead buddies, we all wanted to be teachers. There was a good 20 or 30 of us and they're still doing it today. Some of them are football coaches, some of them are rugby coaches and that was our game plan. But once I was in it and I was working on it, I knew that this wasn't where I wanted to be. I was also at that point a standup comedian. I was touring with Yuk Yuks and doing some fun stuff across Canada with some standup comedy. But once, once the kids started rolling around, comedy does not pay for family diapers or meals. So, it was time for the world of entrepreneur for me. So that's how I kind of segued from being a teacher to an entrepreneur.

Kirk: Interesting. Interesting. But you actually had paying gigs as a comedian. Stand up. Tell them. Did you ever pass through Manitoba?

Ian Imrie: No, sorry. It was always Alberta, BC and in Ontario. Those were my three main Provinces that I worked out of.

Kirk: When did you, when we were on tour? What years? Maybe some of our audience remember you.

Ian Imrie: Yeah. So that would have been well right out of university. So 96 to 2006-7, I still do shows from time to time.  I just did one there before Christmas. This buddy of mine ran a show and asked if I wanted to come out and do the competition. They had a comedy competition so going up there's a great crowd. 250 folks showed up for a night of laughter and we had a great time. It was a good competition.

Kirk: Very cool. And did you make it up to northern Alberta, like north of Edmonton.

Ian Imrie: No, not north of Edmonton. I've done Edmonton, I've done Calgary and I've done all the municipalities in and around Calgary as well.

Kirk: OK, cool. No, I just, I used to live in Alberta. I just wondered if, you know, it's a small world. If I had ever run into you. Another place where our paths are crossing.  I just joined a comedy troupe myself. We call ourselves Lost in Translation. We are an improv group, a small group out of, we're starting to get paying gigs, so it's quite, it's quite fun. Yeah.

Ian Imrie: Nice. Good for you Yeah. No, that was one of the other things that I did in Toronto. I did Second City, I did, but three years with them just going through their course. And then there was a trip that we started up the Funny Guys and then we did a bunch of shows across Toronto and did some of that and that into acting. And that's where I made some of my key finance revenue stream. Doing commercials, doing stuff like that. It was a lot of fun. That's when I had no responsibilities and no one to answer to. Those were the good old days.

Kirk: Well, this obviously explains why you're the face of the company you're now managing. You've got experience, you've got experience standing up in front of people so that segue very nicely. Let's talk about Tantus and how long have you guys been in business.

Ian Imrie: We started this project during COVID, so we literally went through the licensing process. I had dark hair at that time. I'm now gray salt and pepper. Thank you, Health Canada, shout out to you. But we got our license and launched about 18 months ago. We've been in market coming into March. We'll be coming up to two years that we've been in market and like I said, off the top, we're just setting up ourselves as a beacon of light, of education and support and understanding a lot of people don't know what medical cannabis can and do for them, so. That's why we're getting out there and having these conversations to let people know that there are options. There are some great options and you can utilize some of your insurance benefits and health benefits to help with those options and that's some of the key information that people just don't know about. So that's why they got this started and This is why we we're rolling out here into year three.

Kirk: So to to sort of clarify it, you are exclusively a medical dispensary, so you don't have a storefront.

Ian Imrie: That's correct. Yeah. In Canada, you're only allowed to have your medical cannabis issued from either a government website or from the LP themselves or someone like me. So we partnered up with Heritage Cannabis. We are their medical site of choice. A lot of their products sit and reside in our marketplace and a lot of folks actually are searching out across Canada for Heritage Cannabis products and they end up on our website because of it. So it's a great opportunity to support someone in the market that's doing quality products and getting it to the right people across Canada.

Kirk: So, Heritage, they are the LP, they're the growers for you.

Ian Imrie: That's right. Yeah. Our manufacturing partner, they're located in Kelowna, BC. In the Okanogan.

Kirk: So, your business model, then you are a dispenser and outlet for one grower. Or do you? You do you manage other growers as well?

Ian Imrie: No, currently this is a great relationship. Everything that Heritage is doing for us and we're doing for them, it's a perfect relationship. They do a phenomenal job in the recreational space, and they've set up a medical division and I work with their director. In some marketing opportunities, some of the relationships that we're building in Market. And they do a great job in making sure that we can properly market the information and get the products in into little displays for some of the partners that we're doing. So that people exactly know exactly what we're working with and how we're working in the market with our partner.

Kirk: OK. So Heritage is a large LP; indoor outdoor greenhouse?

Ian Imrie: So, they do a lot of indoor, but I would recommend certainly checking them out to see exactly what they're doing in the market. They've got some great relationships that they're building into the US as well. There's been some public announcements on that regards and I and I think that's just a great opportunity to work with a company like that. That sees the bigger picture of reaching this on a North American level. Not just Canada but also North America. And that gives us an opportunity to support them where they need to go.

Kirk: Yeah, that's very cool. I'm gonna have to Google Heritage, but I just want to understand your relationship and your business. So, you are marketing their medical products. So, they're a company that does recreation. So, I can go buy their stuff at the rec store but if I wanted their medical stuff, I get it through you.

Ian Imrie: That's right, exactly. We do a lot of oils from their end. That was a surprise to us. One of the biggest things that we've seeing coming into this was a lot of people suffering from sleep deprivation, anxiety and stress. So, in some of the folks are a little bit older in age. They've never held a pre-roll before or inhaled anything. So, a lot of folks were looking for an oil therapy and so that's been a big one for us rolling this out.

Kirk: OK, one of the things that I always, people always seem to ask me or I get these statements. You know, and the question is, is recreational cannabis different than medical cannabis. Is it? Is the actual product, the difference or the concept. In your opinion, as a medical cannabis dispenser, how would you define medical cannabis compared to recreational cannabis?

Ian Imrie: So, this is a big one that comes up often. Of recreation, you're doing it alone. You are really relying on that bud tender who's coming in, who's not allowed to say this product will do this for you. They're allowed to say this brand is awesome. This brand is fantastic for this. For that. They're not allowed to take a deeper dive into what's your condition, you've experienced PTSD. They can't speak to any of that. Our doctors with our medical practitioners, we set up that review. So, you're now guided through a medical channel that gives you an idea of the product that's best for your condition. The dose that's going to make sense for your therapy. And then, of course, the checkpoints along the way. You have a client care team that supports everyone's questions. You might finish that one session of consultation like, oh, shoot I forget what I was supposed to do here. Well  Ian and his team can certainly review those questions and make sure that you are connected to the doctors for those, for those follow-ups. Going into a rec store, absolutely, go get something that's gonna be fun on the weekend. You're hanging out, camping with your friends, sitting around a bonfire. Recreational all day long. But if you're looking at seriously treating an ailment or condition. This is where our practitioners will certainly give you that guidance and support not only that you're able to have a larger purchasing power, you can actually get in that the doctor prescribes you at gram a day. That's 30 grams a month. You have that purchasing power on the website to buy that quantity. You can't do that in a rec store. The big one is though I work for a company and my medical coverage does cover medical cannabis. Then I'm not out of the pocket for these products. I can reimburse this to my insurance and we get them reimbursed for their products.

Kirk: OK, Heritage provides you your product. Are they consistent with it? Like if I if I am prescribed. A ratio of CBD versus THC am I guaranteed? I'm always going to have it available through your business.

Ian Imrie: That's the relationship we've set up. That's the expectation they want to service our patients as a priority, making sure that they do have that consistency that they do have, that availability. There's nothing worse than going on to a Website, Out of Stock that's a key frustration. We have been doing this for two years now. We have not run into that problem. In fact, we actually have people that have come to us from certain parts of the country because the product itself is no longer at that recreation store. So, they have come to us because of that consistency. They like how that product works for them. So, they're reaching out to us because of the reputation that Heritage has put out there.

Kirk: Cool. No, that's I think that's important. You're saying much of the same things past guests have said about the advantages of medical cannabis versus Rec. The difficulty though of course because is it so easy to walk down the street and get my cannabis from the rec store, right?

Ian Imrie: Then honestly, then you're not my customer. My customer is my patient, and they want that help, that support and understanding. So, if it's of the mindset that you can do it yourself, great. Absolutely go to the Rec Store pick up what you need, and that's going to be for you, but not. There's a group of people, there's a populist in Canada that it's a little nervous, nerve wracking, walking into that room. Opening up that door that may have never been there before, they're experience is completely low and that is the type of person I want to service and help and they're Cannabis journey. They need that support and in a lot of cases, it's not just that it's also helping them from a technical standpoint because logging in and ordering a product that's it's not necessarily that easy for a certain population. So, we've tried to emulate as much as possible of the Amazon model where it's you log in, you got your marketplace, put it into the shopping cart, check it out. Very similar to Amazon.

Kirk: OK, so let's talk about your services. You keep referring to your customers as patients and clients. What makes your medical cannabis dispensary unique. What services do you provide your customers, your patients?

Ian Imrie: The education, that's a big one. Why are you using this? Why is CBD even a thing? We do have a great spot on our website that we do ongoing articles and studies and reviews so that people can be connected. We're looking at that being a key priority because some folks, just, how many times you heard this? Oh I've tried is CBD, but it did not work for me. Well, every time I hear that it's well I don't think you're properly coached or supported and to understand why that didn't work for you. It might not have worked for you, but everybody's been a different bio-diversity. That's a real thing. But if you give me two weeks and we review what your practitioner said to you. I can certainly tell you that you're going to see some sort of educational uplift in your understanding of what's going on with your medical cannabis and that's a big one. We want to make sure that you are understanding why am I taking this amount versus that amount and when should I start seeing some help in my sleep? When should I start? And this is where we have those touch points and support along the way.

Kirk: OK. So that's interesting. So walk me through this. I become a medical cannabis user. I have a physician. The physician has referred me to your business, your dispensary. And do I call you? Is there a phone number or do we do this by live chat? How do I get help from you? And I guess. Who's giving the help?

Ian Imrie: So the help that you're going to be getting. Well, let me take you to how do you even get this started? One of the ways in which we do, we've come across you from just a conversation or group information sessions that we've set up for people. People can come in and join a Zoom review with us or we might even be we have certain partners in market. Health Wellness. Wellness clinics. We do sessions and review what medical cannabis is for you. We gather your information and introduce you to our practitioners where you can reach out to the practitioners on our website, set up an appointment, they'll set up that review, review that condition and they'll set up a medical document that's issued to us that has to go through a Health Canada Onboarding process. So that we are attracted who the practitioner is, what are they giving you for prescription and an allotted? Out and then we do a phone call to introduce that review, that medical document and get you set up on the website. So the first thing we do is continue that education that that consultant has given you. That practitioner has given you a roll out. We're making sure that you understand it and then we review some of the products that are there with that medical document and then it moves into a training session. On the website, where are these studies found? If you want to keep connected, here's our social media. If you want to continue education, there's this section available as well. So, we have completed our intro call, our first purchase call, our review of when to expect the product. When it arrives, then we have a dosing conversation, quick education on what that is to the medical document that was sent to you and then X amount in the morning X amount in the afternoon and we get that reviewed.  Once it's done, it's up to the patient to engage. But there's certain responsibility there. Once they've done the engagement, we check in. In two weeks and just see where everything is. From that two week period. So there's four touch points that see from that element and we want to make sure that we continue those touch points to review the questions that might pop up. I'm a little confused on those. I'm not really seeing anything. Should I increase the dosing? Yeah, great question. Let's talk to the practitioner to confirm that. That's OK. Yes, that's OK. Yes. Let's move forward with the higher dose and let's check in the next week or so. So those touch points are very very vital. To make sure that the patient feels supported and then that they've got a safe place to ask the questions that they want to ask.

Kirk: OK. And who's doing that for you, do you have employees that. are specially trained to provide these insights to cannabis.

Ian Imrie: So, I myself I'm not a medical doctor. Yes, I was a high school teacher, still certified. I can teach this, but I'm not a doctor. I can't prescribe. I don't do any of the conditional reviews and medical documentation.  That falls to our partner or medical partner at Hello MD. Hello, MD is covering all of our patients and clients across Canada, and they do a really good job and getting it set up, reviewing it and then issuing it to us digitally and then we're able to support the customer from there

Kirk: OK, so OK, so. The customer, the customer has a primary care provider, the physician who has prescribed it, they get the the product from you and you're there to educate them on the product and to guide them with using the products.

Ian Imrie: And they can also use their own Doctors, too, if they feel comfortable working with their own doctors, we have some documentation that they can present to their own doctors and say, hey, I'm thinking about trying out medical cannabis. What do you? Some feedback we've seen in market is some of the doctors in market aren't familiar with medical cannabis, they don't want to touch it because they're not properly educated so that's when the Hello MD team can step up. And help out.

Kirk: OK. You mentioned that you have touch points and I'm sort of visualizing. Do you set up a date and say you know, do you send out a blank e-mail to your customers and say on Thursday we're having a Seminar or a 50 minute seminar in cannabis. Choose to log in or not. So, you provide those kinds of services.

Ian Imrie: Yeah, those are information sessions that we do that we talk to a lot of people, a lot of people have questions. So we try to do at least a forum opportunity. If they want to learn a little bit more, it can be on a zoom call. It can also be done in person with some of these Wellness clinics that we're working with, we set that up so that we can at least give someone an opportunity if they're already doing it themselves. And they're already researching, as I mentioned earlier, someone wanted a product that they know from Heritage. they do the research on Google, we're set up so that they can set it up themselves as well. So there's that option.

Kirk: OK, now you were telling us earlier when we first met that you've got some interesting customers that you've been working on. Do you wanna, can you share some stories or are you able to do that. Some case studies, I guess, I guess the thing is, I guess what I'm asking you to do is can you share a case study?

Ian Imrie: Yeah, no, this is. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, my first. My favorite case study that we had was from one of the youngsters that was dealing with epilepsy, just couldn't get it under control medically speaking and they were in Victoria so they were flying in and out of Victoria to the BC Children's Hospital when they were experiencing those events and it got to the point where the doctors, they were just stretching their head at the BC Children's Hospital and said. I think it's time for medical cannabis. I'm starting to understand what's available in the market. Let's get you talking to someone in the market. They've come to us. We've been working with them for about a year and a little bit now. And this young fellow was not able to even go to school at that point in time because of his Epilepsy. It was just completely controlling his life. Working with the BC Children's Hospital with their medication and our medication, we were able to control the epilepsy and I was just talking to his mom and he was able to start school for the first time and get his education in place, get his social activity in place. And so she's extremely supportive and appreciative of all the work that both the BC Children's Hospital and in Tantus Health we're able to do together. And that's the stuff that really puts smiles on our faces. This gives, you know, like we're doing, we're doing some good stuff. We're helping some good people. And it's opened up even opportunities into the first responders. First responders are some of the toughest beaten up employees in Canada. Right now with anxiety and stress and PTSD. We're seeing a lot of folks looking into different options because some of the products that they're using aren’t working for them so we opened up an opportunity to work with the Calgary Police and their union has come to the table in supporting their members who are looking for an option for their sleep and PTSD treatment, and we're not doing that alone. We're working with a group out of Kingston Ontario called Frontline Workers. Ohh sorry, Frontline Forward, Frontline Forward is a group that's supporting all first responders dealing with PTSD. And so we have a great education system from them so that we can work across the country for anyone that wants to talk about the PTSD and coming at it from a medical Canada standpoint. So a lot of great things opened up in 2023. Looking forward to 2024, I think this is gonna be a good year for us to tackle that mental health issue and it's just going to give us an opportunity to continue that education for these folks.

Kirk: A really cool contract to have because I think that's an under diagnosed. But mind you it's interesting because people are starting to hear about it more and it's interesting they can say first responders and our police forces. The RCMP just recently lifted the band so RCMP officers can now use cannabis. I think 48 hours or whatever it is before they start, whereas before it was 4 weeks, I can't help but wonder if maybe some of this has to do with the medical side as well.

Ian Imrie: Well, I think people are complaining enough that they don't feel that they're being supported enough. And the Frontline Forward is a brilliant organization for that very support system and that's what needs to change. And if we can get the right compass to the right direction. These guys are gonna have the support they need. We just need to tap into it and make sure that they know that we're here. Frontline Forward’s here. We're just wanting to make sure that everyone is aware of where we are, where we're at and where we're located. And how we can help out?

Kirk: OK, we're coming to the end of the interview Sir, is there a question I have not ask you?

Ian Imrie: You ohh no, I think we covered it. It was a great conversation. I think we got a lot out there, I'm sure, stuff to update you along the way. I would love to keep in touch and keep you guys in the know so that everyone knows what's happening, what is what is Tantus help doing here today, what's going on and and I'd be more than happy to touch base with you along the way and get you guys what you need.

Trevor: So Kirk, you know that's that's an everyday we've all heard it. Teacher, comedian, Father, Rugby player buys into a cannabis company, right? Like every one has heard that story.

Kirk: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it's funny. I I'm really thrilled about what he's doing to the point that when the interview was done. I introduced myself as a job interview and I said hey, you know, have you seen my resume? How can I help you guys? As a nurse, I could probably help you guys. So I kind of, I kind of turned it on him and it was kind of funny because here we are zooming and you kind of like you kind of just stopped talking, looking at me, going well. I don't know if I'm looking for employees, Kirk cause. No, no, no, I just send. You my resume anyways looking always looking for work.

Trevor: Absolutely. But I think some of the interesting points to head on is that so they've got several partners, so we've got HelloMD. So, if you want to be involved with Tantus, but you don't have a prescriber, HelloMD, you can do the prescriber part for you and they're really heavy. They being Tantus are really heavy on the education part. You can actually do, like, seminars and readings and stuff through them. And they'll sort of touch base with you. I think it was like 4 times along the way just to make sure you're comfortable with everything and the product and how it works and how which is really good. It sounds a little silly, but you know, especially if you've never had medicinal cannabis before, just having someone touch base with you did that make sense and you know? Did you have any follow up questions for the prescriber? You know when the bottle got there, did the syringe for measuring out the oil, did that work for you? Like I thought those were those were really good.

Kirk: I was really thrilled. Oh, by the way, HelloMD, we did an episode with them Episode 54. Hello Cannabis with HelloMD. So just saying we've also touched base with HelloMD I really enjoyed. The reason why I fired out the resume to him is because I love the fact that he's working with the Calgary Police Association and 1st Responders and he gave us an organization, First Responders, Forward.

Trevor: Frontline Forward based on.

Kirk: Yeah, I have not had time to go into that into that group. I will put a Link and I'll be researching it in the future, but I did mention to him that I spent a fair bit of my professional career as a volunteer firefighter, EMS, ambulance, fire and also worked at a college training paramedics, so EMS and 1st responders was a big part of my early career. So there's a part of me that went, oh, I want to talk to you using cannabis in that field, so that's why I pawned off my resume because I'm excited for the work that they're doing as a medicinal dispensary with first responders. That what really attracts me to this story.

Trevor:  Yeah. No, they had. They've both got a pilot project going with Calgary City Police on PTSD and sleep and I don't think we got it mentioned during the interview, but it came up during one of our other pre discussions. I think it's the Vancouver Fire Department was either is a is a thing or is going to be a thing shortly with them. And yet another I don't want to sound like it's a whole another kid epilepsy story, but another quite, you know, touching story about a kid from Victoria who's flying back and forth between Victoria and BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver. Looking for a solution to the seizures and working with Tantus and the BC Children's Hospital seemed to have found one to get the kid into school now.

Kirk: yeah, they have a very comprehensive web page Tantus Health, and they also have a YouTube channel. So that's where they get some of their education. So yeah, really responsible organization treating cannabis as the medicine it is and it's a good story. Trevor.

Trevor: Was going to say so. Maybe that segues into this. We're going to tack on a My Cannabis Story on onto this one. This is one of my, what am I going to call Tyler. A family friend, friend, former babysitter? I'm not trying to out either of our ages, but that babysitting thing was a little while ago. So, a friend from my hometown, we've again been in contact on LinkedIn after he found out I have a podcast about cannabis. And over Christmas we were supposed to do an in Person interview when I was out visiting my folks, but unfortunately when that was supposed to happen, Tyler was sick as a dog so he couldn't. So we finally got a zoom thing and now I gotta apologize to at the beginning. You know, as a podcaster, you think I'd be very attuned to how things sound. When I listened back to the recording of our my audio was terrible. I think Tyler probably spent the first third of our conversation wondering what the hell I was saying. So through the magic of Renee, we are going to rejig my conversation with Tyler about cannabis and maybe cut out some of the parts where I was completely inaudible. So we'll let Renee do his magic on conversation with Tyler Thomas, My Cannabis Story, and then we'll come. On the line today, we have Tyler Thomas from my hometown of Pinawa, Manitoba. Tyler, how are you doing?

Tyler Thomas: Good, Thanks, man. I'm glad to be on the show now.

Trevor: We're glad to have you. So no secret we've known each other since I was very, very small. Not to give away our respective ages or anything but you know you have babysat me and such things in the past, but you know, you've also known my parents. We've gone fishing together. It's on and off for a lot of years. So how about tell people a little bit about yourself? What we sort of did and do and what's led you into thinking cannabis is a good thing?

Tyler Thomas: I actually started when I was quite young and it was not legal and but I don't know, I quit taking it in the late 90s when I moved into my new job. Because it was not legal, a criminal offense could affect my ability to do my job and lose my license. Then there was the legalization for medicinal. You know and I want to say about two years before they legalized it, I had a medicinal prescription, OK. It really helps with my various psychosis, mental health issues and I watching your podcast listening to your podcast and then a few other people I've started following because of you, led me to being a little more active. I make some of my own edibles now. And it's quite easy. It does smell, but the ease of use. Actually, Trevor, I use an Instapot. I was listening to a couple of things earlier and they talked about a big pressure cooker. The one in the Dauphin.

Trevor: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Tyler Thomas: with the freeze. dried ry ice.

Trevor: And so you did a small scale pressure cooker and used the Instapot.

Tyler Thomas: Yeah, yeah No alcohol or tinctures or anything like that. It's just straight coconut oil.

Trevor: Cool. And so you don't have to give away all your trade secrets. But what's your magic recipe for instapot extraction?

Tyler Thomas: Well, do the standard bake it in the oven? I'm using a keif actually. As well, which I happen to find for free. 1 1/2 kilograms.

Trevor: OK, I won't ask too many questions.

Tyler Thomas: No, it was literally a byproduct leftover from somebody else's processing. And he's a medical grower. We happen to be good friends. He's no longer doing it, unfortunately, though. so when I use up the last 8 oz or so I'll have to find a new source. And then I use the instapot because of the sous vide function and the recipe I found online said to go to, I think 340 Fahrenheit or 350 and mine only goes to 3:40. But what I made literally push me on my ass, so I've had to dilute dilute, dilute right.

Trevor: All right. And are you taking that oil and taking it straight? Are you cooking it in?

Tyler Thomas: Something. No. So what? You I don't know if you remember. Formerly from the restaurant business as well, right. My favorite is actually the chocolate coconut haystacks.

Trevor: OK.

Tyler Thomas: And you can still taste a little bit of cannabis. But I actually toast the coconut and then I use a premium.

Trevor: So so truly, truly toasted coconut now.

Tyler Thomas: Yeah, yes. And then I actually use a really high grade cocoa powder. And then the oats and then I toast the oats as well. So, it it's. Yeah. Double triple toasted, I guess so. And it ends up being a really tasty product. And the hard part is not eating a second one.

Trevor: Yes. Yeah, we had that with Kirk and Michelle. they have made cookies and that's always the problem too.

Tyler Thomas: So but I counteract that with the CBD oil. so when I have the munchies and I know those are in the freezer, actually make sure I take a couple drops of CBD oil to tone down the munchie factor.

Trevor: Nice. Now you can. You can tell us as little or as much as you want about mental health issues. What sort of what were you having and what did the cannabis do to help them.

Tyler Thomas: I've actually recently found out. I've actually already had these problems, but I was able to cope much better when I was younger. Well cope. But I was coping with marijuana at the time and alcohol and the alcohol is completely gone. Has been for decades now, which is nice. But I was struggling and I this friend that I got the stuff from actually helped me get back into it. And then I had a better talk with my licensed practitioners for the I still have my medical and just recently talked to them again and I've got a more CBD and CBG and CBN to my prescription and lowering my THC back down.  And it actually ironically, is cheaper. Yeah. So going instead of being about 110 a month, it's gonna drop down to 60 a month.

Trevor: Wow, like almost half.

Tyler Thomas: Yeah. So, but I'm hoping at some point my medical plan will start paying for it, cause that's an issue as well.

Trevor: Well, I was going to ask about that because I know you have some, some experience we'll say in the insurance industry. Have you had any luck getting stuff covered?

Tyler Thomas: Not with, not with this yet. Otherwise. I have a top line policy. But it there's a lot of resistance and pushback still about accepting that for the same reasons, because doctors aren't prescribing it. Or pharmacists are prescribing it, which I think it's stupid.

Trevor: Preaching to the choir. But yes, that is definitely an issue. How about how physical, we're all getting a little older with various aches, pains, etcetera. Are you finding any of the cannabis helping with we'll call it, Physical maladies.

Tyler Thomas: Yeah. The CBD oil. Anything I was ever on, I don't know if you remember. I've broken my spine. blow the cartilage out of my left knee. The right ear is the broken. The middle bone and the inner ear is broken, so I do have some pain issues, but the CBD oil beats everything I ever took.

Trevor: OK.

Tyler Thomas: Just before I had my spinal surgery, I was on a Oxycontin, Demerol and morphine. Trifecta. And that would give me one hour of sleep.

Trevor: Ohh that's not much.

Tyler Thomas: No. So I would and I had to wait 6-6 hours between doses, so I would sleep for an hour. I couldn't sit or lay down. And then I had to walk for five. It was exhausting. I wasn't doing this with the CBD oil then, but I'm compared to the other aches I got through a year of physiotherapy using the CBD oil after a car accident. So yeah, it's spectacular. Big Pharma is not going to like it.

Trevor: That’s their problem. Yeah. OK, so we'll call it mental health wise. It's helping there.

Tyler Thomas: It stabilized me so much, Trevor.

Trevor: And because you've sort of experimented with both, sort of making your own edibles and using some of the commercial stuff. Any thoughts on? You know, it's better to eat a haystack during the day and take CBD oil at bedtime or any sort of thoughts on what works better for you.

Tyler Thomas: Even on my regular prescription, it's low really low dose now it's 2 1/2 milligrams of sativa and with the THC. Morning and afternoon and then at night I do 2 1/2 milligrams indica and I don't remember the changes to the CBD and this all the other cannabinols is that the word.

Trevor: Cannabinoids. Yep, Yep.

Tyler Thomas: It's also tweaked slightly differently for daytime and nighttime. My edibles and stuff are purely recreational.

Trevor: OK. Fair enough. Yeah. And when you're doing the medicinal stuff, are you inhaling any of it or is it all oral?

Tyler Thomas: The inhale still because you can't do it publicly in the confines of your own home is the rule, so to speak, and makes it difficult. Although I do have an old Man pipe,  Looks it looks just like a tobacco pipe, but it's a, yeah, until people get close enough to smell it, they think I'm smoking a pipe. And that's just fine. Yeah.

Trevor: So because you've kind of been through it, especially with, you know the we'll say that the car accident, if somebody is listening to this for the first time and they're thinking, hey, I want to try some of this cannabis stuff we'll say for pain. Any thoughts on how would, you know, it's not medical advice but from your experience, what worked for you? What would be a good way to start?

Tyler Thomas: I literally use that I have a friend that told me about this. It's so cheapest. It was $21. And that's over three months now, Trevor, so it's not an expensive experiment. Some people tell me that it hasn't worked for them, but I asked them. They literally did one drop. I mean you should there. But it's just like some of the pain medicines prescription wise. It take for a couple of days for it to start working. Yeah, depending on your individual uptake of the your receptors accepting the medication.

Trevor: No, fair enough.

Tyler Thomas: And I'm quite persuasive.

Trevor: Yeah. Yes. You've always been able to talk. Absolutely.

Tyler Thomas: I mean, I used to sell a product that nobody wanted. Or ever used. So being the insurance, so I mean it's varying results for everybody. But I mean the effects of the other ones that I was getting from my doctors, I'm missing a whole year of my life. In my memory bank from the oxy thing.

Trevor: OK.

Tyler Thomas: Like I remember nothing from that entire year.

Trevor: Yeah, that's a lot.

Tyler Thomas: And given my job, that's a little scary. Although when I did review my files afterwards, I didn't find any mistakes, but it was still at the back of my mind.

Trevor: Yeah, absolutely. Tyler, this has been a lovely chat. It's been nice to catch up with you. Anything else? You think the listeners need to know about you in particular or more importantly, sort of cannabis use for either mental health or physical pain.

Tyler Thomas: Just a little bit because you've talked like you guys can't necessarily prescribe.

Trevor: Yeah, it's complicated, but yeah, doctors can prescribe, but at the moment it's not supposed to be in pharmacies.

Tyler Thomas: Right. The just reach out and find the licensed practitioner nurses, they're all over the place. They'll do an interview just like this. That you tell them their problems and they were so good at helping me out.

Trevor: So this was like a like a telemedicine thing to a nurse. Do you mind telling us which system which group you used, if you remember?

Tyler Thomas: I don’t remember actually. You have to search my emails when I go to renew every year. They referred several different. Pharmacies to get it from the online ones. That one I know is spectrum scientific or spectrum therapeutic.

Trevor: Spectrum therapeutics.

Tyler Thomas: Phone them to remind me who my Nurse Practitioner is.

Trevor: Fair enough. Yeah.

Tyler Thomas: Thank you for your time, Sir. It's been a great day.

Trevor: So he was. He's at the time seemed immensely older than me, so when no he literally babysat me when we, our, we used to live literally next door to him and he was a babysitter. Slash older person in town. Like you know, I, like you said, I knew him as a cook at some of the local restaurants. And as we got a little older, I've been fishing with him. He's been fishing with my dad. He's ran a business in town and one of his sort of side gigs was he looked after the houses of snowbirds and for a while, my parents were snowbirds. So you know, he was a looker Inner on my parents house when they weren't there. So kind of traveling in parallel paths we, but yeah, we absolutely an older friendly acquaintance when I was younger. And now our age differences don't seem to be nearly so vast and sure, I'll. I'll call my friend of mine.

Kirk: Cool. That's kind of cool how that is. I have. I have a few of my father's friends that over time became acquaintances. Strong acquaintances of mine that weren't necessarily, you know, it wasn't necessarily. The son of Len I was. I was an acquaintance of theirs. So yeah, it's kind of cool. And that kind of stuff happens.

Trevor: Did you find the e-mail from tantus? It's from Ian about music on this one.

Kirk:  I thought I'd reach back a an old band I listened to on the West Coast, and hopefully Ian likes this and thought we'd go to the Powder Blues Band. When I was a kid, a College student Powder Blues was huge on college radio, so reach back to their first album and I saw them play this live in Victoria and the bounty hunters motorcycle gang were the security and it was in the The Esquimalt Arena, for those people who reached back to 1980. And it's the song called Bopping with the Blues. So I was going to suggest Doing it Right On the Wrong Side of Town, but that's people might know that song. People might know them through Thirsty Ears. But bopping with the Blues for me,  I like to move to music if anybody's ever seen me on the dance floor, I like to move and Bopping with the Blues is a good song, so let's Bopping with the Blues.

Trevor: Alright, Bopping with the Blues and we will see everyone. Next time, it's been another good one