Botanical Sciences and Gary Long Bringing Medicinal Cannabis to Georgia

What is medical cannabis? What conditions and diseases qualify for it? What’s the difference between CBD Oil and Low THC Oil? How can you get a medicinal cannabis card?

On this episode of Peachtree Corners Life, Rico Figliolini sits down with Gary Long, CEO of Botanical Sciences. Together they discuss the intricacies of the regulated medical cannabis market in Georgia. This insightful conversation provides valuable insights into the importance of regulation, the challenges faced by the industry, and the distinction between CBD oil and low THC oil. Listeners will gain a deeper understanding of how regulation ensures patient safety and product quality, and Georgia’s thoughtful approach to medical cannabis serves as a model for other states.

Don’t miss out on this informative and thought-provoking episode!

“Our products are the complete antithesis of the unregulated CBD industry. Everything we produce is laboratory-tested, organic, free from pesticides, solvents, and microbials. Consumers can have confidence in the purity and safety of our Georgia-grown products.”

Gary Long

Timestamp:
[00:00:00] – Introduction and Podcast Sponsors
[00:01:30] – Introduction of Gary Long and Botanical Sciences
[00:03:14] – History and Regulations of Medicinal Marijuana in Georgia
[00:06:42] – Discussion on Independent Pharmacies Dispensing Medicinal Cannabis
[00:08:45] – Comparison Between CBD Oil and Low THC Oil
[00:10:53] – Overview of Botanical Sciences Facility and Products
[00:13:51] – Legality and Amount of Low THC Oil a Person Can Possess
[00:15:59] – Various Forms of Low THC Oil and Their Usage
[00:19:08] – Challenges in Georgia: Awareness, Access, and Federal Laws
[00:22:57] – Marijuana Rescheduling and Safer Banking Act
[00:26:15] – Getting a Medicinal Cannabis Card and Renewal
[00:28:27] – Medical Insurance Coverage and Future Predictions**
[00:34:46] – Conclusion

Podcast Transcript

Rico Figliolini 0:00:00

This is Rico Figliolini, host of Peachtree Corners Life. Before we get into our show, I just want to say thank you to our podcast sponsors. EV remodeling Inc. is one of our sponsors. Eli, who owns that company, it’s a huge company that does a lot of design to build renovation work on homes. Lives here in Peachtree Corners, has a great family. You can check them out. They’ve been a great supporter of ours. EVremodelinginc.com is where you can find out more information as well. Clearwave Fiber has been a supporter of ours, and they’ve worked here in Peachtree Corners providing Internet services for 1000 businesses here in the city. You’re going to want to check them out. They’re not your typical cable company and Internet provider. They are here locally and they’re committed to this community. So check them out. Clearwave Fiber. Now to get to our guest today, CEO of Botanical Sciences, Gary Long has joined us. Hey, Gary.

Gary Long 0:01:29

How you doing, Rico?

Rico Figliolini 0:01:30

Good. You know, it’s interesting. A friend of mine that owns Peachtree Pharmacy that I was talking to the other day about some stuff, and she knows we’re going to eventually be, hopefully a dispensary for medicinal use of marijuana. And because it’s legal in the state for low dose THC to be sold here in the state for medical purposes on an approved list. And she know you should speak to Gary Long. Gary Long is the CEO of that company. And by the way, he is connected to Peachtree Corners, too, in a different way. So why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself, Gary, before we get into the company?

Gary Long 0:02:07

I’ll do, and thank you for that. Yes. Actually grew up in Peachtree Corners, in Spalding Corners on Spalding Drive. Started living there, I think when I was about eight, so it was 1977, and lived there till I went to college. I went to Auburn University and then returned for a little bit prior to kind of establishing my own career and life in the Alpharetta area. So spent quite a bit of time there. I went to Norcross High School. I went to East Elementary School. So quite a bit of connection to the community, for sure.

Rico Figliolini 0:02:37

And this was the old Norcross High School?

Gary Long 0:02:40

Yes. The old Norcross High School in beaver ruin.

Rico Figliolini 0:02:42

Yes. That was still around when I moved here in 95, I think, before they built the new school. But now you’re CEO of one of two companies in the state of Georgia, if I’m right, that do medicinal marijuana, Botanical sciences, and which is founded by a physician. It’s actually the only physician founded company here. And just so then people know the low THC oil is not the active ingredient of marijuana, you’re not going to be able to get high on this, correct?

Gary Long 0:03:13

No, actually, you can. But it’s designed the way that the state kind of initiated the policy was having a lower THC content in the oil as a percentage of volume should not be used necessarily for the purposes of getting high. But there are benefits to patients depending upon what their treatment or their symptoms are.

Rico Figliolini 0:03:34

Okay, so educate us a little bit about the product itself then, and where you are and what’s licensed and what list of not the entire list, but who can use this.

Gary Long 0:03:43

Great. Yeah. It makes sense for me to just kind of take people through a little bit of a history lesson about how we got here as a state. In 2015, the state passed Haley’s Hope Act. So it’s been eight plus years now that we’ve actually had a law in place in the state of Georgia where you’ve been able to possess low THC oil for the benefit of these medicinal conditions. Only in, I think, in 2020, is when the state started the process to enable companies like ours to apply for and through an RFP process to be awarded a contract to be a supplier, a regulated supplier of these products. We were very, very fortunate and pleased the fact that of the 69 companies that were participating in the state’s process, we were the highest ranked company. And so as a result of that, on the tail end of their process, in 2021, we were selected as the number one company, and we received what’s called a Class One license. And that license enables us to not only produce the product, but to process it into its usable form, to distribute it, and then to dispense it. What makes the state unique is not only are we dispensing it through our own dispensaries that we own, and there’s five in the state right now, but also we’re the only state in the country where independent pharmacies are allowed to dispense medicinal cannabis. And our governor, Governor Kemp, just signed off on those rules enabling independent pharmacies to actually dispense the product, which we love being a physician founded company because everything we do puts the patient at the center of this clinical journey. And we know that pharmacists play a very important role in that process. Right. So not only do you get advice from your physician, you also get advice from your pharmacist oftentimes when you’re being prescribed a medication. And so we see this as being an incredible opportunity for the patients of the state. And as you mentioned a moment ago, there’s right now about 18 qualifying conditions, and the things that qualify tend to be related to pain, cancer, diagnosis, multiple sclerosis, so a lot of different neuromuscular diseases, PTSD and anxiety disorders like that, sickle cell anemia. The list is on our website and it’s also available online through the state’s own website.

Rico Figliolini 0:05:59

Right.

Gary Long 0:06:00

Quite a few conditions. And we anticipate that that list is going to expand.

Rico Figliolini 0:06:04

Yeah, the list, I mean, just give a few more. It’s Alzheimer’s disease, age, intractable pain, it goes into autism, certain spectrums of it, above 18 turret syndrome, sickle cell anemia, Parkinson’s, mitochondrial Crohn’s disease. So quite a few, most of the commonality of that is though severe or end stage hospice care as well in that area. And so no doubt it will probably expand, I would imagine.

Gary Long 0:06:33

Yeah, there’s already been discussion, I was going to say there’s already been some discussion with the state where they are planning on introducing other conditions to the.

Rico Figliolini 0:06:41

Registry, which makes sense. I mean, government moves slow, god knows we know this. That’s why it took eight years. And then you have to implement and that’s what they did right in 2020 is the implementation part. There is a local pharmacy here in Peachtree Corners, life Peach Free Pharmacy, that is going to be applying to be one of the dispensaries for your company. And they’re a compounding pharmacy as well. So is that a common thing for the independent pharmacy?

Gary Long 0:07:09

Yes, there’s quite a few just independently owned and operated pharmacies, and some of them do compounding and some of them do not. But that is exactly the type of company that’s allowed to dispense the product per the state. I was going to say one more thing. They’re governed by the Georgia Board of Pharmacy under the law, which is this Haley’s Hope Act.

Rico Figliolini 0:07:30

And that process of applying for that is happening, I think in October, you said. Or November.

Gary Long 0:07:36

That’s correct. In October. So any independent pharmacy that is interested is allowed to apply through the Georgia Board of Pharmacy.

Rico Figliolini 0:07:42

Okay, so eventually, maybe by the new year, I don’t know how long an.

Gary Long 0:07:45

Application process actually might actually be in October, because in conversations with the governing body, which is the Georgia Board of Pharmacy and the Georgia Department, of Drugs and Narcotics, who is the law enforcement agency that assists the Georgia Board of Pharmacy. They said that they will turn around the application process within a couple of weeks.

Rico Figliolini 0:08:05

Really?

Gary Long 0:08:05

So anticipating seeing know our products in the independent pharmacies in October.

Rico Figliolini 0:08:11

Wow, okay, that’s that’s tremendously fast for state government to be working. So check that out. Peachtree Pharmacy is where you should probably go in the city of Peachtree Corners. The other thing is, I don’t use it. I know I have a lot of people, a lot of friends that use CBD oil. CBD stores have popped up. Not just stores, but anyone that has a store can sell CBD oil. So give us a little understanding, Gary. What’s the difference and yeah, tell us what the difference on that is.

Gary Long 0:08:42

Great question and I’m sure there’s a ton of confusion because everybody I talk to kind of thinks one is the same as the other and they’re really two different things. The industry of CBD oils and those types of things, they have a lot of medicinal uses. Right? There was a bill that was introduced by the federal government in 2018 called the Farm Bill. And the Farm Bill enabled companies to farm hemp which has been around for thousands of years. And hemp is a sister plant to the marijuana plant. They’re virtually identical in many ways. But the law says, I’m sorry, the Farm Bill says that you can only derive 0.3% THC from a hemp plant. And so that’s a problem. But it’s also a loophole. So what companies have done is they’ve taken that little loophole and now they’ve built a whole industry around this. And on its own that’s not a problem. The issue is, and I think your listeners have probably seen it with their own eyes, is it’s proliferated all over the place, it’s in convenience stores, it’s in these pop up dispensaries. And what’s happening is there’s absolutely no regulation whatsoever on the quality, the purity, the labeling of those products. And what’s happening, unfortunately, in our state, Rico, is many of those products contain heavy metals. They contain solvents, they contain microbials. They’re being shipped in from other states who have already outlawed them. So we’ve become a dumping ground as a state and that’s a very bad thing for the patients. Right. And so while there are still some legitimate companies out there who are selling products, it’s kind of hard to find them in this crazy environment that’s been created. So our store and our products are the complete antithesis of that. Right. We are 100% governed by the state. Everything is laboratory tested organic. No pesticides, no solvents, no microbials. So the products that they’re getting from us not only will they know are pure and safe, but they’re Georgia grown on top of it. So we are a Georgia based company. We manufacture everything in the state of Georgia and so people can take comfort in that.

Rico Figliolini 0:10:49

You have 460 acres in Glenville, Georgia.

Gary Long 0:10:52

Yes.

Rico Figliolini 0:10:53

Your facility is like 130,030, 3000 sqft out there.

Gary Long 0:10:59

It’s a state of the art facility. We built it from the ground up to support the needs of the state. And so as more and more patients get added to the registry through having conversations with their doctor, we’re going to be able to service as many patients as the state presents with.

Rico Figliolini 0:11:15

Let me ask you on the CBD oil mean I’ve everywhere. I mean you could be at a gas station. See, I’m working with an Italian company doing an introduction of supplemental vitamins here in the states and they certify themselves. Their vitamins is the second certification here when it arrives in the mean vitamins are something we all ingest. And God knows, if you go to Whole Foods, there’s a whole aisle. You don’t even know which stuff to take. But it’s regulated to some degree. The labels regulated, things regulated on that. You’re right. CBD. Oil is like the wild west. There’s nothing there. Yeah. And you don’t even know. There’s no chain of custody.

Rico Figliolini 0:11:59

You don’t know what you’re ingesting. You’re right. Like heavy metals, all that stuff, the unnatural, maybe the way it was even produced.

Gary Long 0:12:07

That’s right.

Rico Figliolini 0:12:08

I mean, it’s amazing that people will take that and not understand where it’s come from and think it’s okay.

Gary Long 0:12:14

You’re right. It’s very concerning that in the 21st century, in our sophisticated society, with the Federal Drug Administration and all of the government regulation oversight, that they would allow this to occur. Just so your listeners know, 19 states have outlawed or regulated these synthetically modified hemp derived delta eight, delta nine, delta ten, THCA products that are all coming from hemp. Now, I’m not trying to throw a wet blanket on the entire industry. Like I said, there are some quality companies who sell those products. But the problem is that there is no control and regulation over it federally and nothing in our state. And so it’s kind of like take them at your own risk, I guess.

Rico Figliolini 0:12:59

Yeah. Interesting, the fact that you can put that disinfused products, I think, even with yes. And that’s not with drinks, foods.

Gary Long 0:13:10

No. Our products are they’re clinically formulated. We actually provide them in the form of tinctures, which are sublingual drops, capsules, topicals like creams and lotions. We’ll be introducing some lozenges, some other types of mix ins so that people have a variety of ways to actually get the benefits from the product.

Rico Figliolini 0:13:31

Right.

Gary Long 0:13:32

And everything we do, by the way, is controlled by the state. So we have to go to the state and have a conversation about, number one, the type of way in which we want to sell a product. Everything we do is tracked and measured by the state. So it’s very regulated and that’s a good thing for the patients of the state, for sure.

Rico Figliolini 0:13:51

Anyone doing this should be comfortable and understand that there is safety measures in place and that anyone that sells this is all following the same guidelines. Whereas, like I said, the CBD oil, there are good companies out there, but because it’s the Wild West, there’s bad players as well.

Gary Long 0:14:08

There’s another thing, too that we haven’t really touched on in addition, is there are people, and this is the way it’s been for years, up until recently, that have needed or wanted the benefits from medicinal cannabis and have actually been buying that product on the illicit market. Right. So they’ve been finding a drug dealer and buying those products from them without knowing what’s in it. And I know there’s a lot of growing concern in the community of people that have been doing that that a lot of these products are laced with fentanyl and everybody knows the scourge of fentanyl in our country. So I think, again, this is going to push people to a regulated, controlled market in a good way. Right. So if you need these products and want these products for whatever the medicinal benefit is that you are requiring, you can take comfort in knowing that we’re going to be providing and selling through these independent pharmacies and our own dispensaries are highest purest quality products available.

Rico Figliolini 0:15:01

So then people understand it’s product that because it’s regulated like that. Also that people can legally purchase only up to 20 fluid ounces of the cannabis. Actually, it’s not just purchase, if I remember correctly, it’s keeping up to 20 fluid ounces at any given time.

Gary Long 0:15:21

That’s right. The law states specifically that an individual is allowed to possess up to 20 fluid ounces of this low THC oil at any one point in time. That is a law that was created back in 2015. At that time, they just didn’t want to put mothers of children who were needing these products to be put in a very bad legal situation. So 20 fluid ounces is a pretty big amount of this product. As you imagine, the average individual will consume ten milligrams, five to ten milligrams at a time. So 20 fluid ounces is a massive amount of product. So I don’t think there’s going to be any issues with folks feeling like they’re going to be in a bad situation with law enforcement. Imagine very few people, if any, are going to actually possess 20 fluid ounces.

Rico Figliolini 0:16:07

At any point in time because that 20 fluid ounces would normally last.

Gary Long 0:16:14

A long, long time. It really depends on the treatment protocol of how much they’re going to be needing to take. Some of these conditions that you and I referenced earlier, the neuromuscular ones especially, require a very high concentration of the product in order to reduce the symptoms, like spasticity. Actually, there’s studies out there, many studies out there where it talks about it actually retards the growth or the progression of some of these diseases. It’s amazing. And that’s really what I’m hopeful for, for our country and our state, is that we will bring forward a lot of the education to the patients of the community because there is a lot of information out there. But now that this is becoming more commonplace right. I think everybody’s aware that it exists and it’s out there is that now there’ll be more studies, double blind studies that can prove the efficacy of some of these therapies.

Rico Figliolini 0:17:07

Okay, true. I mean, unfortunately, when it was illegal, no one cared to do that.

Gary Long 0:17:13

Nobody cared to do.

Rico Figliolini 0:17:14

Right. So, okay, so people can buy this oil, TSC oil you in the state of Georgia at least can’t be inhaled or vaped smoked. Those are the things that are banned from that’s.

Gary Long 0:17:28

Correct.

Rico Figliolini 0:17:29

But so the company sells, company sells products in four or three capacities, right. Tincture, if I remember correctly, is one. Explain to me how that’s used, for.

Gary Long 0:17:41

Example, so in healthcare, tinctures are used frequently for the ingestion of certain types of medicines. Essentially, it’s like an eyedropper that has a measured amount on the vial itself, where a patient would take a certain amount of the oil measure to a certain place and apply it under your tongue. That’s what sublingual means. And there’s an entry point under your tongue where it goes directly into your bloodstream. So you get a very quick effect where it doesn’t have to go through your digestive system when you take a pill or some other type of consumed product. It has to go through your digestive system and the wall of your stomach and sometimes through your intestines before you get the impact. So this is a very effective way of getting the product into the bloodstream and to actually start to get the benefit. But there are folks who want to consume a pill. That’s why we sell capsules. And then the lotions and creams, the topicals, we call them, are really for external use, right. You put it on your arm or your shoulder and similar to how CBD products are used in that same way, these have a similar type of effect. I would argue a better effect because bringing the molecules of THC from medical cannabis and CBD together creates something called the Entourage effect, and it actually enhances the ability for both compounds to have a positive impact on your body. If you take one or the other, you still get some benefit, but combined, it’s a better benefit for whatever you’re trying to solve for.

Rico Figliolini 0:19:08

What challenges are you finding right now as a company in state of Georgia, getting this product?

Gary Long 0:19:15

That is a loaded question. There is a ton of challenges. The good news is our state is helping us try to address them. I would say the number one challenge, Rico, is awareness. We’ve only been authorized to kind of start manufacturing and selling products since the beginning of this year, and there’s not been a great deal of information coming from the state about the availability of these products. It’s only been left up to us and another company to do our own marketing and communications and those types of things. So I think that is going to change in the near future, especially when independent pharmacies are going to be authorized to dispense these products. Right. By default, there’s several hundred independent pharmacies in our state, so it’s going to literally go from very little access to statewide access overnight. And so you’ll be seeing a lot more information. So access and information are two very important things that have been challenges. The other challenges really relate to a lot of what’s going on at the federal level. I mean, if you’re paying attention or you’re reading newspapers right now, there’s 40 of our 50 states have either an adult recreational use legalization. I think 24 of them are actually recreational legal, and the remainder, 16, are like us, medicinally focused. So there’s only ten states that are left who don’t have these laws. And because we still live with antiquated federal laws, in my opinion, which we are not allowed to operate like a normal business would, where you can write off certain things on taxes and those types of things. There’s lots of prohibitions federally still. But the good news is, and there was some recent news in the last couple of weeks, rico, where the Department of Health and Human Services, which is the largest part of the federal government, issued a statement and a petition to the DEA to reschedule marijuana to go from a schedule one to a schedule three. And so that vote is going to happen this year. So that’s a big change. If that passes, that’s going to change the entire landscape of the country.

Rico Figliolini 0:21:18

So what does that do, changing it to schedule three? What’s the practicality of that?

Gary Long 0:21:23

Yeah, great. That’s a great follow on today. I think your listeners would be surprised if they don’t know this, that marijuana, according to the federal government and the DEA, is equivalent to heroin, right? Yeah, it’s equivalent to fentanyl. So these incredibly potent drugs that if you take just a little too much, will kill you. So I think that’s what I mean when I say antiquated. Those were ideas from the past. And so there is a lot of movement at the federal level now to actually change that and make it right. And in addition to the rescheduling is what they’re calling it’s, a rescheduling, going from a schedule one to a schedule three. There’s also something called the Safer Banking Act, which would allow companies like ourselves and other companies who operate in this industry around the country to have access to the normal banking system because it is considered to be like a prohibition federally. I can’t put my money into a bank like a normal business today.

Rico Figliolini 0:22:22

But how do you do that? How do you operate?

Gary Long 0:22:25

It is incredibly difficult to try to navigate around this. There are ways to make it happen. We’re not the only company who has to do this. There are hundreds of companies in our country, hundreds, if not thousands, who are doing the same thing we’re doing. But the good news is, if it’s legal in your state, then it all is fine. But those are some major challenges for not just ourselves, but every other state in our country. And if you travel anywhere, you know that this is kind of like the trains left the station. This is used everywhere else in Georgia and a few other states in the south and the Midwest are the last ones to go.

Rico Figliolini 0:22:57

Yeah, and we were talking about before also about because there’s no national standards like an FDA regulation, that every state pretty much has some of their own rules. So what you do here, you might not be able to sell in another right. Even if you’re approved in another state, you might have to set up a whole separate setup for that.

Gary Long 0:23:20

You got it. That is exactly is our authorization is just for the state of Georgia, and no other company that operates in another state is allowed to sell their products in the state of Georgia either. So eventually this may change where there will be interstate commerce and this is no longer a federal issue. But again, I’m not going to hold my breath that the federal government is going to do anything very quickly, but we’re going to operate the business for the benefit of the citizens of the state of Georgia and focus on that. And if these other things change, so be it. But we’re just excited about the opportunity in front of ourselves and obviously the patients of the state that have been seeking this.

Rico Figliolini 0:23:58

So people that are listening to this may be thinking, okay, I have one of those 18 diseases or ailments, and I want to be able to get this. This is not really a script from a physician.

Gary Long 0:24:13

You are correct, it is not a prescription. The way that it works, and it’s actually pretty simple, is you go see your physician or a telemedicine provider even there are telemedicine companies that do nothing but focus on this. But you can go to your family physician, your internist, whomever, and if you have one of these conditions or a symptom that relates to one of these conditions, you can then get them to provide what they call a recommendation to get your medicinal cannabis card. So the physician themselves needs to be linked to the state’s department of public Health, and essentially they file an application on your behalf through the Department of Public Health that says that Rico is authorized and is recommended to receive medicinal cannabis card. That card is then processed by the central department of Public Health, and then it will go to the Gwinnett County Department of Public Health for you to pick up in about ten to 14 days.

Rico Figliolini 0:25:06

Okay?

Gary Long 0:25:07

They are not mailing these cards. They are not mailing these cards. It is something that we’re working with the department of Public Health on. It’s kind of mind boggling that they don’t mail it, like your voter registration card or your driver’s license, but yep. We’re just trying to work through the bureaucracy a little bit, but I think there’s receptivity to actually mailing them eventually. But today you would have to go pick it up. One of the Department of Health locations in Gwinnett County. And then once you have that card, you are authorized to purchase the product either at one of our dispensaries or at the dispensary of your independent pharmacy.

Rico Figliolini 0:25:41

So once you have that card, there’s no renewal to that card.

Gary Long 0:25:45

That card is it every two years.

Rico Figliolini 0:25:47

Every two years. Okay. And get recertified or reapply, the reapplication.

Gary Long 0:25:55

Or I guess and the cards are $25, so there’s a $25 fee that goes to the Department of Health to get the card. And the card looks very much like a driver’s license. It’s got your picture on it, got some just basic information about you as the individual on it. And that’s the card you have to present when you go to get the product, either at a pharmacy or one of our dispensaries.

Rico Figliolini 0:26:15

So I guess that begs me to ask, do you have to go in person to get that card set up like the DMV to get a great question.

Gary Long 0:26:21

Yes, you can submit a photo.

Rico Figliolini 0:26:24

Okay.

Gary Long 0:26:25

I thought you were going a different direction with the card itself. And that is if you’re a caregiver of a patient, you can also get a card. So there are some people, as you know, that are too ill or debilitated and can’t go do all of this on their own. So caregivers can get a card on behalf of a patient. So if you have an elderly parent or if you’ve got a child who has severe disease, one of these qualifying conditions, the mother or the father can get a card on behalf of their child as an example.

Rico Figliolini 0:26:55

So a custodian can get or guardian rather, can get a or parent can get something for their child. If I’m a caregiver to my cousin or my mother, I would have power of attorney, or they would accept me as accepted caregiver.

Gary Long 0:27:11

Yeah, and I don’t think it goes quite as far as power of attorney, but in this situation, if you’re a primary caregiver, you are authorized to actually get a card to purchase product on behalf of a patient, but both individuals will have to file essentially to get authorization from the state.

Rico Figliolini 0:27:28

Okay, so that would like I’m just thinking broadly now. So there’s retirement places, assisted places, because they’re caregivers in a broader way. Are they allowed to do that for.

Gary Long 0:27:42

Their I really don’t know the answer to that question. If a company who’s operating on behalf of a patient is authorized to do that, I’ll have to get back to you with the specific answer on that because that hasn’t come up. But I can see that coming up.

Rico Figliolini 0:27:55

Yeah, I could see that coming up also because you have assisted living places with maybe 100, 200 people in it, and they’re caregivers. They have medical people on staff sometimes, depending on what it is. I could see that happening right now. There’s, I think about 30,000 registered patients correct last month or two that grew from 13,000 back in 2015. And some of the stats are correct or not. I don’t know. There’s 500 applicants that I’ll backlog right now. I’m sure that’s going to get faster as things go.

Gary Long 0:28:27

Yeah, it already has. The Department of Health has worked out some of the bugs of their process, and so most people. Are getting their cards within one to two weeks now, which is a great improvement. Yeah, it’s fast. And what’s also exciting, too, is the word is getting out. The numbers of people that are joining the registry is growing pretty rapidly. I personally have made visits this week to several departments of health around the city, around Atlanta, and they’re seeing a lot of people coming in to get their cards. And so we’re actually engaging with them to make sure these folks have a lot of educational information going into this process, because there’s a big gap, as you know, of information out there. There’s a lot of misinformation about what this is being used for, the benefits and all that kind of thing. So we’re trying to serve as that resource for patients of the state of Georgia. There’s a ton of information on our website@botanicalsciences.com. I would ask if anybody has any know, either contact me directly or go to our website and submit a question. We’ll be happy to provide any answers we can to help folks.

Rico Figliolini 0:29:34

I guess one other question maybe would be as well. Lots of things are covered by medical insurance. Is this also covered by medical insurance?

Gary Long 0:29:43

It is not, and that is merely because of the federal stance on marijuana. Okay, so if these things start to change, like I mentioned earlier, if it gets rescheduled, if banking regulation gets changed, and it gets changed at a federal level, it’s possible in the future that there will be some reimbursement from an insurance carrier. I would see this first going. Having some reimbursement coming from the federal government, like through a Medicare Medicaid type of a role before a commercial payer would probably do it. But the good news is the products themselves are not that expensive in the scheme of things, especially in comparison to a lot of prescription drugs out there that people are taking. And they have a lot safer profile in terms of you compare taking medicinal cannabis to relieve pain versus an opioid as an example. Not only is it non addictive medicinal cannabis, it’s extremely inexpensive compared to those prescription medicines, which obviously are very addictive and actually alter the chemistry of your brain in addition to benzos and those types of things that people take for PTSD and other anxiety related conditions. So there’s a whole host of benefits and roughly rico anything from around $25 to around $100, depending upon what form factor they’re going to take. That usually gets you a 30 day supply.

Rico Figliolini 0:31:08

That’s not bad at all.

Gary Long 0:31:09

Yeah, it’s not bad at all.

Rico Figliolini 0:31:13

I know medications that people take for blood pressure, for other things, you have to make sure you get your liver attack blood, test, blood panels to make sure that the side effects of those medicines can be hurt or harmful, sometimes more harmful than the benefit.

Gary Long 0:31:30

Right.

Rico Figliolini 0:31:33

It’s a whole different world out there. So things are tainting. Where do you expect to be in about five years with us. Where do you expect to be in five years with us?

Gary Long 0:31:43

Maybe I’d play a lottery ticket if I knew. I would say based on the movement that’s happened in our country right over the last few years, and you have conservative states, relatively conservative states like Georgia now adopting it, I would say you’re going to see probably the more conservative states in the south stay medicinal cannabis and maybe not go to adult use just yet. There’s an apprehension to go into being able to provide smokable products and just have everybody walking around smoking marijuana. Because if you go to some cities and states, there’s a lot of that. And so I think our state will go slow but methodical to opening this up to a broader audience of people, especially as we start to see benefits being documented and those types of things. I do believe federally there will be some changes in the next twelve to 24 months that will make this actually, maybe it’ll be federally legal in a few years. And if that changes, then everything I just said will go out the window. And then all of a sudden it’ll be like any other industry in our country where sell products doesn’t matter what state you’re in right now. There’s still so much variability between states on all of these things that again, I’m not going to hold my breath. There’s going to be some fundamental change, but if there is, it’ll rapidly change.

Rico Figliolini 0:33:08

It’s interesting what you said before about cities with recreational marijuana. My wife was up in New York a few months ago and she was staying at a midtown hotel and she could smell the marijuana from, I think the 7th floor, practically, because when she went out, it was like she said, everyone was fine. You cannot walk a block without smelling the depth of it because it’s legal up there and everyone was doing it, which when it’s legal, that’s what you do, I guess. Yeah.

Gary Long 0:33:37

Again, I would say our state has learned the lessons of watching other states go through this process, right. In a couple of ways that are pretty interesting. One is a lot of other states will issue hundreds of licenses, people to grow product, for people to dispense product, hundreds of licenses, and it creates an oversupply of the product and then it gets proliferated everywhere. Right. So our state has taken a much more thoughtful approach, I would say. There’s two companies right now that have the ability to sell and dispense, us being one of them. And there’s four more that may come online in a year, within a year, but that’s it. And those companies are the only companies allowed to grow the product, produce products with the manufactured product, and then to dispense them. And I think that’s a smart thing. We may get frustrated at times because it goes slow, but I would much rather go slow and get it right than just kind of, like, have it be a free for all.

Rico Figliolini 0:34:35

Yeah, no, I agree with you. I mean, control makes sense and regulation makes sense. We have to do that. This is great. I learned quite a bit.

Gary Long 0:34:45

Glad to hear that.

Rico Figliolini 0:34:46

Yeah. And I think our listeners know more now because of listening to you and certainly if they want to find out more information about your company, its products, the tinctures, the capsules, the topicals and how to get a card and what qualifies, your website is very informative. I was just looking at it before and people go to Botanicalsciences.com and you can find that and even follow you on I’m assuming you’re on social media.

Gary Long 0:35:12

Yes, I am. Yeah, the company is and I am. So, yes, we’re on all social Instagram.

Rico Figliolini 0:35:21

And so if they want to get in touch with you, they can just go to contact page or just reach out to you. And again, I want to let people know here Peachtree Corners, that Peachtree Pharmacy is actually going to also be a dispensary once they apply, if they’re accepted, and maybe in October they may have your products already.

Gary Long 0:35:40

We’re very excited about the pharmacy getting in Peachtree Corners, and again, I’m being a homeboy from Peachtree Corners. I’m super excited for the community. So really looking forward to it.

Rico Figliolini 0:35:52

I want to thank you for being with us. Gary, stay with me for a second as we sign off, but thank you.

Gary Long 0:35:57

You’re welcome. Thank you.

Rico Figliolini 0:35:58

Everyone else, I appreciate you being with us. You want to learn more. There’ll be notes, show notes, links to the website and other information that you may need, link to where to get the card. But of course, if you go to Botanicalsciences.com, they have all that there as well. But I’ll have it in the show notes. Feel free to check that. And if you have comments or questions, reach out to Gary, put your comments in any of the places that this will appear, which will be Facebook and YouTube or email me and I’ll get that information out to you as well. But thank you for being with us.