Hi everybody, it's time for another haul video. Let's go! Welcome back guys to another installment of a week and geek them first of all I want to apologize somewhat for taking an unexpected Weekly hiatus that tends to happen at at least Once every two months or so. So if you're new here, thank you so much after doing the SDCC videos a Lot of new subscribers jumped in plus. I did a small collab with Commerce guide 101 on his Aquaman video. So a lot of people jumped from that into this channel So thank you so much. This is a more laid-back kind of channel We do book reviews right now. We're not tackling movies but we do like to talk about movies here and Collectibles and all that fun stuff that you and I love so yeah At the end of every month. I do haul videos Highlight all the geeky stuff I acquired and if you like anything or anything peaks your interest I should say let me know in the comment section down below and I will happily do a video on it also since this channel is small we're only at 1100 or so subscribers I cannot do community posts and that aggravates me because a lot of you don't I Know this for a fact a lot of you don't necessarily follow me on all the other social medias from instagram Twitter Facebook, but yeah, I the only way I can let you guys know is either through Twitter or Recording on these videos and I don't like leaving these messages that I'm doing right now. It's just not my style I just like to do a clean concise review and that's it and we move on to the next Awesome stuff awesome content or whatever, but yeah as a sort of a bulletin board Yeah, I took a brief hiatus. I had to I had to take care of some stuff in real life if you will and What was I gonna say? Since I don't have a community post I couldn't inform you guys. So yeah, please Check if you can a week in geek them on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram maybe where I'm constantly there posting stuff and I Will let you know if there's a hiatus or something happens. I couldn't do Invincible discussion video number eight that will come in August real soon We're here now doing the haul and I have wasted precious time and not talking about the nerdy items that were required So yeah, we're gonna do trades manga figures and some blue rays So let's start with manga as I typically do I did get my hero academia vigilantes Volume one. I am very much looking forward to reading this spin-off because the main series of my hero academia is Pretty frickin fantastic. I love this series very much So I'm really looking forward to reading what this is all about the ancient magus bride volume five volume six and volume six comes with a Limited edition or a special edition like a special booklet. I didn't know about it. Apparently it was like the first printing that got it So, yeah, you get this special booklet, which is sort of like a extra manga chapter Yes, that's pretty cool. I love me some ancient magus bride. It's a beautiful series I've done a review on the first volume if you want to check that out on this channel Next up is a recommendation from the otaku's den if you want to be a part of the otaku's den a Fantastic group on Facebook. You have to be a part of the omnibus collector community There and once you're in there, you can you have access to the many subgroups So one of the recommendations from the group is goodnight poon-poon or pun-pun or however you want to say it This is volume one I've started reading it and it's it's interesting I cannot wait to talk about this more in-depth because I know a lot of people rave about this book and it is Pretty pretty interesting Also for the not-safer work quota, I got prison school volume 10 I know let's move on to trades while we're at it. I had to do it my favorite DC superhero This is Aquaman rebirth volume 5 the crown comes down I'm a little disappointed in this book simply because it's only four issues is three Issues and an annual Come on man from the Hanabarbera universe. It is Jetsons The complete series. This is six issues I've already I had already read the first one when it came out and decided to wait for the trade because it was pretty Frickin interesting next up. I got I think for like real cheap money is The amazing spider-man brand new day volume 3. I did a trade with one of my best friends and I sort of Got rid of a bunch of spider-man stuff and decided to Recollect a series in this Complete collection format. We've got Thanos from Donnie Kates Thanos wins. This everybody talks Very highly of this run, so I'm really itching to get started on that plus that cover that back cover has me intrigued Last month. I did Mention that I was missing this it's Dark Knight's metal the resistance so that effectively Finishes my Dark Knight's collecting I got all four and it's a very Weird way to collect it. I don't mind it, but it's funny that the main series is a deluxe hardcover the other two Batman thing is a standard hardcover Same with the prelude stuff and then the tie-ins are just a chunky trade Okay, now let's move on to hardcovers not a whole lot But some pretty interesting things to show you guys Abe sapien the drowning This is the third and final correct me if I'm wrong the third and final Abe hardcover Really excited to own this Abe being one of my favorite characters in the Hellboy universe I talked about it just now dark days the road to metal from Snyder and gang Yeah, I wasn't going to pay $12 on comics all the G4 just two one shots went for four or five Extra dollars I could get it all bound in a cool-looking hardcover book Amazing spider-man worldwide volume two I stopped at one and and I sort of neglected my spider-man reading So I finally got this to continue my read through and Catch up on the web head this because it was recommended to me Avengers no surrender I'm not a huge Avengers book fan, but I wanted to check it out plus the cover looked interesting enough with Mark Brooks And I guess I will let you guys know if I like it or not also This beauty right here TMNT the IDW collection volume seven finally I did a video last year where I said like hashtag give my gear cover because he hadn't had an actual cover for these books And now he has it's not my favorite of the ones that they've done. I'd like this by the way But it's serviceable. It's good enough. And yes seven of these bad boys the definitive comic book for the Turtles in my honest opinion and this My last hardcover was a pick up from prime day I don't typically care for prime day But from a $50 retail price to get it for I think it was 18 bucks or something like that I wasn't gonna pass it up It is the world of Edina or Edana or however you say it from Mobius Everybody knows about Mobius and and how great he is and all that stuff It isn't necessarily my cup of tea, but the story looked interesting enough and the art in it is Fantastic, so yeah, I will do a video on it eventually. So that's it for books now comes the really really nerdy part I did get for prime day as well brick and morty season three I think this was for like nine dollars, which is what I would pay for this season three blu-ray only and I took advantage of right stuffs Golden week or golden month sale their 31st birthday sale or whatever So I got a bunch of anime and manga some did not arrive. I'll show you eventually Good chunk did though. So yeah, I did get my your academia season two part two on Blu-ray. I didn't have this. I only had seasons one and seasons two part one now I have the whole thing on home media next up I am a big Gundam fan, but I must admit Universal Sentry scared me because it's such a Famous and long-ass universe to watch and collect that I finally said, you know what? 2018 is the year I'm gonna do it I'm gonna grab all the UC stuff that I can and I took the opportunity I took this opportunity with the sale and stuff to get them for a lot cheaper, which is always great. So Here we are This isn't all of it some of it did not arrive in time, but this is a good chunk I'm gonna go buy them real quickly got Mumble suit Gundam movie trilogy because I've this is the stuff that I had seen a few episodes of and I kind of didn't want to Slog through the whole series again So I just picked up the three movies that recap the og Gundam series Got a Zeta Gundam Zeta Gundam part two Char's counter-attack. Oh, you can't see that. There you go We have this one double o83 eighth ms team Bumble suit Gundam the origin. I know there's two episodes missing.  I don't care about the survey card and if you're not gonna give me anything inside at least a nice looking insert Or excuse me a nice looking sleeve Like let me pull it up like my here academia. See I would have been comfortable with this not just a hundred cases Like this where it's just bare bones. I know there's like a limited edition whatever But these are already expensive enough and to get them like this with just the disc on them It's a little down. It's a little bit of a downer Especially if you're a collector or if you just or if you're just a big movie fan and stuff like that I wish the release would have been handled a little bit differently in my honest opinion Last but not least toys or collectibles, whatever you want to call it This was my very first year where I woke up at three in the morning with my friends over at the OmniMust group and we hunted down Online pops for the whole summer convention pop exclusives and all that and I was able to get Three of the ones that I wanted here. We have Gus in pajamas from saga. It's flocked and exclusive And from GameStop. That was hot topic by the way from GameStop. I did get Red Hood Jason Todd himself I also got I got a give a big shout out to my friend Josh for helping me get Captain Caveman From Hanna-Barbera, but that hasn't arrived yet, but I'll show it eventually. So thank you. Thank you Josh I owe you one That's it for this one's haul. I hope it was entertaining like I mentioned if you can Go to my social media stuff and like follow and all that stuff. So you're up to date. Unfortunately, I wish I could tell you Here on YouTube when I'm not gonna be doing stuff But that's that's the downside of having low subscribers but we can change that you can share this content and you can find people that can like and Be subscribed as well to a week in Geekdom here on YouTube guys Thank you so much your subscription your likes comments everything means the world to me you are Amazing and I love for you for it. Thank you. I will catch all of you on our next episode


Hello all and welcome to tomorrow news now in this week's episode Ryan's gonna be lighting up his raptor. I'm gonna not tell you about things you're not supposed to know about. Dr. Tamethyskov is back with space weather and then I'll cruise on out to the end of our episode. Now before we get started just want to let you know of course that if you like us here tomorrow don't forget to subscribe to us, like our videos, share our videos, hit the little notification bell where I think it's over there. You can set it up for all of our videos or just a few videos depending upon what you would like. So let's go ahead and get started with tomorrow news for May 11th 2020 and we're gonna go ahead and head on over to Ryan to start with our SpaceX update. Starship has been burning although it hasn't yet left the launch stand. On May the 7th SpaceX lifts up the Raptor engine on the SN4 vehicle in preparation for a short 150 meter hop coming very soon. This video here really shows the power of the Raptor engine as just one will be able to lift this entire vehicle into the sky. Well it isn't just SN4 that is being worked on as SN6 has made an appearance although it is in individual sections at the moment I have no doubt that the team down in Boca Chica will get that vehicle under construction in no time at all. It's not only the Starship development that is getting me very excited about the future of this company but it is also the special launch coming up in only 17 days. Bob Benken and Doug Hurley the two astronauts who will be traveling on demo mission 2 have completed their final training in Houston. They ran through a full launch simulation in the SpaceX Dragon simulator making sure that they are prepped for everything if anything goes wrong. The Dragon capsule that will be used for DM2 is also going through its own final preparation in Cape Canaveral awaiting the launch of what I believe will be a very historic mission for the new era of space flight. The Dragon capsule and its crew should be on orbit from anywhere between two to three months as NASA are going to have to play a balancing act to serve all of their needs being the need to keep the ISS with enough astronauts for a significant period of time but they also need to certify the Dragon for future human flight and until it is back on earth they can't say that. Just before the next episode is released on May 17th at 0800 UTC SpaceX will be launching styling 7 which will include sunshades on the satellites. More of that will be explained next week but for the time being I believe Jared has some more launches for you. We'll be heading to China this week for a double feature launch and arrival and it's a doozy on May 5th at 10-100 universal time China's largest rocket the Long March 5 lifted off from the Wencheng satellite launch center. This was a big one for China this is a special version of the Long March 5 rocket known as the 5B specifically designed for locking modules for an upcoming space station and their new crewed spacecraft which a prototype was the payload for this flight roughly 21 and a half metric tons on the uphill. The Long March 5B uses a stage and a half method meaning the outside boosters drop off while the center core continues to take its payload to orbit and that worked successfully deploying the prototype spacecraft into low earth orbit. Now one experiment the flexible inflatable cargo reentry vehicle which tested an inflatable heat shield as a means of returning cargo from that upcoming space station was reported to have failed but the prototype crewed spacecraft passed with flying colors raising its orbit to nearly 8,000 kilometers in altitude and re-entering the earth's atmosphere at nine kilometers per second. It came down under three parachutes and unlike China's current Shenzhou spacecraft it deployed six airbags to soften its landing instead of the usual landing rockets. That touchdown occurred at 0549 universal time on May 8th in China's inner Mongolia region. So far all reports have been calling the flight a total success. Of note because of that stage and a half design the core stage of the Long March 5 rocket does actually make it all the way to orbit and it is not controlled at any point after that. That means that when it performs its re- entry it will be uncontrolled and it's pretty big actually it's 30 meters long five meters in diameter and weighs about 20 metric tons so the last time we had something that big performing an uncontrolled re-entry was Space Station Mir and luckily we can report that earlier today that core stage did re-enter into the Atlantic Ocean just off of the west coast of Africa. And here are this week's upcoming launches. What I'm about to tell you is top secret.  Got it? Okay no worries I'm confused too. But you know what isn't top secret the United States Air Force has their own little mini shuttle called the X-37B. Now most of the time on those flights we don't really get a lot of details. The payloads on them are classified even which of the X-37Bs that the United States Air Force has two of that's also classified as to which one is flying which mission. So you would imagine for the upcoming six flight OTV-6 we're not going to know about any of the payloads on board they're all going to be classified right? Well nope we actually know about a few of them. The two NASA experiments are going to be on board with this flight one of those will expose materials to the conditions of space another will expose seeds to radiation. The Naval Research Laboratory is flying a prototype for a system that would turn solar power into radio microwave energy for transmitting to earth a little mini test of space-based solar power which if you know someone who lived through the 70s or is a big fan of Gerard K. O'Neill ask them about space-based solar power and the US Air Force they're also going to have a small satellite on board Falcon sat 8 which will be deployed. The rest of the experiments you guessed it classified so uh yeah we don't know but one cool thing that we do know about this mission that has not been done before is that this specific X-37B is going to be flying with a service module where a lot of these experiments are going to be hanging out at did you see it in all the photos see there it isn't yep you guessed right we know that there's a service module there because the United States Air Force has said yes we're flying it on this X-37B but what does it look like well that's classified it's literally right below the bottom of all of these pictures and no pictures please and I thought visiting SpaceX and Hawthorne with Stringen. The X-37B is one of the United States Air Force's crown jewels in terms of being able to do research and development and experimentation and I'm really looking forward to those materials experiments that NASA is going to be performing on board and you know what affects materials out in space is space weather so let's go ahead and go to Dr. Tamethascoe for this week's space weather update. After a little bit of a reprieve space weather this week is definitely beginning to pick up as we switch to our front side sun you can see a finger-like chrono hole in the south that is now rotating into the Earth strike zone and it's been sending us some fast solar wind on just over the past day or so and that fast solar wind is definitely kicking Aurora up especially at high latitudes it's also affecting the near-Earth space environment and along with a remnant chrono hole that's continuing to rotate in through the Earth strike zone over the next couple days expect for these kind of disturbed conditions to continue. Now as we switch to our far-sided sun now this is Therio A and it's looking at the sun from the side you can see yet another finger-like chrono hole from the south that is beginning to rotate into Earth view and it should give us some more disturbances here probably in about a week or so but pretty much other than that the sun has been pretty spotless except for the last couple days you can see some stuff on the east limb beginning to rotate into Therios view these are bright regions that were on the Earth-facing disc about a week ago and they had boosted the solar flux up quite a bit so they have managed to survive their far-sighted passage and they will be rotating back into Earth view here in less than a week so amateur radio operators and emergency responders hey keep your fingers crossed because it looks like we're going to get a boost in radio propagation. And now for your Leo, Mio, Geo orbit outlook. As we switch to our low energy environment now these are the particles that charge up the outside of spacecraft including the solar arrays that then can discharge and cause disruptions and electrical short circuits. As we look at the particle fluxes you can see that big ring around Geo that's building and it even is beginning to dip into the Mio orbits and this is because we have that fast solar wind that just keeps coming but it's not a big enough solar storm to cause any flushing so again the orbit's just getting worse and worse and worse with these fluxes you can see the injections especially in the pre-dawn regions so you satellite operators especially for Geo orbits and possibly into Mio orbits expect some surface charging issues here over the next couple days. Now as we switch to our higher energy environment now these are the particles that end up penetrating a bit more deeply and can cause like things like single event upsets and cause performance degradation these particles are also beginning to build up you can see that red ring just inside of Geo moving down into the Mio orbits so we're not expecting anything quite yet within it comes to internal charging but definitely over the next few days as this fast solar wind continues to pummeled earth expect issues with internal charging maybe even over the next week. For more details on this week's space weather including when and where to see aurora and how space traffic is going to fare come check out my channel or see me at spaceweatherwoman.com Usually when we're talking about space flight celebrities that's something that just never pops up but if you have paid attention to NASA in the past week you'll know that in an official capacity they have acknowledged that they are presently working with Tom Cruz to figure out how to actually film an action adventure movie on board of the International Space Station. Now there's been nothing official as in who's going to be going and what's actually going to be happening on the station but those talks they are actually underway and SpaceX and its Crew Dragon may be involved as well. Details are very scarce regarding specifics but last year NASA did approve allowing private astronauts to spend up to a month aboard the International Space Station and Crew Dragon is able to fly for astronauts at a time so you could potentially send Tom Cruz two members of a film crew and a professional astronaut up on the same launch. Now Tom Cruz is really well known in the movie industry for doing his own stunts when he was hanging off of that plane in Mission Impossible Rogue Nation he really was hanging off of that plane and in the last movie when he did that halo jump he actually really did do the halo jump. But if Tom does head to the International Space Station to film a movie you might be surprised to learn that this will not be the first film shot in space. In 2009 astronaut Richard Garrett who bought a seat on a Soyuz in a two-week stay on the ISS for a cool 30 million dollars made a nine-minute short film called Apigee of Fear while on board with three of the astronauts participating in front of and behind the camera and you can actually watch it on YouTube I'll go ahead and include a link in the description of our video here it is a bit cheesy but hey it's the real deal and it was shot in space and it's really a good reason to you know maybe give astronauts some acting lessons. But even before 2009 there actually was a film that was shot partially in space back in 1983 a soviet film called Return from Orbit was released and it's about the salutes space station getting hit by a micrometroid impact which damages a whole bunch of systems injures the commander on board and the astronauts have to figure out a way to get home. Anyway that sounds quite like a familiar movie that might have been made 30 years later in 2013. Now some of the shots in that movie were actually shot on board of salutes 7 by the crew of Soyuz T9. And to wrap up this week's space news I of course want to thank all of you who helped contribute to the shows here at tomorrow. We really can't do this without you each and every one of you who does so you are amazing and it's greatly appreciated. Seriously I wouldn't even be able to do this out of my garage if it wasn't for all of you. Now if you'd like to contribute to the shows of tomorrow head on over to youtube.com slash tmro slash join to do so and check out all the great rewards we have available to you at the different levels of support and of course watching our shows liking subscribing setting up notifications and sharing our videos everywhere is one way that you can help as well. And that's Miko for this edition of tomorrow news thank you so much for watching this week and remember stay healthy stay safe and keep exploring.


Hi, I'm Rusty Komori, and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou Boys Varsity Tennis Team for 22 years, and we're fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. My book is about leadership, creating a superior culture of excellence, and finding greatness, which is what this show is all about. My special guest today is a very successful business owner and the president of Staffing Solutions of Hawaii. She is Lisa Tron Cratcher, and today we are going beyond employment. Hey, Lisa, welcome to Beyond the Lines. Aloha. Alisa, how are you doing? I know you for a few years now, but I want to know about your early years growing up. Yes, early years. So I was born and raised in Loma Linda, California, so I was originally from the mainland. However, I got the great opportunity to move to Hawaii, so I feel connected to Hawaii, and we moved here in 2008. So growing up, I'm from Vietnam. My family is from Vietnam, and during the fall season in 1975, they immigrated to Loma Linda, California, and that's where my parents had four daughters, so a family of five, including myself, and we grew up in a small and quaint Christian town, really healthcare centered and family Ohana centered, and so that was my upbringing. We structured very Christian and family oriented. And Lisa, you played tennis in high school as well, right? I did. You know, coming from a family of five daughters, my dad was an avid tennis player, and he always wanted a boy. He tried five times. So weekend, we would go to the tennis course to have fun, and that's all I remember growing up. It's on the courts, on the weekends with my family, and in high school, I wasn't that great of a player, but I made it in and did my best, and it was really fun. Oh, that's great.  So my first job, my favorite frozen yogurt place was called TCBY, and I came in, it was a hot summer day, came in, I had a smile on my face, I was excited to get frozen yogurt and the owner of the company said, Hey, are you looking for a job? I really like every time you come in here, you have a great personality, and you always have a smile on your face. I said, Sure. So I went ahead and took it, and I took the job, and loved making the frozen yogurt and putting extra toppings on for all my friends. Oh, I wish I knew you back then, Lisa, then I would have a lot of TCBY. Now, Lisa, let's talk about your family.  Can you tell me about them? Oh, yeah, I came here to Hawaii in 2008 and, you know, I was single at the time and I was very fortunate to just find my, my lifetime partner and partner in crime and we got married and have two kids, one is seven and one is three. And Noah is seven years old. He's in first grade now and Kaia is three years old and thinking that she is older than her brother. Oh, so cute. You have such a beautiful family, Lisa.   And she owned a franchise, Remedy. You should, you heard of Remedy Staffing, we'll see. So it's a franchise and she owned it for 10 years. She got a special offer from the president saying, if you make president's club for so many years, you can rename the company after 10 years. And so there she did. She after 10 years, she made president's club, renamed the staffing solutions of Hawaii, kept all the clients and she really built the business from scratch. Coming from the mainland herself, she was, she had 40 years of staffing experience and she came in to Hawaii with no book of business. And she just did a fantastic job handing it over to myself and just we have such loyal clients. And I just can't thank her enough for just showing me the way and being my mentor.  And I want to know, Lisa, what, what are all of the services that your company provides? Well, we, we're a staffing firm. So we do temp, temp to hire, direct hire, executive recruitment as well as payroll. So we work with all industries. We work with banks, we work with health care, finance industries, insurance companies, hospitality, any, any industry that has offers person personnel, we help. So anywhere from entry, office assistant to data entry to mid-level admin to managers and also to C-level positions as well. Now, Lisa, how is this coronavirus situation affecting your business at the moment? It is really taking, we were really taking a hit from coronavirus. With the essential workers, we were still staffing for those. But the non-essential, all our clients are putting on hold and all the jobs. So our revenue and business has dropped significantly. And we're trying to maintain the best we can to service our clients with what we have. And with the unemployment over 30%, we also, we're also getting a lot of job seekers. So we, we have a big Canada pool right now. We can staff. So we're just waiting for the economy to open up and so that we can start hiring again and helping our clients and we start the economy.  And I'm sure you're, you're definitely doing that. But is there, you know, can you share with me an insight about what you're doing? Well, I think we're doing what a lot of leaders are doing in town. We're trying to work remote, that's number one, and trying to get laptops out to our, we're working 80% of my internal staff right now is working remote. So they're doing a great job. They're, they're, they're going above and beyond what I can even imagine, even before working at home. They're meeting, they're doing what they can to do, do interviews remotely, using all the technology, Skype, Zoom, Teams on Microsoft 365. Not only that, but onboarding HR is also going online. So really incorporating the technology and HR and recruitment. We're definitely doing that with ease. For the Kahumalama side, also we're seeing essential workers. And so we're not, we're not seeing that big of a hit on Kahumalama side. In fact, we're getting more orders for ICU, ER positions as well. Another insight, not just working remotely, but just really taking the time to appreciate our staff and take things one step at a time, really getting connected to the community. I'm just so surprised that there are so many resources out there with all the HR laws with the COVID-19, with the state and federal laws, the sick, the paid sick leave law that is brand new, the PPP, Fundings and all the loans. I think the community is really coming together. And as leaders, I think we're putting down any kind of guard up, and we're helping each other as a whole. And Lisa, you know, I hear that a lot of people love working with you. You have, you've put together a great team. And I want to know what is your culture of excellence like in your workplace? Oh, that we, we like to work hard and play hard as you know. They're working events, you see us really having fun. And that's just how we create our culture of excellence. Number one priority is our clients, our job seekers and our clients. And when I started Staffing Solutions, there were really no, there was not a mission, mission value to the company. And I think by my background being in process improvement and being in several corporate environments and having that corporate feel, I had a chance to take and utilize what I've learned and just implement it as my own company. And I really care for my team. So I created a mission, mission values and five of our team values is people integrity, achievement, balance and passion. And we hire when you have the passion. And I think it starts from there. So if you have the passion to help people, if you have the passion to recruit, it starts there. And then when we hire you, we really have a great training process. And we have a great, we have a great team to bounce ideas. And we work more as a team versus individually. So I think it just starts from there. Oh, you're totally right, Lisa.  They just absolutely love you. They love going to work. So I know you have a great culture of excellence there. And I want to ask you more about what you mentioned about having balance as one of your values because I think that's so important. And like you said, you like to work hard and play hard. And how do you really have balance for your team members? I think it starts with being flexible with everyone's personal needs as well as really creating a team environment with goals, clear to find goals, and as a whole, and getting input from the team. When there's initiative that rolls out, I'm first to say, oh, let's ask the team. Let's take a poll. Let's see what the team needs. You know, I have an idea in my mind, but I'm always asking what the team needs. And it's an ever-changing environment and, you know, workers today are different with their needs and wants than 10 years ago or from now. So just keeping up to speed with everyone's needs and wants and also technology. I think that's where we work hard and we play hard because we know we're meeting the goals. So every year we have a strategic meeting and the strategic meeting outlines our quarterly goals. And through these quarterly goals, we reach them quarter by quarter. And when we don't reach them, we really think outside the box and we don't get ourselves down. And it's a team effort. And I think that's where it starts. I think knowing our goals and achieving it. And a few years ago, it was the first time that they achieved their strategic meeting goals and we went to Kauai. I took the whole team to Kauai and we had such a great time. And just last year, we went to Maui as well. Well, you know, right there, Lisa, how you said that, you know, you want to understand their needs and wants. And then, you know, so you're helping them individually, which helps the whole team collectively. And then how much you care for them by going to Kauai, like you said. And let's talk about another value that you mentioned earlier about passion. I know that you have a huge passion for helping people. Why is that? Does that make you feel really fulfilled to help people? Yeah, I think it all comes down to you asked me about my childhood. And I think it comes down to my background and how my parents were so caring and they were giving people and how I was raised. And everybody around us, we were just caring with the healthcare community. It's all about caring. And I just kind of grew up in that environment. And it's also in my heart as well. You take me outside the business and as a friend. I'm always the one to help my friends. I'm always the one who coronates everything and make everyone have a good time. When I was younger, I was the bartender, you know, things like that. So that's a fun fact. But yeah, I think having the passion helping people, I think it comes within. And it just makes me feel good when I can see people achieve their goals. And with my team, one of the things that we do and I implemented is quarterly one-on-ones and it's coaching from a career standpoint. And there has been several examples where I have created a job because of helping my team member achieve their goal. And because enough that my business was able to expand to expand as big as to create, let's say an HR role or a training role or marketing role. You know, we're more staffing. So I recruit more recruiters. So being able to expand in different specialty areas and having a cross-functional team and cross-training really makes a team motivated and drives them. I like hearing that, Lisa. Lisa, we're going to take a quick break and then when we come back, we're going to continue going beyond employment, okay? Yeah. You are watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii with my special guest, Lisa Tron Cratcher. We will be back in a quick minute. Aloha. I'm Lillian Cumick, host of Lillian's Vegan World, the show where we talk about veganism and the plant-based diet located in Honolulu, Hawaii. I'm a vegan chef and cooking instructor and I have lots of information to share with you about how awesome this plant-based diet is. So do tune in every second Thursday from 1 p.m. Aloha. Welcome back to Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. My special guest today is the president of Staffing Solutions of Hawaii. She is Lisa Tron Cratcher and today we are going beyond employment. Lisa, I want you to tell me about Kahumalama Nurses and how that's your sister company now. Yeah, Kahumalama Nurses has been around for 37 years and is one of the leading healthcare staffing firms here in Hawaii and I was very fortunate my second time around acquiring a business and it happened last July when Kathie Leong approached me and she was also a client of mine and acquaintance as well. We work in the same building so we knew of each other for the past 10 years and she was retiring and she wanted to know if I wanted an opportunity to assume the the company and you know coming from a healthcare background that was also my plan to one day expand in the healthcare division staffing and it just came at the right time and sometimes timing is everything and one conversation led to the next and Kathie is a great mentor she had a great team and great book of business and people really you know people healthcare professionals are always looking to Kahumalama Nurses so it was just a or just an easy decision for me to acquire. That's great to hear Lisa and Lisa I want to talk to you about my books and I need to get you my second book now beyond the game but you know in the books I talk about welcoming adversity and looking forward to challenges I want to know what is a personal challenge that you have to overcome you know on your way to achieving success. I think that's that's a hard question Rusty because there's been you know there's a lot of challenges yeah but I think if I were to just pick one challenge that resonated throughout my whole career was just being a woman and not being able to change that I'm a woman and really really moving up as a woman leader prior to owning a business you know working myself up to be manager level and also getting the respect that men normally have but owning I think I think owning a business being a woman in Hawaii not growing up here has been my biggest challenge because Hawaii is so tight knit and for me for me to just dive into a community that's already tight knit everybody knows each other that was a huge challenge having the challenge being a woman and my age at the time and just having that network but overcoming that is really one of my biggest successes as well and just not being afraid to get to know people and just being yourself and not being worried about what people think or or anything like that and just showcasing your own self and being honest with yourself and treat others like how you would treat yourself I think that is my biggest success is to thrive in Hawaii and to be a woman owned business for both locally women owned business I think that has been my challenge and my success I like hearing that and Lisa you definitely have earned big time respect from a lot of other business owners here in Hawaii and you've been doing fantastic and Lisa I want to talk to you about communication in my second book I talk about the three C's of leadership and communication is one of the C's and for me when I was a coach you know I'd like to share you know everything with my team you know what I'm thinking what I'm feeling so that there's no misperceptions no misunderstandings and I know you're the same way what are the what are your thoughts about how important communication is as a leader well I agree with you 100 I think sometimes I have my heart on my sleeve I'm not just communication but my emotion and sometimes that's what I need to pull back as a leader is my emotions and really really just communicate as a leader so that there will that there that I do gain respect but I do have a big heart too and so I think communication has always been my strength I'm always communicating I'm always wanting clear lines and clear communication amongst my managers and also their direct reports I like to brainstorm I like to do processes I like to draw map out the whole process improvement map I like policy procedures I like training manuals those are all communication and part of being a good leader is to leave your knowledge behind so that so that you can train other leaders to lead effectively as well also I'm also big on personality assessments and really knowing the psychological aspect of communication as well because without knowing that you can't really communicate with someone as effectively if you think everyone is like you you know you can be an extrovert introvert there's just so much of communication people think and not everyone is good at communication and that's not their fault but just really guiding them to know what to look for and communication can also be body language it could be your inflections of how you speak and and just everything so communication overall is really important Rusty no I love I love hearing that and Lisa you know through these years what's one of the best experiences that stands out for you as being president of staffing solutions for all these years now I think the best I think the the best thing I can think of Rusty is just make an impact making an impact in the community helping people find jobs and being involved with the YWCA with with RISE and trust for success and just helping the incarcerated woman get back into the workforce helping aloha united way and helping boys and girls club helping others achieve what they think that they cannot achieve and it's not just employment but it's just a mindset as well um a strong mindset you can do whatever you set your mind to and whatever you're passionate about I think that really resonates with me and I think that that really makes that really gets me going um my internal team too seeing where I mean sometimes it working as staffing solutions is a stepping stone sometimes they're only here for a year or less but you join that year or last they learn so much that they're on to bigger and better things so to speak um but the ones are here for long term they're even two three five you know six years plus they are learning so much within and just seeing their growth from day one to when they leave me I think that's also been a really satisfying um satisfying role that I've seen as being a leader here Lisa what's what's something valuable that you've learned in life so far to never give up because sometimes life throws you curve balls and and and things that you you feel down and out but life would never ever be peachy all the time before a period a short period of time but you know just to never give up um and just do it kind of like what Nike says just do it but um just never give up and always have a good mindset and things will get better um and stay true to yourself I think that's what I've learned in in everything especially through this corona virus and staying at home and work from home um this whole situation has really brought out um other valuable lessons for me as well yeah I mean whatever you want to achieve just go for it right Lisa yeah I wouldn't have thought that I'd be owning two businesses in Hawaii uh let's say even 12 years ago I wouldn't I wouldn't even imagine I wouldn't imagine that I would have a family and kids two beautiful kids who you know I adore and during this time just teaching them and doing the distance learning has also really made me reflect on me as a mother and juggling my time between being a mother and a business owner has been really challenging too but it's been also rewarding Lisa I want to ask you one more thing okay besides family who is someone that you greatly admire I greatly admire Walt Disney yeah because I'm a I'm a Disney fan and not only that but Walt Disney created the whole Disney film and um it's it's you know without his vision of creating a place where is the happiest place on earth um without having that that dream um then we wouldn't be able to enjoy what he's created I'm now leaving a legacy so I really look up to his business mind and also his creativity as well as his wrist that he took and just everything he did with him and and his legacy that he's left behind I love that answer about uh Walt Disney that's it he's so inspiring I mean I'm who doesn't love Walt Disney and Disneyland and Disney World right Lisa I want to thank you so much for taking time uh to share your insights and being on Beyond the Lines today you definitely go beyond the lines and really want to thank you Lisa thank you Rusty it's great being on here thank you for having me and thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii for more information please visit RustyKamori.com and my books are available on Amazon Barnes and Noble and BooksHawaii.net I hope that Lisa and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs aloha


First press conference for physicians, friends, physicians, friends and family for a better Vermont My name is Guy Page. I'm the advocacy director We have a lineup of speakers Which has changed a little bit due to the weather and We'll ask you to hold your questions until afterwards Okay First thing I wanted to point out is The latest news I believe I sent you a link of the Emerson College poll that finds that a majority of Respondents do not support marijuana legalization of any kind in a when decriminalization is an option and To us that's very significant news In Vermont where we are a decrim state the second thing I wanted to point out we have the Jonathan Colkins of the Rand Corporation gave a presentation to the Vermont Department of Health earlier this week and One of the One of the presentations that he he offered Had to do with what is going on in Washington, DC Washington DC, of course legalized personal use and One of the arguments made in house judiciary this year was we need to Legalize because too many Young people especially young people of color are being arrested and it's just it's just not fair What they have discovered in Washington, DC is that Arrests went up from 142 for Public intoxication of marijuana to 400 in one year after legalization Including many people of color so the idea that there's going to be fewer arrests in a Personal use Legalization environment has not been borne out in fact quite the opposite And the question could be asked why why has that happened? I think The best answer I've heard so far is frankly. It's just spillover more people are using it and They're coming out in the streets and State of public intoxication and more arrests are happening. They are also more arrests for For possession and sale as well so Now the third point that I was going to raise before we get to our speakers was on Some information that we are developing on drug recognition experts It is 90% done, but I'm afraid I'm sorry to tell you it's not completely ready yet My hope is that early Next week sometime I'll be able to send that to you and the gist of it is that DREs are a good program, but there there may be some some issues as far as How it will work in Vermont and David were to UVM researcher professor child psychiatrist With scheduled to come and deliver this paper He has been stopped by the storm unfortunately I'm going to read it and then I'll give anyone who wants copies and I can forward it to you as well David or to MD. I've been asked to say a little bit about what science actually knows on the link between marijuana use and opiate use I Know that it would be very helpful and convenient for some people to believe that cannabis use might actually help from a serious problem with opiates But unfortunately the weight of the science leads to the opposite conclusion That is not to deny the existence of the many people who use cannabis without developing opiate addictions Or to deny the existence of some people who have been able to substitute opiate use for cannabis However, when you are making policy You need to look at the net effects and the research indicates that overall more cannabis leads to more drug problems Not less and these problems include opiate addiction This evidence comes from three main sources first Research in animals that indicate that marijuana primes the brain to seek out more drugs Second a number of systematic research studies many of them quite new are showing that marijuana use at at time More than doubles the risk of opiate use disorder three to four years later Even after controlling for other factors It nearly triples the risk among people with pain Third there are troubling state statistics that are being reported more and more in 2016 for example Colorado witnessed the highest number of opiate overdose deaths in history This research parallels what we are already seeing in Vermont such as the recently disclosed Toxicology report showing high levels of both marijuana and opiates in the driver responsible for one of the most horrific crashes in the state's recent history Sure, it's possible to find studies that do not support these conclusions Just like you can find studies that don't support global warming But it is important to look at the overall conclusions made by people who are in the best position To evaluate the totality of the evidence and who are not subject to personal or financial conflicts of interest when it comes to marijuana Even if you accept the assertion that the science is not completely settled on this issue a Sensible response might be that this is a good reason not to plunge ahead with a political decision That would be nearly impossible When I work with adolescents in practice I try to help them resist the pressure when peers tell them to do something because everyone else is doing it, too I feel like our state government needs that support now There are a lot of hermoners who really do not believe the answer for our drug problem is more drugs To our elected officials I want to remind them that this message is out there now in this room If you go ahead with legalization Nobody is going to buy the excuse five or ten years from now that you were misled by a well-financed Lobbying effort telling you the same thing that cigarette companies told you decades ago You'll need to own this yourself However, I think I can speak for everyone standing here that years from now all of us would be much more content saying Thank you to our legislature than I told you so That was testimony of David were to dr. David, too. I will hand you all Copies of that and if you need it in electronic version, I can send it to you as well our next speaker is Dr. John Hughes who is an Eminent researcher researcher and expert on drug addiction at the University of Vermont Thank you. I'm a professor here at UVM and Do clinical work in helping people stop? Drug problems and do research in that area as well We've done studies on marijuana. For example UVM was one of the first Places to describe and document that there is a marijuana withdrawal syndrome and that withdrawal syndrome Can lead people to not be able to function normally So what I want to talk about mostly today is the harms and the reason I want to do that is whenever we have a Possibly we want to talk about the risk and the benefits and we'll talk about someone talk about the harms first and the benefits later But the major thing I want to do is echo what what Dave said Dave said you can have studies this way and have studies that way but what are the experts do what are the people that have no conflicts and Vermont we have seven medical societies who have been against legalization Now one of the things has the legislature proposed that seven medical societies have said no to doing that So I and I think that comes from several places. Okay first is that when we legalize the substance we make it less have less of a Of a stigma and and so when we do that we're going to increase use Now 10% of people who begin marijuana will become addicted to it at some point in their life So if we have a thousand kids Who use marijuana who wouldn't normally have used marijuana? That means there's going to be a hundred extra people coming to meet for treatment And right now at UVM we have a waiting list of a hundred to two hundred people trying to get into treatment for opioids And now we're going to add another hundred or more for this problem as well Just doesn't make any sense the other thing is That when we increase availability, we're going to increase the problems even if it's well-intentioned So Vermont is a wonderful example that we have a terrible opioid problem And where did that opioid problem arise it arose in part because about 10 or 15 years ago We were encouraged that we were not treating pain adequately And we needed to do a better job of that and the way to do a better job of that was to more freely use opioids Now that was a well-intentioned effect But it had a side effect and that side effect was whenever you increase the availability drug you're going to have problems And that's because when you increase marijuana use you're just going to have more people walking around intoxicated And when you have more intoxicated people you're going to have more car problem car accidents You're going to have more people kid shooting fewer kids that are able to complete high school or college It's just it's just gonna it's just an inevitable Inevitability that that's going to happen The other thing is That we do know American Psychiatric Association and several other organizations have Shown that increasing marijuana use we're not exactly sure that it causes mental illness But we certainly know two things one is it makes it worse There's no doubt about that especially Sarkozy's and secondly it makes it much harder to treat if you have a if you currently use marijuana My ability to get you better is really much much less than it would be otherwise now I think the other thing that we forget about this issue is that Many people in the past have used marijuana when they were younger and The marijuana they were using back younger is what I call over-the-counter marijuana What we have now is we have prescription strength marijuana that's four to five times more Jimmy's stronger and so when you have that Increased dosage Just like with any drug you're going to have increased problems And so when we think about oh, we're just going to have people at night using this low-grade marijuana That's not what's going to happen. What's going to happen is with that higher grade. You're going to have much more addiction Now, how about the benefits? What are the benefits for legalization? So we have decriminalization and to me we got it right with decriminalization What I want to know is what's going wrong now with decriminalization? It's not like we're resting kids and throwing them in jail. That doesn't happen anymore. So what's the benefit? Well?  That's not the same thing with drug use You cannot talk about recreational drug use without Acknowledging the side effects that you're going to have So let me finish by going back to one of the things I said at the beginning is that you have expert groups Where there's the American Medical Association? Vermont Medical Society's American Psychiatric Association all of whom agree on one thing and that is if you increase Availability of marijuana use you're going to increase problems. Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Hughes and now We have someone whose whose life Darrell Rogers whose life has been Tragically impacted by marijuana abuse and I will let Darrell give a Tell his own story. Do you know what it's like? Very one of your children I do Do you know what it's like? To walk into the funeral home walk up to the casket lay your hand on your child's chest Feel his feel his cold Step lifeless body. I do. Do you know what it's like?  I buried my mother and my father and I loved them dearly and that hurt Over the years. I've attended the funerals of many family and friends But nothing could prepare me For the intense pain That I would go through the day that I learned that my oldest son Chase had died in a wreck And it's a pain that never goes away I've talked to other parents who've lost children. It doesn't matter if it's been 20 years 30 years The pain is still there It's a pain that never goes away What was it? That cost my son Chase his life It was his decision to use marijuana. There's no doubt about that in my mind Not a doubt at all. I saw What marijuana did to Chase at one time he was a vibrant Active young man with ambitions, but I saw marijuana steal his ambitions He became he went to a place where All he wanted to do was just the minimum to get by every day just so he can lay around and smoke his weed Just as long as he could do that. That was all he needed That's where he went to I had the opportunity To get to hang out with some of his friends spend some time with some of his friends and get to know them You know what they all have one thing in common. That was marijuana and you know what else they had in common They couldn't hold down a job For any length of time Not only could they not hold down a job some of them wouldn't be able to tell you where they would be spending the night tonight They would not be able to tell you where their next meal is coming from Some of them in and out of jail in and out of rehab. I Had the chance to get to know them really really well I took one of them into my own home and I took money out of my pocket to send him to California to Los Angeles to pay for him to go into treatment. He spent one week there One week is all he lasted. I also saw a marijuana effect. I saw it impair my son Chase's judgment In fact, one of the last things that he did was go to the park with some friends and smoke a bowl of weed And after that Guess what he did? He took his car keys and put them in the hands of an 18-year-old young woman Who had never even had a driver's license and he knew that she didn't have a driver's license Another young man got in the back chase got in the front passenger seat of his own car And he allowed this young woman to drive them into rush hour traffic on a busy afternoon She drove what used to be my dad's car off the road at 70 miles per hour and they hit a tree Chase was killed instantly It took firefighters almost an hour to get the three occupants out of the car Seven months after that wreck and only a few weeks prior to what would have been her first court appearance that young woman poured gasoline all over the floor of her apartment and ignited it She died the next day in the hospital.  You know what? It's great, but I personally I don't need any of that because I saw with my own two eyes What it did to my son? I've seen what it's done to his friends. I've been here to Vermont before I Came in mid-October. I went to about I was here for seven days and I made 15 different appearances. I Went to your high schools some of your high schools here And I spoke and I talked to some of the young people there You know why I'm not getting paid to do this. I Came here because I care about those kids And I care about you. I don't want to see you end up in the same position. I'm in I Don't want you to be the one next because it could be your child It or it could be your grandchild who's killed by a stone driver It could be your child or your grandchild who's next they could be the ones who are introduced by some of their teenage friends to marijuana and as a result of that end up trying harder drugs and then Overdosing you don't know how many parents I've talked to you have that same story. I Don't want you to be the one To experience those things that I've experienced Where you walk up to that casket? With your dead child's body inside think carefully Think carefully about the choices that you're about to make Because it will have a lasting impact on your children and your grandchildren on the youth of Vermont on the future of this country Thank you. The person who organized that tour for Darrell was a Vermonda named Bob Orlick who's right here and He will be reading to us a letter from me a position at ground zero in Pueblo, Colorado Name is Karen Randall and we hope at some point that maybe she can come up to Vermont But in the meantime Bob's going to read a letter from her Karen would have liked to been here, but she couldn't be and The purpose of her being here would they give a window so and was her idea that looking through that window You could see what Vermont would be like if They go down this road Karen Karen worked works in the third largest emergency practice in the state of Colorado and She was 18 years at Henry Ford as a teaching physician She did a residency in PD pediatrics and in emergency room Medicine she has a unique perspective She writes this and it'll be in the first person. Thank you for allowing me to speak via written word I'm sorry. I could not be there in person. I'm both trained in pediatrics and emergency medicine I've been the boots on the ground in the emergency department of Colorado since 2013 and have seen rapid and significant changes in my community We know from both the tobacco industry and the alcohol industry the true cost to society are almost impossible to calculate We know that DUI and automobile accidents have increased in the last four years We know that youth usage despite a decline in the US is up in states that have legalized The use of marijuana is being normalized and our youth children are following suit and using more healthy kids survey in 2015 showed that 64 percent of kids in high schools in Pueblo County, Colorado Say that getting marijuana would be easy or very easy and without a doubt We know that repeated use while a youth actually anyone less than 25 years of age may lead to long-term changes in the brain These changes affect the judgment center among others make making decisions about risky behavior more difficult We know that kids who use are at a markedly increased risk of addiction We know that marijuana products are being found in junior and high schools with increasing frequency The edible products of the vaping products make it possible for the kids to use right there in the classroom Ask a teacher get the opinion of a Colorado teacher about how legalized marijuana has changed the classroom We know that local businesses have had increasingly difficult time finding employees to work Who can pass a drug urine test our business here has had to screen one business had to screen over 70 applicants to fill three positions We know that utilization of emergency services in the hospital have increased from everything from acute psychosis to overdoses to cannabinoid hyperemesis You may sit back and think that since you don't use marijuana it won't affect you But it will we're all paying the increased hospital costs the Medicare Costs via increased premiums increased usage of Medicare or Medicaid We are paying more here for car insurance We're paying for loss of productive time for individuals that choose to smoke marijuana all day every day And if you are one of your children happens to get addicted? Yes addicted You and your family will pay a lot of money for rehab and drug treatment programs hoping that they work So many of my friends and co-workers have spent their entire retirement accounts to pay for these services Leaving them in an age where they can't retire You may have to wait longer an emergency department for your emergency care because I will be taking care of the acutely Psychotic patient who is in danger to himself and others Your children will have to be so very digital Diligent because marijuana is everywhere and use of marijuana as being normalized by so many people There is no question that they will be exposed to marijuana products and be exposed at a much younger age Briefly look at the environment. We were promised that legal marijuana would cut down on the number of illegal grows We know that this is not true. You don't need to take my word for it You can Google the the Department of Natural Resources that illegal grows. They are all over California and Colorado These grows also bring you illegal pesticides chemicals Considered too toxic to be legal in the US from other countries. They're being used to grow their plants They run off of these plants Leading to toxic chemicals in the water tables and local vegetation, which will ultimately make it into the food chain and into your body Legalized marijuana has been here since 2014. I've been working here from before 2014 to the present time. We were promised so many things to date our schools have not improved our roads are not safer Our jails are crowded to overfilling not to mention falling apart in Colorado is posting a huge budget deficit this year Look at the highway statistics look at the Department of Natural Resources and illegal grows Look at the new and emerging medical complications from the use of high-dose THC products After all of this ask yourself why your politicians are so eager to pass this legislation Ask them for full disclosure. Do they own participate have partnership in the marijuana industry? Why are they doing this? Are they receiving money from the industry? Are there family members involved? I think that you may be surprised by the results that you would hear. Yes, a few people will make a lot of money From the marijuana industry, but the likelihood is that you will pay for that industry Even if you don't use marijuana products, is that what you want? I extend my personal public invitation for the governor or lieutenant governor to come and spend a day with me and see the End point of Colorado's legislation with regards to marijuana. I would like them to come to work with me They can come to the innumerable homeless sites throughout our state They can go to our local Walmart and speak to people living in broken down campers in the parking lot They then can come to my house, and I will show them in a legal grow house that is less than a thousand feet from my home To the legislative branch considering legalization of any sort be diligent be informed look beyond what seems like You know great revenue understand that all ramifications of legalization Listen to what the teachers the doctors the police department the fire departments and parents of Colorado Experiencing have you wondered why so many of these people are speaking out? Really get to know what you're getting into Decide if that's what you want for your children in your neighborhood be informed and thank you for your time Karen Randall, and I have copies For anybody We have a Vermont drug expert drug abuse prevention expert Ginny Burley with us and She will now Her area of expertise So I have a little disclaimer here I'm a last-minute sub in this role because I live in East Montpilier and could get here and Mariah Sanderson who was going to fill this role lives in Burlington and could not So Catherine this just went closed So I'm going to read a borrowed speech on a borrowed computer because I believe that the Role of substance prevention is critical in this conversation We in the prevention community and I work at a prevention community here in Montpilier are Committed to preventing increase in youth use of all substances So I'll skip the part about her kids and get right to That prevention community is concerned about the direction our state and our country are taking with marijuana policy I believe that if we continue to ignore science and rush to legalize marijuana It will be one of the biggest public health mistakes of at least my lifetime Research very clearly shows that legalization increases access to the substance and that increased access Equals increased use Our nation's legal drugs are more accessible available and are viewed as safer because they are legal So they are used at dramatically higher rates than our illegal ones If like me you've read the Vermont health impact assessment of marijuana legalization You know that legalization does not bring good news for our state's long-term outcomes It predicts that legalization will bring increases in youth use traffic crashes, ER visits, mental health issues, addiction Treatment needs and worsening academic performance Before Vermont moves any further toward policies that increase access to marijuana We have to address the health impacts Of increased use and increased addiction from this policy change Smart marijuana policies should recognize that marijuana use has ill effects on health and should be discouraged The rate of marijuana use in Vermont is some of the highest in the nation And we need to do work as a state first to better inform citizens about the risks associated with use today Vermont does not need more marijuana use. We need healthy brains Vermont does not need more marijuana use. We need an educated sober workforce Vermont does not need more marijuana use. We need safe sober drivers Vermont does not need more drug use. We need policy that supports healthy kids and healthy communities Vermont does not need access to more drugs. We need policymakers to make an investment in effective substance abuse prevention strategies Just a little personal aside at that point I'm funded for two hours a week to work on marijuana issues and nine hours a week to work on tobacco And that's all I got so support for Funding for prevention is not abundant I have often heard proponents of legalization say that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol or other drugs And in a few ways that is true a person cannot consume a lethal dose of marijuana When someone is using or high on marijuana the incidence of people taking physical risks is much rarer than with alcohol But our only measure of harm cannot be death The rates among people who use Who meet the diagnostic criteria for dependence on marijuana are higher than alcohol 21 for marijuana 13 for alcohol Data shows that marijuana dependence or addiction has been continuing to increase And the frequency that regular users are using is increasing. They are using more often Basically our data from the national survey on drug use and health is showing that today's marijuana Tends to generate more problems with addiction than alcohol It will take a good five to ten years to know what the consequences will be of legalization in the states that rushed to legalize There's been increasing research documenting the harmfulness of the potent marijuana available today But right now there is still a lot of conflicting evidence We need to have time as more studies are done And science will help us determine what is the best path forward to improve current policy So though I hear we're not supposed to follow science anymore according to Congress What would we want to increase the marijuana use issues vermont? Why would we want to increase the marijuana use issues vermont already has? What kind of benefit could vermont possibly get from legalization that would justify this kind of public health risk? I struggle with how hard it is to raise my kids to make good choices in the face of so much media That glorifies and normalizes drug and alcohol use We need our policymakers and communities to make decisions based on the current and relevant research from reputable sources And to support building communities that make the healthy choice the easy choice for our residents and visitors Specifically, I ask our legislators Again to slow down when it comes to creating sensible drug policy. This should not be erased to see who can get there first Regardless of how legislators think they can keep legal marijuana as a home grow product The reality is that all legal drugs in the u.s. Are eventually produced by commercial industries That are motivated to increase consumption in order to increase profits Lobbyists and special interest groups have been spending time and money across the u.s And in vermont to downplay the challenges of legalization because of their ties to the business industries That will profit from a new mood-altering drug. They can market to vermonters We are currently in the midst of an opiate epidemic that is in part because 20 years ago We allowed easy access to highly addictive drugs. We did not fully understand And the companies who could profit off those drugs helped shape the narrative and told us they were safe We cannot allow ourselves to do the same thing again I urge legislators to use more caution this time to wait for more information from the reports from the governor's commission on marijuana To wait for more information from the states that rushed into this. We cannot afford to make the same mistake again Vermont does not need policies that increase access to more drugs We need investment from our leaders in policies that preserve promote and improve public health And thank you mariah sanderson Thank you, jeannie. Sure I do need to make one correction the source of this Of the dc increase in arrests was not the rain corporation. It was the national survey of drug use and health okay Now our next speaker is a new jersey Attorney legal expert and what I find most he has a very long and impressive resume but what I find most impressive is that he is a a former faculty member on drug crime at john j criminal college the the harvard of of criminal law is is john j and He taught there. So Dave Evans uh, thanks guy I live right across the lake in new york state up near platzberg and um, i'm very concerned about Mara marijuana being legalized in vermont coming over to new york Uh, I like vermont a lot Uh, the first time I was in vermont was visiting my brother who went to middlebury And I got introduced to vermont maple syrup and maple sugar candy And I would suggest to you that you look at the state rules About protecting maple syrup and maple sugar From pesticides and contamination and making sure that it's pure And then look have you done anything even similar to that to protect people from impurities in marijuana? You have not in this in this bill Um, I headed up the by the way My daughter graduated as a master's degree from middlebury. So I chose that my daughter educated here because I thought it was a state of very sensible people um, I also used to run the drunk driving program in new jersey and What's going to happen if you legalize is first of all adult marijuana use is going to go up in the states that have legalized it Adult use has gone up 40 percent So that means that all of the mayhem connected with people being intoxicated also goes up in the state of washington Drug driving fatalities due to marijuana doubled in colorado It's now one out of every five fatalities there highway fatalities are connected with marijuana So people are going to die In vermin more people are going to die so that some people can get high If that's a fair exchange for you then vote for this bill The uh big problem with marijuana today Is that it is not the marijuana that I smoked when I was in college When I smoked back in the 60s. It was maybe two or three percent thc They now have marijuana products That are 99 thc. You have a handout here about that under this bill This will become legal in vermont. You'll be able to produce Concentrates that are 99 thc as a matter of fact the bill even talks about that It says that if you're going to make concentrates You can't use butane. Why not because it's a carcinogen But you can use co2 or other ways of making the concentrates getting the oils and the concentrates out of the marijuana Something else I should scare you a study was done of teenagers One in five of the students admitted to driving car within an hour of using marijuana So our kid's going to have more access to marijuana if this bill gets passed Absolutely. This bill is reckless When it comes to protecting children from diversion of marijuana It places the responsibility for preventing diversion of a marijuana To children to people who are going to be using the marijuana You'll be allowed to grow marijuana in your home Children live in your home And the only thing the bill says about that is that you have to take some measures to make sure that people under the age Of 21 don't have access to this Now how much marijuana is going to be able to be grown in people's homes? Well, you can have up to an ounce And then you can have up to two mature marijuana plants A marijuana plant Can be six feet tall and four feet wide in my handout. We've got Examples of it there a typical marijuana plant One plant can generate one to five pounds of marijuana a year, especially when it's well cared for So one to five pounds of marijuana a year, depending on whether it's average marijuana or simsonella An ounce can generate between 60 and 120 joints So you do the math and five pounds 16 ounces five pounds A marijuana plant that you'll be able to grow in your home Will be able to generate 9 000 joints and then since you have two of them We're now getting up to 19 000 joints So that's about 50 joints a day if you're going to smoke marijuana All this marijuana is going to be laying around a matter of fact the bill provides that you can store marijuana And it's not counted uh as as an ounce And that means that all of that is going to be uh diverted to kids So people in your neighborhood your next door neighbor is going to be able to produce Every time your kid goes over to that person's house They're going to potentially have access to thousands of joints marijuana that's going to be in that home legally So how are you going to stop kids from getting access to it? Uh, that means you can never leave the kids alone. You can never go shopping. You always have to check now Uh kids are pretty you know aggressive about these types of things. I used to steal my parents alcohol I would water it down so they wouldn't know kids are going to get access to this There's nothing in the bill that says anything about having to lock it up How you're going to lock it up how it's going to be certified and how is anybody going to find out that you're not properly caring for the marijuana Nobody is monitoring this it's going to be up to pod users pod heads To monitor the diversion of marijuana also the penalties for kids under the age of 21 are very minimal under this and so Drug pushers marijuana pushers are going to start using kids Just like they do in the big cities with heroin using kids to sell and pick up and deliver the marijuana Because they know if the kid gets caught there's going to be very little penalty on that child I appreciated the doctor from colorado Inviting the governor lieutenant governor to come to colorado. There's two colorado tours There's the official government tour And if you get that tour you go there and you think everything is hunky dory Then there is the real tour and we have given legislators Both tours. I know in new jersey they got the government tour They came back and said we got a legalized pot in massachusetts A bunch of the senators came out and got our tour and they came out and said there's no way we want to do this Now unfortunately it got through on a ballot initiative, but they got to see what's really going on there Pot infuses the culture there I it becomes a very dominant thing and The school officials have all kinds of problems now the lunchrooms smell of marijuana because kids are bringing it in the form of edibles School performance has gone down school disciplinary problems have gone up Read the uh, there's a great editorial by the colorado springs gazette It talks about all of the school related problems that they're having With marijuana disciplinary issues have gone up If that's what you want in the state fine Uh, let's talk about marijuana growing. How do you grow marijuana? Well, you want to keep bugs out so you use pesticides you use all kinds of chemicals Study after study after study after study Smithsonian scientific american all over the place. There was just a study in california california has had Medical this is medical marijuana for 10 years And they did testing of medical marijuana products in california in august 80 percent of them Now this is a state that's had in You know legalization really marijuana for that period of time 80 percent We're full of pesticides heavy metals and fungus So when people grow it in their homes, are they going to be monitoring their use of pesticides heavy metals grow products Fungus is anybody even going to know what a marijuana fungus looks like to take it off before somebody inhales it? so 80 percent in california Under regulation says loose is the ones that that are going to be in this bill This bill has absolutely no regulation at all on the production of marijuana are going to be loaded with chemicals And that's the state that had over 10 years of experience with this Uh, this is an extremely irresponsible bill because you provide no guidance to people no standards nothing You do very little to keep it out of the hands of children Um How much time do we want to get for questions? I can go on for a couple more minutes We have one more statement Okay, well, let me just end with this then Years ago the national organization for the form of marijuana laws was trying to promote marijuana And they came up with the idea of medical marijuana. We have a videotape of them laughing about this Uh, you know, they didn't think anybody would buy it, but people did So what happened is that medical marijuana allowed the marijuana industry to gain influence and to gain money They took the money and then put it in to try to get marijuana legalized Uh, we are with marijuana right now where we were with tobacco in the 1950s The public is just starting to be aware. There's a huge problem here But the lobbying and the influence of the tobacco industry is so strong It hasn't offset the science yet. So those of you who are legislators are considering this think about Are you being conned by the marijuana industry? They do focus groups. They know what will appeal to you They use racial justice issues.  These people are not going to stop at this Okay, they're going to move on to commercialization, which they've done in every other single state You're going to be seeing advertisements aimed at young people With santa claus. My favorite is one from colorado that has a scantily clad girl And they're advertising a back to school special from marijuana That's coming to vermont if you open the store Commercialization will come in because they'll come in with all kinds of arguments About why it should be sold and this and that and how much money you're going to make and how it's fair to Racial minorities and they'll come up with all the arguments So when you see anybody from the marijuana industry representing marijuana think tobacco Think big tobacco industry and how they con the american public. I can remember when I was a kid Seeing cigarette advertisements So many doctors smoke camels. They're susan through the throat. They advertise tobacco for women to lose weight This is what's being thrown at you now. They've studied you. They know what makes you tick And you're getting conned. So don't be conned put the health of the children First don't be stupid thanks Ed Baker will read an excerpt from a letter by liby styte who is a Psychiatric addiction expert from colorado And then we'll have questions Hello, and thank you I want to say before I read this excerpt that I agree with everything Dr. Stike has to say and it's interesting because as part of this letter there's an ad from colorado And it's santa claus And it's at a dispensary a medical and you know non-medical dispensary of marijuana Cut rate deals And I can remember when I was a kid santa claus had a carton of lucky strike cigarettes in his in his bag. Um, so Your last speaker's points are well taken So this is just a brief quote because dr. Stike echoes a lot of what every other speaker has said today Dr. Stike is a board certified Addiction psychiatrist. She's been in the field for a number of decades. She's the executive director of the circle program in Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo Seems to be the epicenter of marijuana growth and use in colorado The healthy kids survey in 2015 indicated that 30.1 Percent of teenagers in Pueblo reported past month use of marijuana The highest in colorado We have the highest incidence of suicide in teenagers And the highest rate of heroin overdoses in colorado the correlation between These and the use of marijuana is very strong She concludes With we must dispel the myths that marijuana is safe And that it is safer than alcohol This is a burgeoning public health nightmare That combines the worst of alcohol And the worst of nicotine I hate to think that we will continue down this road Of allowing the marijuana industry To put out false data About how great marijuana is and how much money your estate will make While we lose a generation of children to addiction And the threat of serious mental health problems She says good luck In your decision And I hope I helped some In terms of educating you about our real life experience With what our governor has termed a social experiment Well, now is a good time If you have any questions for the experts who are here Be glad to Dave, Dr. Hughes Any other experts who are here please feel free I wonder what would your strategies be for dealing with marijuana now We know it's out there, we know people are using marijuana What is going to What should be done even if it's not legalized? Well, I think we should do what we did back in when What happened during the parents' movement The high point of drug use in the United States was in the late 1970s And we Formed the parents' movement We were able to reduce drug use overall by about 50 percent It's a total lie that the war on drugs didn't work It's absolutely not true Under the Bush administration marijuana use among young people went down 25 percent So as young people perceive that marijuana is dangerous use goes down If you pass this law the kids are not going to perceive that marijuana is dangerous They're going to think it's okay because my next door neighbor is growing it or dad is growing it So education on what is really going on with marijuana today The education is not caught up with the science anybody that looks at the recent science about marijuana the medical science and mental health science All all of the organizations that can weigh in and the scientifically weigh in said it's dangerous It affects mental health and it causes addiction to other drugs The american psychiatric association national academy of sciences the world health organization The u.s. Surgeon general and the nationalist university all have weighed in on that Okay, so the science is there, but it's not into everybody's head yet So uh people perceive of marijuana as being this kind of benign substance like it was during the woodstock week period So increase education our leaders need to speak out. You need to say this is not good This is what marijuana is really all about our legislative leaders Your governor needs to have courage to come out and say that to be a leader Like it was done in previous generations where presidents and governors made statements like that And to also confront the marijuana industry confront their lobbying When we go into schools and talk about marijuana kids say, but it's medicine. It's good for you Okay, why do they think it's medicine? Do they think it's medicine in your state because you have medical marijuana So how do you argue against that? So you have to Uh do education have leaders speak up and have people that have the courage To confront the marijuana industry Just like it ultimately happened with tobacco Okay, we confront the tobacco when people started dying from it Both my parents died from tobacco related illnesses and that got everybody's attention And you're gonna start seeing in the next five six seven eight ten years All of the damage of that marijuana is starting to come out Spontaneous abortions child birth defects all this stuff is now going to start coming up because now it's really being intensively studied There's also a myth that you can't study marijuana bologna the national academy of sciences came out with a report They looked at 10 000 studies. There's 10 000 studies about the dangers of marijuana. The science is clear on Uh, you know peer reviewed scientifically valid studies. So that's what I would do if I was in vermine I'd ask my governor to stand up and say this is wrong and we're not going to allow this to damage our children I want to I want to add one one point That um, I think it's really important as as adults That we uh, be very careful about the messaging that we're offering our adolescents especially When when we use the term recreational marijuana, I think that's a very misleading term It equates marijuana smoking a dangerous drug with recreation What is the message that a teenager is going to take away from that kind of statement? Smoking marijuana is good Smoking marijuana is somehow, you know, not harmful. It's recreation I think we need to portray it as the self administration of a dangerous Harmful drug. It is not recreation. I'm awful at banning that word. Thank you Yeah, I'll bring another point Let's say, you know that your next door neighbor is growing marijuana and using marijuana Are you going to be comfortable having your kid go over their house with a stone parent? I wouldn't be and I my kids ever went into a party. I called the parents up and I said, okay What's going on? I don't want alcohol at that party. Otherwise my kid isn't going to go Uh, you're going to feel comfortable and safe and secure with a marijuana using parent It's got thousands and joints in their house driving your kid to the soccer game I don't think so. I'm not going to want to do it. I don't want my surgeon under the influence of marijuana I'm a lawyer. I wouldn't want my lawyer being under the influence of marijuana when he goes into court Adult use is going to go up.  How could you have been so stupid to have fallen for this con job from a marijuana industry that doesn't care about people but only cares about profits They're advertising to children Okay, we don't let the tobacco companies do that But they're allowed to do it in colorado There's a cannabis tourism map that is given out at the zoo When kids go to the zoo in colorado, they have a uh, you know brochures out there for tourist things in colorado And there's a cannabis tourism map that any kid can pick up You think that's okay? I don't think so It's being promoted uh as being safe and and a recreation We said students could you react to a statement that the uh, and the purgatory culture Most promoters understand that marijuana is objectively less harmful than alcohol And they're ready to see the state begin treating it that way Well, first of all, that's a pretty low bar Considering how many traffic accidents we have with alcohol how many people I see in treatment So, you know, I don't I don't think that's a fair comparison. Um, there also Um, yeah, it's all stuff We've heard a lot about the bill And uh, uh, there's a bill that is expected to be voted upon in the first few days of the session And then there's the bill that's kind of played down the road Oregon colorado style tax regularity system Do you have a preference between those two? Well, clear I prefer the former than the latter because the second has So here's we get into commercialization and once we get into commercialization We get into big tobacco being part of it. You know come that sort of thing I think the major issue here is That normalizing use use okay, so bra and flint at UVM did a wonderful study What he did is he went into high schools And asked kids how many of your friends smoked tobacco? And they all overestimated it They all said 30 they all said 40 or 50 percent. He gave them data that it was 20 percent With that one interaction he decreased smoking in high school Okay, so kids do things that they see other people normalizing okay And that's my real concern is sending the wrong message And that's why I think we've got it right with decriminalization because we're not throwing kids in jail We're still telling kids this is not good to do So that's why I like decriminalization If I can comment on that alcohol, uh being more dangerous, uh, let's just look at that data a little bit We've got maybe two-thirds of the country uses alcohol on a regular fairly regular basis We have maybe 14 to 20 million people one tenth Of that amount using marijuana So the perception is that it's less dangerous Because there's so few people using it compared to alcohol. We see more alcohol because more people use it If you commercialize it Okay, you're going to start seeing the use of marijuana climb And the public perception that it is equally dangerous in the state of washington right now alcohol Fatalities drunk driving fatalities are the same With the drugs That it increased by 50 percent in the state of washington So again, you're dealing with a public perception that is 30 40 years old That doesn't match up to the current science Uh and the current science needs to get out to people which is some of what we're trying to do today Knowing what I know now about marijuana. I wouldn't have touched it in college I wouldn't touch it today because it's not even near the potency that I had it in college. Okay And if you ask people by the way, um Do you think that 99 pure thc hashish is less dangerous than alcohol? I don't I think you get a different response to that Okay, it's like the equivalent of a 3-2 beer when I smoked in college to pure grain alcohol Okay, that's the difference between the marijuana then and the marijuana today I just like to add one one one thing about this tradition Said about whether or not alcohol is more dangerous or marijuana is more dangerous I I agree that the bar is really low when you're comparing danger um If you look at the three leading causes of death on the planet earth Two of them are legal drugs alcohol and tobacco So if marijuana is less dangerous than one of the leading Causes of print preventable death on earth does that make it safe? There's one thing that I forgot to mention in my talk My son chase Had told my wife mom Marijuana is not that bad. How could it be that bad after all? They've already legalized it in a couple of states and before you know it It'll be legal across the entire united states. So obviously legalization of marijuana had already sent a message to my son That it couldn't be that bad Well, thank you all very much for coming If you need any information handouts links or whatever come to me You're glad to hand it to you And again, thank you