J.T. Books is live (What are we doing)

What's up everybody? I hope you guys can hear me. Let me get my microphone adjusted here real quick. I think y'all can hear me pretty good now. So I figured I'd do a quick little discussion. And, uh, it's very interesting. I actually, uh, saw a post the other day. Somebody posted, um, in our county, you know, on, on, um, our little Facebook group that I follow like that. And somebody was like basically saying how some students got caught with a bunch of vapes and stuff and potentially contained fentanyl in them and things like that. And a whole bunch of people are like, there's no way, right? There's no way that kids would be smoking those, acting like they're like intentional, like kids are intentional about what they're smoking. All right, so I kind of wanted to have a quick discussion about that because at the end of the day, these kids do not know what they are smoking. They don't care what they're smoking, honestly. Okay, I learned this, you know, through my daughter and talking to many kids that I've interviewed, uh, for my book and my film and stuff like that. And most of the time, whatever they're offered, they're going to take a hit on it. Okay. And that's because they're, they're their friends. They think they're their friends and they trust each other. Okay. It's kind of like, um, you know, I go to the club with a friend of mine or something, right? And he's like, oh man, you need to try this pill. You know, it's going to make the rave that much better or whatever. You guys know the deal. I'm trusting him because he's my friend. So I'm going to do it. All right. I'm not going to do it, but You know, some people would, um, you know, and, and they're, they're putting trust in their friends that they're not going to hurt them. Okay. But what they're not thinking about is where did that product come from? Where did that vape come from? Um, you know, some of the comments I saw were unbelievable. I saw people saying things like, you know, vape shops don't sell to minors. Okay. But then 2 comments down, I see like 3 people who admitted that they used to go buy vapes illegally in vape shops. You know, so it's like all these people that want to say it's not happening, they're just not paying attention because I'm like, there's literally people who used to be addicts or people that are using literally saying right here that yes, they did purchase, you know, vapes and carts and things like that from vape shops as minors. Okay, I've interviewed people. Okay, I don't, I don't get into the weeds and say who they are or what shops and things like that because that really doesn't matter. That's not my mission. My mission is not to take people down, you know, or businesses down or anything like that. You know, my mission is to inform people. But I've literally interviewed people, you know, who told me their stories, and they used to say that they would straight go into shops, vape shops, you know, at, you know, 12, 13, 14 years old. People would sell them products, you know, didn't even ask questions. My daughter used to do that. She'll tell you. I'm gonna get her on here sometime. She used to go into shops as a minor and walk out with weed wax and weed oils and vapes and all kinds of things, carts. You know, so I was talking to a friend of mine that I'm kind of partnering up with, and she was telling me how she went with the sheriff and they went down to, you know, one of the more popular shops. And, you know, they got products, you know, and they tested all these products from the local area. And what they found out is that none of the products that the kids are getting caught with at the schools are the products that are being sold in the vape shops. Okay, so at least that's a positive. At least, you know, some of the shops aren't selling, you know, to minors. Obviously, that's good. I'm not saying they all are, um, but the point is these kids are getting this stuff from somewhere. Okay, and just in the last 2 weeks, I've talked to 2 different kids from 2 different schools, you know, and I just ask them straight up. I said, hey, you know, how many people would you say in your school are vaping? Um, one student from a particular school told me 65%, okay? And then I found another student from another school, asked them the exact same question. They said, yeah, I'd say probably like 70%, 75%, okay? If you ask me, my opinion, I would say it's the same thing, 65, 70%. So, you know, if these products are not coming from local vape dispensary shops or, you know, things like that, then where are they coming from? Okay, and that's, that's the point I want you to think about. Okay, this stuff on the street, the majority— I talk about it in my book, you know, some, some references and sources now are saying that 55% all the way up to 95% of products on the market are illicit. Okay, tainted, illegal. And it's funny because one of the people on the comments said something along the lines of, well, you know, those, those carts and those vapes have to be tainted with something. And I'm like, hello, yeah, of course they are, right? Who do you think is doing it, right? It's funny because actually one person said, well, drug dealers don't, you know, mess with carts and vapes. They don't taint those things and mess them up. And I'm like, okay, um, where are they getting them from then, right? So, you know, there's, there's a lot of ways that these things are coming in, okay? And the point is I want us to start You know, first of all, being honest about the situation, right? Because there is a problem. Um, there's a lot of kids struggling with addiction. And again, 60% of parents have no clue that their kids are using. And that's based off resources and references that I talked about in my book. So until we start finally actually paying attention, um, and being honest about it, let's start calling it what it is. You know, let's stop pretending like it's not happening. Like, oh, there's no way they're selling to minors. Yes, they are. And the people that use them are actually telling Okay, um, it's an addiction business, okay? And in my opinion, they're targeting our kids. So, um, anyways, let me, let me go in here. Um, I'm gonna read a little sample from my book. Um, if you guys haven't checked it out yet, okay, it's The Green Glitch: What's Behind the Devil's Lettuce. Um, it's on Amazon, it's on Barnes Noble. Um, I've had very good feedback from this book, and as a matter of fact, I actually, um, I'm a finalist. I'm very excited about this. I'm a finalist for the International Impact Book Awards, which will actually be going out to Hollywood, California this October. They're not going to announce the winner until that night. Okay, so I'm going to be going out to their event and, you know, I'm excited. I'm going up against a lot of really good writers. There's people there that are, you know, 4-time bestsellers, New York Times sellers and things like that. So, um, got some competition out there. Um, but, you know, I don't even look at it that way. I look at it as I'm excited that my book is, is even in the mix of those kind of awesome writers and things. And, um, you know, I'm just excited about the message. Um, it's been a very inspiring message. A lot of people have given me some good feedback. It's been reviewed by doctors, uh, you know, professionals in the field and things like that. So it's getting some good feedback. And more importantly, my film is coming out on the 1st of June. I just got confirmation from BitMax out in California, and my film goes live on June 1st. So, you know, you guys can check that out. I'm working on trying to get the link for Apple TV to where you can guys, you guys can kind of like, you know, pre-rent it or whatever. So, you know, let's, let's get that thing out there and share it. Um, if you read my book, please leave a review. Um, that really helps me out a lot. And, uh, if you come to one of my showings, I'll actually be, you know, going around to the area. I'm working on trying to get a grant so I can go out to movie theaters and things in the area. And, um, you know, show the film. Okay, and then kind of have a little symposium question-answer type thing, bring in some experts, professionals, and I'll talk about my book and stuff like that, and we'll show the film. So, uh, hopefully that'll work out. And, uh, anyways, if you, if you come to one of those events, okay, I'm gonna give away an Xbox Series X. So all you do is you show up, watch the film, and we'll give you a raffle ticket. Okay, so at the end of June, I'm gonna be giving out another Xbox, which is cool. All right, so let's jump in here. All right, we're gonna look at the breakdown of health. Okay, so I'm gonna go to chapter 20— or excuse me, chapter 3, page 20 in my book. All right, we're gonna jump in a little bit here. Um, let me get to some of the good stuff that I like to talk about. All right, let's talk about this because this is something I hear a lot. I hear people say that smoking weed is healthier than smoking tobacco. Okay, I have You know, people say it all the time, you know, somebody shared it on the Facebook page that I looked at the other day that, um, nobody's ever died from marijuana. Okay. Well, first of all, we got to put that into context, right? Nobody's necessarily died from alcohol right away either. Okay. Uh, but if you research alcohol's known to cause 7 types of cancer, you know, it's kind of a slow killing you, you know, it's a slow process, kind of like cigarettes. It ain't just going to kill you the very first time you smoke it. Okay, so what makes us think that marijuana is any different? Okay, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna get you some information on that real quick. So let's, let's look into it. So this section is on Chapter 3, Health, in my book, and we're gonna talk about the lung. Okay, so it says, is smoking weed healthier than smoking tobacco? Tobacco smoke is linked to 80 to 90% of lung cancer deaths in the United States. Okay, as a result, tobacco is more dangerous because it causes 80 to 90% of cancer deaths in the United States, right? Not so fast. Interestingly, cannabis contains about 50% more benzopyrene than tobacco does. Benzopyrene, C20H12, is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, PAH in short. This means that it is a chemical compound that is also a known carcinogen. The term carcinogen means that it is a known cancer-causing material or chemical. Okay, marijuana also contains about 75% more benzanthracene than tobacco does. Benzanthracene, C18H12, is also a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. Okay, I think I just read that twice, my bad. It says you will find it in sources like coal, tar, and inside of car exhaust. Smoked marijuana has more phenols, vinyl chlorides, nitrosamines, and reactive oxygen species than tobacco smoke does. Reactive oxygen species are molecules that damage DNA, proteins, and lipids. Basically, these are the things that make you age ahead of your years. So, you know, these are the chemicals inside of these cartridges and, and these vapes and marijuana and stuff. You're breathing these things in And it literally is changing your DNA. Um, I remember back, you know, I talk about the COVID vaccine a lot, you know, because everybody was concerned about it. Oh, that thing actually changes your DNA and it's not FDA regulated and all this kind of stuff. But yet everybody turns to these vapes and carts and smokes them up, you know, Delta 8 cartridges by the millions, right? Changing their DNA every single time they breathe it in. And it's no big deal. All right, nobody's talking about it, but yet, you know, the vaccine was a big deal, right? Um, I don't care, you know, either way what you believe about the vaccine and whatnot, but it's the same concept, right? Um, everybody who loves to smoke on vapes and carts and Delta 8 and all that stuff, you should have been the first one to get the vaccine because you obviously like unregulated materials, right? I'm just saying, let's call it what it is. Um, if you realize just how much is being deposited into your lungs you may start to realize that marijuana is not a good thing to legalize. Instead, we should be doing everything that we can to get rid of it. Okay, do we really want our kids to get addicted to something that does this to them? I know, I know, you can smoke weed without getting addicted, right? Okay, and that's— I hear that a lot. My response to that is simple. Okay, the world does not revolve around you. Okay, we are talking about kids getting hooked on marijuana at a young age. All right. Um, let me jump ahead a little bit here. Okay. As a teacher, it blows my mind that 13-year-old boys cannot even run a half mile without puking and coughing up phlegm. I will go to them and say, that is just your body detoxing. They will ask me, what do you mean? That is when I will just straight ask them if they're vaping. They will say yes quite often. Okay. Cause they trust me. They know I'm not going to down them out, throw them, throw them to the principal or anything. Um, They'll say, I don't do it at school though, or something along those lines. All right, so I can tell you, you know, I've seen students who had told me, you know, I've been using since I was in elementary school, and literally one lap around the track, not even a quarter mile, and they are just done. And I've seen how quick sometimes they rapidly decline. Um, and it really is a reality, you know. So anyone who thinks that this stuff is good for them or that it's not a big deal, They're honestly just lying to themselves. There's so much stuff out there, guys. There's a company, I've talked about it before, out in California that's looked at all these vapes that are unregulated, looked at the chemicals inside of them, 200%, 300% over the legal limit on lead, and they're inhaling this stuff. And interestingly, you know, when students inhale vapes, Okay, at school, they're inhaling it deeper. Okay, so all these chemicals that I just read about, they're inhaling it deeper than they do typical cigarettes. Okay. And as a result, you know, this stuff's starting to affect people. Believe it or not, I actually know of a young man who is 16 years old who just found out that he was diagnosed with, with a stage 1 lung cancer. I know students who have had to get their lungs pumped. Because of the oils inhaled from Delta-8 and things like that. And this stuff, this stuff is really starting to, uh, become a reality, you know, and we need to, we need to realize it before it becomes a bigger problem. Um, let's keep going here. I'm kind of jumping around in this chapter, but I want to talk about some of the important stuff. Okay, the obvious signs are all around us. Are we all blinded by reality? Keep in mind that it is estimated that 42% of people between the ages of 19 to 30 use marijuana. So almost half of people use marijuana. The bottom line is simple: if you care about your lungs, you may want to stop smoking. Everyone knows that smoking is bad for our lungs. Why do we try to justify it? Boils down to the fact that we are either uneducated, blind, or we just don't care, right? And a lot of people that I talk to really just don't seem to care. You know, they're like, ah, you only live once and things like that. Okay. It's easy for everybody to say that until they're, you know, breathing with an oxygen tube or whatever, right? So, you know, and again, it's not about you. You know, you may not care about you or your body or your lungs or what happens to you. But you can't say that I care about our kids and our future if I don't act like I do. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's not about you. Okay. I may, I may do something that is not a big deal to me. You know, me, me telling a white lie might not be a bad thing for me. Right. But a little tiny white lie can, can ruin somebody else. Right. So it's not about us as individuals, you know? So I just, I just want us to think about that. So whether you use or not, that's, that's on you. Okay, but it's not just about you. Okay, some people will tell me— I had a lady who was, uh, paralytic, you know, she actually lost some limbs and things like that. And she told me, you know, the only thing that helps me is smoking marijuana. And she was very respectful. We had a nice conversation and I enjoyed hearing her side of the story. And I told her, I said, you know what, ma'am, I can respect that. If this helps you out, I'm not the one to tell you not to do it. Okay. Okay, because first of all, I'm not a doctor. Okay. But I did tell her, I said, that's just one side of the story, right? What's good for you is also not good for a whole lot of people. You know, it's, it's not helping a lot of people. It's the exact opposite. It's destroying a lot of people. And she actually agreed with that. She said, well, yeah, you're right. You know, the kids shouldn't be using it. And I'm like, well, I just read you the stats, right? 42% of people between the ages of 19 And 30 are using marijuana. Okay, and most of these people are using multiple times a day, you know, all day long. Okay, and the facts are, you know, 54% of people who use marijuana for medical reasons are actually meeting the medical diagnosis for cannabis use disorder. Okay, so to me, that's no different than abusing prescription medications or pain pills or anything like that, right? So on the surface, it sounds so innocent. Okay. But we need to, we need to peel back that onion. Okay. And that's why I'm talking about the green glitch. Okay. Because that's how I see it. I see it as a glitch. It's a misinformation thing. And, um, you know, I have a lot of people too. Somebody posted on there, you know, you should be more worried about alcohol there, Mr. Jason Tremko. And I'm like, well, I really am worried about alcohol. Okay. But the issue is A lot of people don't question alcohol, okay? It's so normalized that nobody questions it anymore. You know, alcohol was literally used all the way back to Mesopotamia, and, you know, the very first civilization, people were using alcohol, okay? Battles, wars, they used it for trading, you know. So alcohol has always been used, right? And as a result, it's become normalized, so nobody questions it anymore, even though it's known to cause 7 types of cancer. And I believe The addiction industry is trying to do the exact same thing. I think they're, they're trying to normalize marijuana just like tobacco was normalized, just like alcohol was normalized. But this time it's different, okay? Because I see marijuana as, as an addiction industry that is targeting the young people, okay? I think, I think it's going to become normalized and nobody's going to question it anymore at At the expense of our kids. Okay, because the reality is only 5% of kids that are in high school will say that they're going to continue to smoke after high school. Only 5%. Okay, but the statistics now are 75%. 75% will carry that addiction later on into life. Okay, and they don't care which one you start with. They don't care if it's weed or vaping. They don't care. The addiction industry doesn't care, but 75% of people will continue that. After high school, they'll carry it into adulthood, and then sadly, 44%, nearly half of users, will advance on to harder drugs, right? So it's easy for us to say, man, you know, we got a drug problem in America. Yes, we do. Okay, but my thing is, what are we doing about it? Okay, because if 70% of people are wanting to legalize marijuana, which is what it is in America, 70% want to legalize marijuana, If 70% of people are wanting to do that, then how can we even talk about a drug problem in America, right? Well, we have a drug problem in America. We need to fix it. Okay. Well, 70% of people support it. Okay. No, I don't. I don't support drugs. I support legalizing marijuana. Marijuana is not a drug. Okay. Well, then what do you call 44% of people that advance on to use harder drugs? That sounds kind of like a drug to me, right? If it's that addicting, it kind of sounds like a drug. All right. So are we just lying to ourselves or are we under a false misinformation? You know, because eventually, you know, we can lie to ourselves so much that something becomes a reality. Okay. If I've used marijuana my whole life, I've met people that are like that. You know, I had a guy tell me one time, I've used marijuana for 35 years of my life. I'm not addicted to it. I just had to pause for a second because I was like, okay, if you've used it 35 years of your life, that kind of sounds like you might be addicted to it. Just saying. All right. So, you know, I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but, you know, are we, are we being honest? Are we calling it what it really is? Right. So, you know, the stats don't lie. This book here explains everything you need to know, guys. So if you're, if you're a parent, I would encourage you to read this book. If you're a student, I would encourage you to read this book. If you're somebody who is on the fence about marijuana, well, you know, I kind of I think it's okay. I kind of don't. I understand medical, why people use it and all that kind of stuff. Read it. Okay. And then know the information. That's all I ask. You know, I'm not here, you know, I got friends that smoke marijuana. Well, I'm not here to demonize them, make them feel bad or anything like that. But I do believe a conversation needs to be had because, you know, there's a whole bunch of people celebrating, you know, all the victories of legalization and this, this and that, but then they're not seeing how it's affecting kids. They're not seeing 10-year-olds, 11-year-olds, 12-year-olds. I had somebody literally tell me that's impossible. There's no 12-year-olds smoking marijuana. All right. My daughter just laughed about it. I sent that screenshot to her and she was like, these people are idiots. That was literally what she said. Okay. And I'm telling you, we've got to be careful because we can easily fall into that category. I would have never known. I would have never believed it until I saw it myself. Okay. As a teacher, I've had students every, almost every single week, guys, almost every week. And the kids know that I talk about it, so they'll literally bring their friends to me and say, go talk to him, because they know I talk about it, right? And I can, and they can trust me. I don't, I don't write them up and send them to the principal, even though I probably should. Okay, but I'm more concerned in what's really going on behind the scenes with it. Okay, because I believe it's an addiction industry and I've had people tell me at 11 and 12 years old, they've been smoking since elementary school. All right, so, and they want to stop. They'll tell me, I want to stop, but I can't, I get sick. Just like my daughter, she would get sick and developed cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. Somebody tried to tell me the other day, there's no such thing as that, that's fake. I'm like, okay, you know, ask my daughter about that. She'll, she'll, she'll probably let you have it, you know, because she, she went through major sickness, major withdrawals, lost 50 pounds in like 4 months because she couldn't eat. She couldn't keep food down unless she had marijuana in her system. So the reality is it does affect people. And yes, somebody said in the questions there, are you a teacher? Yes, I am a teacher. I'm a retired Army veteran. If you didn't know, some of y'all might not know, but yeah, 20 years I spent in the military. I spent 9 years as a military recruiting station commander and I recruited people all across the country from California all the way to Virginia. Okay. And I've been in hundreds of high schools. I've interviewed, you know, thousands of people. I've enlisted, yes, retired military. I've enlisted people, um, thousands of interviews, and I've seen how marijuana directly holds people back. You know, they can't quit. They can't quit smoking. Um, so it's, uh, it's a reality, you know, and I see it now in the school system. I see it as a recovery 12-step program. Yeah, somebody on there, you're retired military. Right on. Good stuff. Hey, that's what I'm talking about. Um, yeah, I actually teach, I teach ROTC now, so, um, pretty cool stuff. Uh, but I was an Army guy. I was an Army guy. So thank you for your service too. Um, but yeah, it's, it's a big deal and this stuff's passionate to me. All right, because I'm, I'm just tired of seeing people, uh, lying to themselves. I'm tired of seeing young people hold themselves back from, uh, the military, or, you know, I'm tired of seeing them struggle through school because I spend more time in the bathroom smoking than I do actually learning something and educating myself, right? Um, you know, it's just so much, guys, you know. And if we really want to be honest and start making a change, we have to do that. We have to literally be honest and start calling it what it is. So, um, it's wild, guys. But anyways, yeah, so again, my book, The Green Glitch: What's Behind the Devil's Lettuce, okay, on Barnes Noble, Amazon. Read it, share it, give it to somebody who needs it, you know, a parent, okay. There's a lot of parents— I have parents reach out to me all the time, you know, what, um, uh, what's going on with my kid? What can I do for him? You know, and I'm like, you need to get educated, read the book. Uh, he said, what war? Afghanistan? Yeah, and I was actually, uh, I was at Iraq. Iraq 2003. So, you know, I'm right from the beginning, boots on ground. So wild times, wild experiences for sure. I'm sure you got some as well. Yeah, but, uh, yeah, never, never went to Afghanistan. I did two Iraq, never went to Afghanistan. Um, I wanted to, just never got the, never got the chance. So, um Yeah, you know, thank you for your support. And, uh, yeah, leave a review after you read the book. Read it, leave a review. And the film, again, June 1st, uh, film, film goes live on iTunes, same title, The Green Glitch: What's Behind the Devil's Lettuce. Share it with somebody and, uh, you know, let's get it out in the community, guys. You know, I want people to see what's really going on, and that's, that's what I'm here to do. So, uh, at least every couple days I'll get on here, you know, so, you know, hopefully you guys have subscribed to my channel on YouTube. I got a lot of videos in there, you know, I got a trailer for my film and, uh, you know, go on there and check it out. Uh, you said, I appreciate it, brother. Good luck. Not all can write a book after retirement, you know, brother. Yeah, that's true. And it's funny because I wrote a book and, um, you know, if you would have known me as a student, not good. All right. I'm glad I had the military who, you know, set me straight, you know, and, and it just, I never looked back. It was the best thing for me. And, you know, pushed me to get my college degree and, you know, helped me learn to be a better writer. And I actually graduated my college with honors, you know, and it's, you know, I tell students all the time, you know, writing a book, you know, running a marathon, starting a business, you know, all these things have nothing to do with me, right? I think, first of all, I thank the Lord, right? Because that's where I got my strength from. Uh, but I also think the military who gave me the discipline to go out and be able to, to achieve great things, and, uh, I'm very thankful for that. You know, I'm very thankful for my time in the military, but also the military gave me boldness to be able to speak out against things that other people don't want to talk about. And marijuana is a big one, all right? Because again, 70% of people support legalizing marijuana, all right? So You know, it's, it's been a, it's been a fun journey. I'm really enjoying this book and this film. Um, you know, because I thought I was gonna have a lot of pushback and a lot of people hating on me. I've had a little bit of that. I don't mind that. Um, I'll debate. I actually got a guy I did a podcast with and he reached back out to me and he said, you know what, I want to have you back on the show. We had a great podcast. I want to have you back on the show. Um, but this time I want to bring somebody else on there and almost kind of do a debate. Which is really cool. You know, I love debate. I love friendly debate. I like to listen. Okay. I like to learn. I like to hear other people's opinions and viewpoints. And I would encourage everybody who is pro-legalization, pro-marijuana to do the same thing. You know, but in my opinion, a lot of people that use are very like, they get upset the second you try to oppose it. Right. But they have no facts. They have no facts. They don't know the facts. Um, so it's, uh, you know, it's like, you know, get the facts, right? Don't try to stand up for something and, and, and build and be willing to fight somebody and be so passionate about something when you don't know the facts, you know what I mean? That's just kind of silly to me, you know. I'm not— I don't want to talk about something if I don't know the facts. I would have never wrote a book about marijuana if I didn't know the facts, right? That's a dangerous thing to do. Because you're gonna have a lot of people fighting back against you and arguing against you and debating you and stuff. And again, I welcome debate, but I want to know what I'm talking about, right? So I would, I would encourage people that are pro-legalization to do the same thing. You didn't know what you're talking about before you try to fight so strongly about it, you know, not just because you like getting high. Let's call it what it is, right? Um, somebody said, what about is your book? Okay, yes. So, um, yeah, this is The Green Glitch. What's Behind the Devil's Lettuce. So you can search up the Green Glitch book on Amazon and it'll pull up there. Author Jason Tremko. Let me read, let me read the back to you. Okay, I'll read, I'll read the back page, you know, so that you kind of know what it's about. It says, What's Behind the Devil's Lettuce by Jason Tremko. Okay, marijuana has changed, the conversation hasn't. From 3% THC in the 1970s to today's ultra-high potency products, cannabis has evolved into a commercial powerhouse. Reshaping Culture, Classrooms, and Communities in Real Time. In The Green Glitch, educator, author, U.S. Army veteran, and 12-step recovery leader Jason Tremko— that's me— brings a rare frontline perspective to one of the most urgent social shifts of our generation. And I believe that is true. Drawing from research, lived experience, and years working directly with young people and families, Tremko examines the rise of high-potency THC, the normalization of use, and the mental health questions many are hesitant to ask. This isn't politics. It's not nostalgia. It's a reality check. Look for the accompanying documentary now streaming on multiple platforms. The Green Glitch extends the investigation beyond the page with expert interviews and powerful real-world stories. One message, two formats, a conversation we can't afford to ignore. And, uh, it's published by Christian Faith Publishing. So, you know, I'm very excited about this work. And, um, who knows? We'll see what's going to happen, you know, because when I go out here to the International Impact Awards, maybe I'll, maybe I'll have a shot, you know. Either way, to be a finalist there really makes me happy. And, um, you know, to be able to talk about it from a stage like that in front of a bunch of powerful writers around the country, it's very exciting and encouraging to me. And hopefully this will, this will actually help me pursue a bigger career in writing. And, you know, maybe I'll get a bigger publishing deal, could take this thing to a bigger level. You know, I have a lot of plans, guys. You know, my grant writer, I hired a professional grant writer and she should be getting back to me here within the next couple days. She found a couple grants that could, that could support me. And if I get it again, you know, my goals are to actually develop a textbook. I've had some recovery clinics and things like that ask me for textbooks. So my goal is to publish actually some textbooks that I can get out there and, you know, we can, we can get them into schools, you know, that, that are, you know, all about prevention. I feel like we should do a better job at prevention and I can get it out to these recovery clinics and churches or whoever wants to use them to educate people. So, you know, part of my grant will be publishing those textbooks. The other part of it will be to go out and do symposiums, you know, literally renting movie theaters in your town and showing this film and inviting people to come out and get educated. And I'm looking for partners and people that want to support that cause. And, um, you know, again, I'm hitting it from a completely different angle, you know, because you, you hear a lot about the kids, you hear a lot of— or as I was, you hear a lot about the adults, you know, that are using and for medical purposes and things like that. And you hear all the pros of it, but you're not hearing the side from the kids and how it's affecting kids. You know, do we really want our kids to be failing through school and struggling? You know, I know kids that I've helped get clean who literally finished this semester making straight A's. You know, they struggled middle school, they struggled their first 2 years of high school, and now they're making straight A's because they were like, you know what, I got to get this stuff out of my system. And once they did it and got clean, they made a believer out of themselves. And that's actually what happened with my daughter too. So, you know, I'll get her on here sometime and we'll talk about it. You know, these things here, I'm eventually going to probably turn this into a podcast. Right now I'm just kind of doing, doing lives, you know, people come in and out. So I might repeat myself quite a bit. But yeah, you know, as this thing grows, I'll probably get more structured with it. And, you know, I need y'all to support me. And I really appreciate y'all's support. Share this book, guys. This book here now is in the top 1,000 for recovery and addiction on Amazon. It kind of, it's fluctuating, it's up and down, so give or take, you know, but my goal, I'm working really hard, is to get this thing in the top 100. And I need y'all's support. So write a review. I love y'all. And I hope this helps somebody. You know, I really do. You know, somebody told me the other day, you know, this is just some spiritual guy trying to make a quick buck, you know, off of what's popular right now. And I'm like, okay, guy, you know, first of all, you know, 70% of people support legalization. So if you think I wrote a book about marijuana and that I tried to get rich off of that, like, good luck, right? What that took from me was a lot of guts, right? And a lot of research and a lot of time. You know, like I told him, you know, my buck, was not quick. It came from 20 years in the military, 2 combat tours, and a lot of, a lot of, a lot of pain and suffering. All right, honestly. Okay, so there was nothing easy about what I did for a living. Okay, and there's nothing easy about the message that I'm delivering with this book either. Okay, this is, this is something that is passionate and it needs to be talked about.. And, um, I'm trying to present it in a way that gets people to think, you know, without making them feel guilty or pressuring them. Now, hey, if you read it and you find yourself a little pressured and guilty or convicted or whatever you want to call it, you know, then oh well, you know, sometimes that needs to happen. Sometimes truth hurts a little bit, right? You know, but you know, like the, like the, the Bible says, you know, if you read the Bible, right, know the truth, truth will set you free. It's a very true thing. Okay, but sometimes before you can be free, you got to go through a little bit of pain, right? A little bit of pain. So, um, reading the book, you know, that might bring you a little bit of pain, but it also brings you freedom if you approach it with the right mindset. So y'all, I've been on here like 35 minutes just rambling in my mouth. So I'm gonna get off of here. You guys are awesome. And again, Have a great weekend. I'm gonna go to a summer camp with a bunch of kids and, uh, hang out. It's gonna be lots of rain, lots of lightning, so wish me luck. All right, so you guys probably won't see me between now and probably Wednesday. I'll probably go live next Thursday, um, so be, uh, be ready for that, guys. And, uh, that's about it, y'all. Have a great night, have a great weekend. God bless.