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Andy
Today, we are very privileged to have Myrtle Clark. She’s a longtime activist, and she has offered a little bit of a busy time to come on our show and give us her predictions for 2023. So if you guys are interested in seeing, make sure to like and subscribe and hope you guys enjoy the show, we’re going to jump straight in with a question. And it’s basically with regards to what do you see happening at fields of Green For All next year?

Myrtle
Yes, well, we’ve actually been going through quite a quite a shake up this year. And 2022 was certainly the year of the proof of concept as it were. Because we started the year very, very unsure how things would progress, and ended up, you know, trying this and trying that and seeing what worked for us. So at the moment would be doing is going back over the year and seeing what works and what steps to be really good, big priorities for next year. So obviously, the various litigation is always been the centre of everything that we do. But our experiences this year have certainly taught us that we need to come completely out of our COVID shell and have far more of a of a public presence in the year ahead. So we looking forward to a little brand spruce up in the new year. And, and a bit of a new look and feel which for you know, cannabis makes you creative. So we that’s something that is super looking forward to. And then also just getting out there more is going to be a priority in 2023. And we have also dubbed a new at marijuana sa are the first people to hear this publicly, that we are calling 2023, the year of the O G. So and only because it rhymes. You know, in cannabis circles, we all know what the OG is the originals. I always think of a joke that Jules used to say, when he was in the Navy, he was somewhere in the south of America, the ship had docked and they were all drinking in a bar. And the bar lady came up to them and said, So where are you all are Regina Lee from? Okay, who was already giant, you know, involved in this whole crazy weed world that we love so much. And I think we can look way back to the past in ancient history. And we can also look as far back as say, a year ago when new activists joined our circles and new companies came on board and new ideas came across our desks. So 2023 being the year of the OG is going to somehow be catching everybody up on the history and how far we’ve we’ve come and also introducing a lot of the younger folk to some of the people who who they can be inspired by whether that be somebody who joined this industry five years ago or 50 years ago. So that’s something we have to be excited about the year of the OG. Yeah,

Andy
I must say with the COVID stuff, it’s been quite tricky for us as well to come out of the shell that Did you know, we did a cannabis March earlier, earlier in the year and it was quite tricky, just to you know, to start going to these events again and being allowed to do them and it felt strange, but yeah, we are so keen. We resonate on that front we are we also quite keen to get out a little bit more

Dean
in relation to that. Yes, our arrests and stop the cops and and the rest hotline or, you know, what was the trend in in 2022 and going into 2023? What are your sentiments are we still, you know, has there been any change or not really

Myrtle
every few days of arrests roll in and they roll in. And then we’ve also got this added uptick in people being fired for having personal systems. We just got another one this morning, somebody who’s on a on a final warning. And then of course everybody’s just read in the papers about the two unfortunate folk who were fired from the glass factory. So the rest and that certainly go go hand in hand. And you know, this is just one of those things that it’s like a bad smell that won’t go away. It just hangs like a cloud over us. And in a lot of ways whereas it is the driving force, because what would happen if all of the rest of it just to stop now at 420 this afternoon, you know, I don’t think that we can even imagine it like that. So in the next year, we’ll certainly be in be fighting those arrests in our ongoing a talks with the Centre for Applied Legal Studies. The fields are going for all together with Gareth prince who arrest six people arrested in the Western Cape as well. We speaking to two vets university about the way going way forward to actually create some sort of interdict against the police. Because what we found by poking our noses out in 2022, is that if going forward and 2023, we have to come at this from every single angle possible. So we will be really landless, going forward in order to in order to stop the cups. Yeah, it’s just the worst part of what we do.

Andy
Those arrests, the workplace arrests, were just I mean, I’m still struggling to believe that it’s an it’s, you know, it’s a new development. And as legislation passed now, well, precedents kind of set now and it just feels like we should have been way past that. But yeah, we there’s there are still stigmas. And unfortunately, it’s not. Not everyone’s quite there yet, unfortunately. But I think we’ll get there. With regards to the trial of the plant next year is there, it’s obviously it’s all on plans and predictions there.

Myrtle
Okay, predictions I should imagine. We’re not We’re not looking forward to a court date next year. But I think that that the everything that is a building up to the trial of the plant, is just as important as our days is in court. Because there’s isn’t, you know, we haven’t delivered papers back to Russia or something by now. We haven’t delivered papers to them yet. So they always is the chance of best case scenario is that they turn around and they say, listen, we’re not going to fight this. anymore. Imagine that we’re not going to fight this anymore. Let’s just rather sit around a table and work this out. Yeah, so there’s a 1% chance. So the taller the plant were was certainly be getting into full swing. And the most important thing around that is to actually raise the money. Because everything to do with the trial needs an incredible amount of support. And that doesn’t only mean paying the attorneys at cannons and paying counsel. That also means the marketing that goes with it and everything down to the live streaming costs in the court. And what if we have to you have travelling expenses for expert witnesses, that type of thing. It feels like deja vu again, you know, it feels like oh my here we go again, back at square one. But thank goodness, we know so much more now than we did then. And we can only be you know, 100% more improved, you know, and prepared five years more prepared the world last time. I certainly have surrounded myself with tonnes of experts over the years and they’re going to all be pulled out of the woodwork. And I think that if the government can maybe see that this formidable force that there I get up against there’s a chance we’ll get our we’ll get to her father first wish that they won’t fight us anymore. Yeah, so that’s the trailer the plant and then with the other two input are apart from also the interdict against the police. Then we have the Hayes club case, which we’re very proud that coma. Paul Michael Kadhal from Kevin Owens is now representing Neil at the his club case. And we also have our labour court case with Bernie anniver. So those two will certainly be proceeding in the first quarter of next year. We’re very excited about that. And replenishable

Dean
and Myrtle with the with the current landscape within sort of ending 2022 Where do you think are sort of rural and legacy farmers are kind of finding themselves in the landscape going into into 2023? They’ve been included? Are they sort of whispers of inclusion or does it just sort of still seem to be the the wealthy getting getting a piece of the pie now and everyone else left behind? All right.

Myrtle
Well, yes, unfortunately that Dean is is is the the state of the bigger picture right now. But there’s been a lot of murmurings in the background. And this is where it feels agree. And we’re really, really pleased to have our ECOSOC status at the United Nations. Because what we’re doing is we’re we’re connecting with a whole lot of other people from the traditional cultural and religious sector of the cannabis industry, all over the world. And that is through our ECOSOC allegiance. And that is also through our international networks like we’ve we’ve just built up in the last six months with the Association of trademarks and manuals, which is the standard setting organisation, staffed by volunteers. And just last night, I had a meeting with the cannabis committee where they are writing standards for traditional rural faith based groups, religious organisations, all of those fringe people who are busy being left behind all over the world to actually participate in setting standards, because that’s where the problem lies, is the standards are set too high. And the reason why the standards are set too high, say without prescription cannabis in South Africa, is because the harms have never been ventilated in quarter two, this vicious cycle. So I the outlook is not completely bleak. But it is certainly going to take a lot of resources. And that’s also why fundraising is so important. You know, it really isn’t easy to engage with people from flat flung areas of the world, let alone engage with even our rural farmers in say, northern Limpopo or Eastern Cape or Northern Cape, it is, it’s not as easy as jumping on a zoom. And that face to face interaction is incredibly important. And I saw that when I went up to Nigeria in October, I saw how how incredibly valuable it was to speak to people face to face. So we are going to need resources for fields of green, to be able to travel again, and actually engage in person because that is where the meaningful stuff happens. Um, you know, you need to be able to stand there in front of all those African religious prohibitionists in Nigeria and say to them, I’m not sick, I don’t want to make socks, I just want to get stoned. You know, you need to have a look and see at what their reaction to that is. And they can’t actually believe that this middle aged white woman is standing in front of them saying that she just wants to get started. And I said to them, Well, how do you know not completely stone standing in front of you now you would never know. And they’ve never looked at it from that angle. And that wouldn’t have had the impact on a zoom on a piece. Exactly. Yeah. So as far as I think that the cultural and religious side of our evidence, and of our progress in general, is going to take the most of our resources. It really is after the trial of the plant, because of that need for contact. We are we’ve got a delegation coming over from Jamaica and America, probably in June and will probably take them down to the cannabis Expo in Durban. But you know, they don’t have resources. We don’t have resources, but we can pool resources, they will fundraise there and we’ll fundraise here. And we’ll make it happen. So I’m always bleating on about many. But it really, really is important and it’s no good. Just paying lip service to this whole rural thing. Because Because it looks good. It’s almost like greenwashing. You know, how many how many newspaper articles there was one today in the daily Maverick, you know, about how there’s no attention to the role poor. And so just lip service. If you can actually facilitate those people coming in person to a meeting, then that’s when you’re doing something real.

Andy
Am I right in saying just as your closing thought that there’s Oh, overall optimism for 2023 with the Aside of scepticism right. You know, I wish we all would be willing to jump jump jump for the moon and it’s going to happen next year, but it doesn’t quite seem that way. Right.

Myrtle
But you know, it’s there is absolutely no point in having no hope. It’s absolutely no point whatsoever and that’s why I think fields of green going out and getting out there more. And a new look and feel and add a broader Outreach Programme is so important because there’s nothing that boosts morale more than when we can mix with our tribe. You know, even first, I don’t necessarily enjoy the Expos the team in love the expos and they really look forward to it. But we find that after the expo we we are energised we’ve been we’ve been chatting to our buddies, we’ve been sharing spliffs with them and I think that that’s really what feeds hope. Because you can see so many people trying so hard, and so many amazing people in our cannabis industry. So we need to get together more. Give each other hugs share spliffs and egging each other on.

Andy
Amazing, amazing thank you so much for your time today and sharing your thoughts. We always do appreciate you coming on and wish you a very festive and merry holiday season. And we look forward to seeing you again sir

Dean
it’s always interesting to get the different perspective on the deep end of of the work that the fields of green foot is doing because it’s difficult to know all the moving parts and you know, the community I like what Myrtle said about you know, other community getting together and being energised. Like think COVID I think a lot of the reason they spend sort of this sort of this loom over the industry is we all got separated during COVID And you can’t really you know, kind of puts a puts a halter on on everything that people are trying to do and movements and stuff like that and you try as hard as you can online but sometimes not every you know like we’d like with the rural farmers where it was talking about they can’t just hop on a zoom to get the correct information you need to be out there on the ground sometimes you know,

Andy
I mean we had during COVID That was two years no expos no nothing you know no events like but remember before experts it was like the industry was ready to absolutely explode Yeah, it was Yeah, events in Cape Town just about to happen. And you know, there was a little micro get togethers everywhere and then they just like put the fire out with the with the COVID bomb and I think now with you know obviously the war going on and all the commotion and prices going up and inflation it does seem like a tricky time and I’m sorry guys listening at home that we couldn’t give you some more optimistic and and you know, just say it’s going to it’s going to be legal next year it’s going to happen done you know, our work is finished. It’s unfortunately not in the government’s modus operandi now to just let the let it fly. They still want control over it, they still want to push their limits, they still want their hands in the pie. You know before anyone else they want to make sure that they’ve got control there it’s all about their control and there is you know, lobby lobbyists and all of that that’s going on like big alcohol Big Tobacco probably all got their eyes on a prize somewhere in cannabis. But yeah, so it has help your guys support on the shows really means the world to us and we always do appreciate your comments below and we’ll hopefully see you guys in another episode. Guys