13x10 - Gas Station Drugs

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to "Last Week Tonight".

I'm John Oliver, thank you so much
for joining us. It has been a busy week!

The Iran w*r hit the 60-day mark,
mom and dad came to visit the U.S.,

and Saturday, a g*nman charged the
White House Correspondents' Dinner.

And just hours later, Trump announced
the big conclusion that he'd drawn.

It's not a particularly secure building.

And, I didn't want to say this,

but this is why we have
to have all of the attributes

of what we're planning
at the White House.

We need the ballroom.
That's why Secret Service,

that's why
the military are demanding it.

Okay, first, and least importantly:
it is so weird to see those three men

that dressed up,
and that serious.

The two possible contexts
for that image

are "emergency at the White House
Correspondents' Dinner"

or "father of the bride
and two groomsmen apologizing

for accidentally
giving the ring bearer cocaine."

Also, for the record,

just because someone wanted
to sh**t you at the D.C. Hilton

doesn't mean you get to push for
an unrelated personal ambition.

To his credit,
when Reagan got shot there,

he didn't immediately say,
"See? This is what happens

when you let air traffic
controllers get notions."

But I guess kudos to Trump
for now having

the second most embarrassing fixation
on the topic of "presidential ballroom",

with the most
embarrassing still being

when LBJ called the head of the Haggar
pants company to say this.

The crotch, down where your nuts
hang, is always a little too tight.

So, when you make 'em up,

give me an inch that I can let
out there, because they cut me.

It's just like riding a wire fence.

Let's see if you can't
leave me about an inch

from where the zipper ends 'round
under my… back to my bunghole.

It's still so good.

Every U.S. history textbook
should include at least one chapter

titled "That Phone Call Where
LBJ Discusses His Big Swingin' Nuts

and Then Says the Word
'Bunghole' Out Loud"

with an immediate follow-up chapter
called "Oh My God Wait the Burp!

We Almost Forgot
to Talk About the Burp!"

And I wish so much I could
talk about that all night,

but sadly, we need to talk
about the fact

that on Wednesday,
the Supreme Court did this.

Tonight, in a ruling that could reshape
the future makeup of Congress,

the Supreme Court limiting
the use of race

to determine how congressional
districts are drawn,

slicing away at the landmark
Voting Rights Act

signed into law by President
Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965,

at the height
of the civil rights movement.

Yeah, the Supreme Court carved up
one of LBJ's signature achievements

like it was, I don't know, just off
the top of my head here,

a nutsack riding a wire fence.

That ruling basically
gutted Section 2 of the VRA,

which prohibits race-based
discrimination when it comes to voting,

including drawing election maps
that dilute minority voting power.

And in writing the opinion
for the majority,

Justice Alito took a bold swing.

Justice Alito writing the only time
race can be a factor

is when there's evidence "the state
intentionally drew its districts

to afford minority voters less
opportunity because of their race."

Alito noting, "Vast social change
has occurred throughout the country

and particularly in the South,

which have made great strides in ending
entrenched racial discrimination."

Okay, that is obviously horseshit,
especially given,

to the extent America's made
progress on racial discrimination,

it's been thanks in part to the law
he just f*cking gutted.

Still, credit to ABC for picking
that photo of Alito,

which has strong "this school dance

wasn't supposed to be integrated"
energy.

He looks like he's angry
about the existence of jazz.

Experts predict this ruling
will roll back

decades of progress
in minority representation,

at both the local and national levels,
with some anticipating

it "could set up
the largest-ever decline

in the number of Black
representatives on Capitol Hill."

Which sure feels like a few steps
back from those "giant strides" forward

that Segregation Sammy here
was talking about.

Now, some states have already
held their congressional primaries

for this year, so they can't
redraw their lines until 2028,

but others are scrambling
to take action.

The governor of Louisiana suspended
its congressional primary

two days before the start
of early voting

so that the state could redraw its map,
with this being the expected result.

Only one of Louisiana's
six congressional districts

will now be majority Black,

even though Black voters
make up one-third of the state.

Congressman Cleo Fields represents
the district now ruled unconstitutional,

saying the decision will make it
more difficult for non-white candidates

to be elected.

If you tell me I have to be white
to serve in Congress from Louisiana,

I can't do nothing about that.

That is rough. And of course
he can't do anything about that.

Because if he did, that wouldn't be
a viable political strategy,

it would be, as we all know,

the long-awaited sequel
to 2004's "White Chicks".

And we don't want that.
And it's not just Louisiana.

Florida passed
a new redistricting map

the same day this decision
was handed down,

and the governors
of Alabama and Tennessee

have called special sessions to try
to ram new maps through.

And this state senator in Georgia,

who's currently running
for lieutenant governor,

quickly urged
his state to do the same.

The last thing that Republicans
need to do

is be weak-kneed
in this moment.

This is a time to be bold.
This is a time to be aggressive.

And in Georgia, that means
calling a special session,

and redrawing our maps.

Yeah, Republicans like
radicalized Frankie Muniz here

are chomping at the bit
to redraw maps.

And all else aside,
that guy's name is Greg Dolezal.

Greg. Dolezal.

And he's trying to turn
Black districts white.

So finally, someone has managed
to pull off a reverse Dolezal.

And that is not easy to do.

And look, so far, Georgia's governor
said he won't sign off

on redrawing its map
for this election.

And some new maps will face
challenges on procedural grounds.

But long term, the harms are gonna
be significant here.

And while there'll clearly be more
to say about this going forward,

the one thing we can say
for sure right now

is that this decision is another sign
that the current Supreme Court

seems to have pretty much
the exact same goal as LBJ's tailor,

and that is, to make things
a lot more comfortable

for a bunch of very unpleasant nuts
and assholes. And now, this.

And Now: Kids Speak Their Truth in
KTVH's "Weather Rookie" Segment.

Good evening, everybody.
I've got my new friend Dustin.

Look at that smile.
That's a million-dollar smile.

You must have, like, five girlfriends.

I actually have two.

Your class
is gonna watch this tomorrow.

Do you want
to give a shoutout to anyone?

- Can I say the names?
- Yeah, go ahead.

Javis, please be more
responsible in class.

How should people jump
into that pond?

- Whatever they want. However.
- What do you want to do?

What would you do?
Triple backflip?

I don't think I'm capable of that.

You said you've never been
to Great Falls, but look at that.

By the magic of television, we have
transported you to Great Falls.

- How does it feel?
- Good.

It feels good? Yeah, or would you
say it feels great to be in Great Falls?

Well, technically, I'm not.

- Say hello to everybody.
- Hi, everybody.

Hi, everybody. The entire state,
the entire world could be watching this.

- How do you feel about that?
- Creeped out.

Moving on. Our main story
tonight concerns drugs.

We've talked
about all sorts of them before,

from opioids, to compounded drugs,
to psychedelics, to opioids again,

to lethal injection drugs, to opioids
for a third and final time,

to of course,
a bonus opioids story.

But tonight, we're gonna talk about
so-called "gas station drugs",

the colorful products
with weird names

you tend to see behind the counter
at gas stations, convenience stores,

and smoke shops.

It's a whole weird world of poppers,
whippits,

questionable supplements
and b*ner pills.

And if you are wondering
who buys those last ones,

I'll let this convenience store clerk
fill you in.

This is why I got to leave
Circle K soon, bro. For real,

like, so, today I was just
chilling, right? Working, whatever.

This white dude come up,
he's like,

"Yo, you got any d*ck pills,
like Rhino d*ck pills?"

And he did this sh*t
with his arm.

I was like, "We have these."

And he's like, "f*ck it, bro, let me
take 'em." I was, "All right, bet."

And while he was paying
and sh*t,

he opened it and he popped one.
He popped one in his f*cking mouth,

and I was like…
And he was like, "sh*t."

And then he popped
another one.

I was like, oh my f*cking…
What are you doing, bro?

Why the f*ck did you take two
in a public area like this?

You couldn't go home? You couldn't
wait 'til you go home?

Like, what the f*ck
is going on, son?

Yeah, all valid questions!
And I will say, after hearing that,

I won't feel nearly as bad
the next time I open a Gatorade

at the register before paying.

"Look, I'll pay for it in a second, but
trust me, this could be way weirder."

But again,
it's not just b*ner pills.

These products are part
of a sprawling industry,

and they promise everything from
increased energy to pain relief.

And while you might assume
that they're just snake oil,

that's not necessarily true.

Some of these drugs
can be actively dangerous,

presenting risks of addiction
just like controlled substances.

And to hear some who've been
addicted to them tell it,

the very fact that that's been allowed
to happen is pretty infuriating.

It's a common sight in gas station
convenience stores across the country:

so-called "natural supplements"
on display.

Starting in like 2015, 2014,
I had an opiate aisle.

This is what hooked
looked like for Brandon.


at the height of his addiction.

There is so much
that is alarming there,

from the notion of a gas station
having an "opiate aisle"

to the fact that,
I'm just gonna say it,

that is too many tiny bottles of
anything to go through in a month,

whether it's gas station supplements,
airplane bottles of vodka,

or even travel size
Olay body wash.

First, buy full-size,
don't live like this.

But also, that's just
too many bottles.

How dirty are you getting?
I'm worried about you.

And the thing is, stories like that
are becoming more common,

as people increasingly seek
these drugs out.

For some,
it may be for recreational use,

because these products generally
don't get detected on drug tests.

But for others, it may be because
"they don't have access to healthcare",

have a "mistrust
of mainstream science",

or self-treating anxiety, depression,
fatigue, or opioid withdrawal.

The problem is, though, these drugs
exist in a regulatory Wild West.

And in part,
that is by their own design,

many of the companies behind them
try to evade regulation

with creative labeling,
marketing them with language

like "for research purposes only"
or "not for human consumption."

But the most common tactic

is simply labeling the product
a "dietary supplement".

And that is because this 1994 law
exempted the supplement industry

from nearly all federal regulations.

We actually talked about that before
in our piece on Dr. Oz

and nutritional supplements,
which, by the way,

ended with Steve Buscemi tap dancing
in front of a kids' marching band,

and just trust me,
it made sense at the time.

But thanks to that law, there is
currently no central process

whereby products calling
themselves "supplements"

are tested or approved
before they hit the shelves.

And while there are some rules
they have to follow

regarding ingredients and marketing,
many simply ignore them.

All of which means the FDA
and other regulators

are essentially playing
an impossible game of catch-up,

and the result of that can be a guy
with a pile of bottles on his lawn,

wondering how the f*ck
that was allowed to happen.

And that's actually the least
of the consequences here.

So given all of that, tonight,
let's look at gas station drugs.

And to do that, we're gonna focus
on three areas in particular:

sexual enhancement products,

a substance called kratom
and its associated compound 7- OH,

and tianeptine.

And let's start with the sexual
enhancement stuff.

Products like b*ner pills
can be hard to miss,

especially because they often have
over-the-top names

and packaging
involving an animal.

For instance, there's Black Panther,
Blue Panther, Black Horse, The Goat,

Super Bull, Ram It, Gold Lion,
Super Cheetah, Anaconda,

Rhino 8, Rhino 11, Rhino 69,
of course, Rhino 96,

Rhino 99, and my personal
favorite, b*ner Bears,

which apparently contains
a "proprietary b*ner bear blend",

a cursed series of words,
and which features this image,

which looks like
what a Beanie Baby would see

if it walked in
on its parents having sex.

But b*ner pills actually
demonstrate pretty effectively

the extent to which gas station
drugs can be made

by just about anyone,
and I do mean anyone.

It's not like there's a single company
making all of these d*ck pills

and filling them with drugs.

What actually happens
is that the empty packaging

for many of the most common
sexual enhancement supplements

gets purchased online
from China.

Then the packages get filled
by an unknown number of entities.

Finally, the pills show up
in stores around the country.

To show how easy it is to
get into the d*ck pill business,

we ordered a sample of empty
Rhino packaging from Alibaba.

Now, if we wanted to,
we could fill them with oregano,

or pop rocks, or dirt.

We could also fill the pills
with natural herbal supplements,

as the labels advertise,
or pharmaceuticals,

both of which are sold on Alibaba.

Yeah, that's not ideal, is it?

You don't want a pill's ingredients
to be essentially "dealer's choice"!

And you would never tolerate that level
of variance in other products,

you would be justifiably annoyed
if it turned out

that some Cadbury creme eggs
were filled with marinara sauce

instead of what they're supposed
to be filled with:

the Easter Bunny's thick,
thick c*m.

And if you thought that clip
was exaggerating,

just watch what happened when
they bought what looks like

the same pill from two different
stores right here in New York.

The packaging on these products
was exactly the same,

but when we opened the pills,
it was evident

there was inconsistency between
the contents, colors, and textures.

Yeah, those two powders
are clearly very different,

one just looks like sand while the other
looks more like cremated Snoopy.

And, obviously, I hope it's not that.

Unless, that is, Snoopy's will
specifically directed his heirs

to "shove my remains into
a gas station d*ck pill"

in which case, I'm thankful
his final wish was fulfilled!

Woodstock,
may his memory be a blessing.

The point is, these pills
could contain literally anything,

including, as they just said,
actual pharmaceutical ingredients,

though, importantly, not necessarily
in careful or consistent dosages.

Some Rhino pills have been shown
to contain sildenafil and tadalafil,

the respective active ingredients
in Viagra and Cialis,

and sometimes
at extremely high doses.

Which isn't good, given that both
drugs can lower blood pressure

to dangerous levels, particularly if
they interact with other medications.

So, someone who can't get Cialis
from their doctor for good reason

might turn to these supplements,

without knowing they're about
to get a megadose of it.

One pill was found to contain


ingredient contained in a Cialis pill.

Meanwhile, others were found
to include "dyes and filler,

like blue printer ink and drywall."

So, on one hand: these pills
could end up poisoning you.

But on the other: if your printer
runs out of blue ink,

just jam a few b*ner pills
in the cartridge

and you can finish printing off
your Smurf porn.

And because the FDA
is basically power…

Stop!
Stop, take it down!

Because the FDA is basically powerless
before a problem emerges,

the main action it often takes
is to simply offer public warnings

to avoid certain products.

That is why you can come across
an official FDA release like this one,

which reads, "FDA continues
to advise consumers

not to purchase or use
Schwinnng products."

Which is embarrassing enough,
even before you realize

that the release included this image
of the packaging

featuring the brand's mascot,
seen here answering the question:

"What if Alfred E. Neuman
got heavily into gooning?"

The FDA's also publicly warned
against, and these are all real:

"My Steel Woody," "Willy Go Wild,"
"Big p*nis,"

"Australia Kangaroo Essence,"
"Strong Horses," "Bull's Genital,"

and "Bigger Longer More Time More
Sperms." Which is just immaculate.

AMC, please, bring back "Mad Men",
because I so badly want to see

an entire episode about Don Draper

pitching a "Bigger Longer More Time
More Sperms" ad campaign.

It's not a d*ck pill.
It's a carousel.

What I'm saying is, these pills can be
subject to far less oversight,

and be much more dangerous,
than you would reasonably hope.

And that is also true
of the next product

that we're gonna be looking at
tonight: kratom.

It's made from the leaves of
the kratom tree in Southeast Asia.

In its natural form
and smaller doses,

it's generally considered safe
and acts as a stimulant,

but in higher doses, it becomes more
of a sedative with addictive,

opioid-like properties.

Kratom's become
increasingly popular,

with millions of people
estimated to use it nationwide.

And it speaks to its growing popularity
that at trade shows for smoke shops,

kratom companies will happily brag
about their expansion plans.

This show is huge for kratom now.

We just got into edibles and some
drinks and things like that.

Jelly 7-OH Botanicals is our newest
line of kratom gummies.

I'm with this company Hydroxie,

we're a single-alkaloid
kratom extract company,

and we're gonna be the strongest,
most purest on the market right now.

We're the first extract enhanced
powder and capsule on the market.

We want it to be a soccer mom
brand that, you know,

just to get your energy in the morning
instead of something else,

you know what I mean?

Yeah, I do know
what you mean, bruh.

And I've got to say, there's
a lot that is off-putting there,

from the way Colby here
talks about "soccer moms",

to this guy being so wet,

to the unappealing flavors
of kratom on display

including "Fresh Grape," "Mocha Taffy"
and "Dave's Brew".

If your product is referring to Dave,
and I don't know who the f*ck Dave is,

I'm not feeling inherently
confident in it.

Kratom products are usually
marketed as an energy booster,

a mood lifter,
or a pain reducer.

But there are a number
of potential problems,

starting with the fact that,
because many states

have no requirement for labeling
when it comes to these products,

it can be hard to know
exactly what you are buying.

When the Tampa Bay Times
ran an investigation on kratom,

they tested 20 products,

and while some came in
proper packaging like these,

others, like this one,
labeled "Trainwreck",

were just powder in a bag.

And if you think "Trainwreck" looks
alarming, may I introduce you to "Red".

Just "Red." A bag of something,
with the word "red" Sharpied on it.

The Times found that,
of the products they bought,

"five had no information
about ingredients,


had no details about potency."

Which probably shouldn't be
that surprising, given, again,

one of those products was
a bag of something called "Red".

And the thing is, even when
products are packaged,

and have dosing information,

the packaging itself may not encourage
proper usage, as this expert points out.

Can you read this label here?
So, at the very bottom, it says

to not consume more than one-third
of that bottle within a 24-hour period.

But it's sold as a shot.

Right!
And that's clearly a problem.

Because everyone knows,

a bottle's type dictates how you
drink its contents.

If it's in a tiny shot bottle,
you drink it all at once.

If it's in a big, tall bottle,
you pour it into a glass.

And if it's in a Bud Light Lime bottle,
you throw it directly into the trash.

These are the basic rules
of beverage consumption.

We even found one kratom-derived
product that claims a single tablet

contains eight servings,

meaning you'd have to
break it into eight pieces,

even though it's only scored
into four.

And the thing is, because these
products can seem low-risk,

people can feel way too comfortable

taking much more
than the recommended dose.

Just listen to this exchange
that Joe Rogan had with a guest.

I was on this discussion about kratom.
Are you familiar with this?

I'm on it right now.
Yeah, I just took some.

I f*cked my knee up the other day.
I did something,

and it's been stiff and painful,
so I iced it before I came here,

and then I just took six of them.
See what happens.

I took 10 once.

Now I get why people
might think it's a drug.

- Well, it is a drug.
- Yeah, for sure.

But when I took four, I was like…
I took two for the first time.

And a couple times I took two.

And I'm like,
"This is like a mild stimulant."

But then when you get into
the range of eight to 10 pills,

it's like, "Oh, this'll f*ck you up"
this stuff.

The stuff I take
is Urban Ice Organics,

and it says take two.

Joe. Joey.

Josephine.
What the f*ck are you doing?

You didn't even know
the name of the pill,

or how many you were
supposed to take. What did you know?

Because it seems the main knowledge
you had about those pills

before taking them
was that they were pills.

And that was apparently
enough for you

to happily toss
half a dozen of them back.

But it really is worth knowing
exactly what you're ingesting

and the potential dangers.

Because the truth is, kratom products
can be addictive, as this woman found.

Amy has been addicted
to kratom for nearly a decade,

and she didn't buy it from
a dealer or off the street.

Instead, she got these tiny bottles
of kratom extract

known as "K Shots" from a place
many of you frequent every day.

I worked in a gas station
behind my house,

trying not to take opiates
'cause opiates are bad,

and it was in a little display
right beside me.



The average price of kratom is around


or for the two pack of pills.

Amy admits she spent more than


If you think about it, it's the price
of four Honda Civic LX sedans

or a high-end RV.

I mean…
Yeah, I guess that is true.

But it's also a pretty strange way

to illustrate the purchasing power
of 100,000 dollars,

because you don't expect
the takeaway from that story to be:

"If this woman
wasn't addicted to kratom,

she'd be rolling in
Honda Civics right now!"

Also, for what it's worth,
I don't need the news to tell me

the price of high-end
recreational vehicles.

I'm well aware of the cost, and
so, by the way, is Clarence Thomas.

A key reason some kratom products
have the potential for addiction

is because certain components
of the kratom plant, like mitragynine,

interact with the same receptors
in your brain as opioids.

And while there is mitragynine
in kratom in its natural state,

some manufacturers will concentrate
it in their products.

And others will go even further,
by synthesizing a compound

from kratom called


It's a substance that researchers
have found

binds to the opioid receptors at least
seven times stronger than morphine.

As one researcher put it,

the difference between
natural kratom and 7-OH

is like the difference between

"drinking a Miller Lite versus
drinking 12 ounces of Everclear."

Some products have now even
ditched the word "kratom" completely

and just put "7-OH" front-and-center.
And sales have exploded.

Here is the head of one company,
who expanded from CBD products

to 7-OH, marveling at just how quickly
his new product line took off.

I truly never seen a product with
the type of sales that this has.

You know, we had a 10-year lead
with cannabis products,

and I've just never seen anything
move like this does.

We are actually doing more sales
with 7-OH

than we are all the cannabis
products combined.

And we're talking about something

we've been doing for a few months
versus a decade.

Yeah, it turns out, 7-OH products
are as popular

as that man's shirt is
distractingly red.

That is Vince Sanders,
one of 7-OH's loudest proponents.

Fun fact:
he was once a car salesman

slash large-scale
ill*gal marijuana dealer.

And even funner fact: after
he was arrested in 2000,

his attorney argued in court
to void his prison term,

citing among other things,
the tax revenue lost

from having the number one Acura
salesman in the U.S. behind bars.

And, "I shouldn't go to prison

because I'm America's
number one Acura salesman",

might be the saddest sentence
of all time, aside from,

"I shouldn't go to prison because I'm
America's number 2 Acura salesman."

And while some manufacturers position
their products as pain relievers,

or even an off-ramp for people
from more dangerous drugs,

just as many seem to market them
with a knowing wink to consumers

about their similarity
to illicit substances.

There's Dopium, which is pretty
on the nose, but also, Opia,

and Perks and Bars, as well
as Roxy, Droxy, Moxie.

And the addictive nature of these
products can be especially rough

for people like this woman,

who'd already been through
an opioid addiction,

and thought, in 7-OH,
that she'd found something safe.

This month, Madison McManness
found herself in a place

she never wanted to see again:
drug rehab.

Really disappointed in myself. I didn't
think that I would be there again.

Yeah, it was really hard,
you know, lying in the detox

for, I think, three days,
just catatonic.

My body was just, I mean,
everything was on fire. It hurt.

I just didn't want to do it anymore.

She was six-and-a-half years clean
from heroin

when a friend suggested she try


Products like these.

As soon as I took that 7-OH,

it was like taking heroin
again for the first time.

"It was like taking heroin."
Look, you expect people

to say that about things
like doing fentanyl,

or watching
a Halloween dog parade,

or getting the push alert
that Henry Kissinger died,

inject that straight into
my veins until I happily die.

But not about taking a drug

that's readily available
at gas station convenience stores.

In working on this story,
we've seen so many clips

of people talking about how hard
it is to quit these products.

Yet, some in this industry will try to
direct people away from those examples

and tell them to focus
on the positive,

like this guy in Mississippi, whose
business is called "Dr.Kratom".

If you Google "kratom"
and you Google

"what are the downfalls, what are
the negative effects of kratom?"

That's what you're going to get,

is the downfalls and the negative
effect of kratom.

If you Google "what are the pros
and the positives

and the good points of kratom?"

That's where you're gonna get.
You gotta learn how to Google.

I mean, google non-biasedly
and you'll get the truth."

Sure. But, you know you could also
say that about anything, right?

If you Google "what are the good
points of mountain lion attacks?"

You might find some upsides
to getting mauled by a mountain lion.

Though the results may also be
from websites

secretly made by
mountain lions.

Then you're really just getting the
mountain lion's version of the truth.

But the thing is, if you don't just
rely on "how you Google,"

troubling patterns
do begin to emerge.

When the Washington Post went
through government statistics,

it found that,
in a recent three-year span,

medical examiners and coroners
had listed kratom

as "contributing to or causing at least


Now, to be fair, most cases
did involve other substances.

But kratom was listed as
the sole substance causing death

in 182 of those cases.

And there is every chance that
that is an undercount,

given these substances
are new enough

that death investigations don't always
test for or detect kratom or 7-OH.

The fact is, despite how ubiquitous
these products are,

they really haven't been
tested properly for safety,

as the former number one Acura
salesman in the country readily admits.

So, 7-OH hasn't had any,
like, human trials,

like, for regulations
or anything like that?

That is correct.

Yeah, I mean the human trials have
been people choosing to use it.

Look, I hate
to second guess that man,

I'm afraid of the impact it would
have on the global economy,

but that's not
how human trials work.

That's just selling people sh*t
and then seeing what happens.

And what happened in his case

is that the Missouri AG
sued his company

for "deceptively marketing 7-OH
and kratom as 'safe' products".

Incidentally,
during that investigation,

it was noted his company had
recalled more than three million pills,

after a bottle of tablets
that were marketed as containing

seven-and-a-half
milligrams of 7-OH,

turned out to contain around


And while apparently I have
to tell you the company insists

it makes "substantial efforts

to ensure its products are safe
and reliable",

and that this "appears to have
been an isolated outlier",

first, I think we might disagree on
what the word "substantial" means,

and that statement "appears"
much less reassuring to me

than I think they want it to sound,
especially given 34 milligrams

is more than double the maximum
recommended dosage on the package.

And "double the maximum dosage"

is one of the more alarming
reasons for a recall.

It's right up there with
"it's actually horse meat"

and "sometimes it just explodes."

sh*t, another one's gone.
Oh, you know what?

I'm sure it's fine.
Elon's a genius.

Now, I should say,
some states are taking action.

For example, as of January,

all of these had some form
of regulation on 7-OH or kratom,

ranging from age restrictions
and labeling requirements

to outright bans.

But, I admit,
this is complicated.

Because, first, as we've talked about
multiple times before on this show,

in general, full-on prohibition and
criminalization isn't great drug policy.

And second, when it comes
to this particular industry,

whenever one drug is banned,
another can quickly take its place.

All of which brings us to our final
type of gas station drug, tianeptine.

Remember that guy you saw earlier
with the big pile of bottles?

Those weren't kratom, he'd already
kicked an addiction to that

after his state banned it,

only for him to then
get hooked on tianeptine.

It's actually sold
as a pharmaceutical in Europe,

as an antidepressant,

but has not been approved by
the FDA for any medical use here.

Instead, it's been marketed
as a "nootropic"

or a "cognitive enhancer," in products
like Neptune's Fix, Za Za, and Tianaa.

And I will say, it is not a great sign

that tianeptine quickly picked up
this catchy nickname.

You can find it online, at convenience
stores, even gas stations.

But experts are sounding the alarm,

calling what's in these bottles
and pills "gas station heroin."

Yeah, gas station heroin.
And I know on its face that sounds

like the title of a pretty good
Lana Del Rey song,

but it's also a real nickname
for a widely available drug

that can be incredibly dangerous.

Because tianeptine's been linked
to hundreds of reports of harm,

including overdoses and deaths.

Alabama actually banned it
a few years ago,

but in true whack-a-mole style,
a similar product called Phrenze

quickly replaced it on shelves,
with at least one store there

even labeling it as "from the maker
of Tianaa".

And even when states pass laws,

the truth is, they don't
always get well-enforced.

Meaning that tianeptine still
wound up sitting on shelves

for people to buy.

And that has led
to some tragic outcomes,

like this story from a few years ago
in Ohio.

It was at this midwestern gas station
that Chris Haggarty bought

a bottle of Neptune's Fix,

even though the product
contained tianeptine,

banned a year earlier
by the state of Ohio.

I miss him dearly.

In an interview with the I-Team,
almost four months ago,

Haggarty's mother billed gas station
heroin as death in a bottle.



How many people bought it
besides my son?

It was for sale
at the gas station,

just right next to the lottery
tickets and the cigarettes.

Yeah, that is terrible.
And it is hard to believe

that something
so immediately dangerous

could be sold at a gas station
next to lottery tickets.

It'd be like finding out that PetSmart
sells grenades next to the hamsters.

Come on, PetSmart! You know
everyone swings by the hamsters.

You're getting people
at their weakest point.

And frustratingly, behind closed doors,
some in this industry

seem well aware that the products
they're selling can be dangerous.

The reason that I know that
is that one of our producers

actually went to a trade show,
like the one you saw earlier.

And to answer your first question,

yeah, of course she saw a kratom-
themed Cybertruck in the parking lot.

Of course she saw that.
You can practically hear

the Limp Bizkit music
wafting out of it.

The whole convention
was honestly a pretty good glimpse

into an industry clearly already
planning for what comes next.

A lot of vendors seemed ready
for 7-OH to be banned,

as they were already
marketing newer products,

like this one, whose
marketing materials said,

"The future of kratom",
"Compliant in all kratom legal states",

"7-hydroxy replacement," Three to four
times stronger than 7-OH".

She also spoke to a rep
from a distribution company

that sells b*ner pills,
who got surprisingly honest

about the fact that while some of
their products are kind of bullshit,

others could be actively dangerous.
Take a listen.

- These are the gas station stuff.
- Okay.

It's cheap, it doesn't work.
Black ones are dangerous though.

- How so?
- Yeah, they are so potent.

So, this is 200 milligram.

I would not advise selling these
to people more than 50 years old.

These ones are safe.

"I wouldn't advise selling these
to people over 50."

That is a reasonable thing to say

if you're selling tickets
to an Olivia Rodrigo concert,

but not when you're talking about
your company's unregulated d*ck pills.

And it does feel like "don't
consume if you're over 50"

is the kind of thing that shouldn't
be whispered at trade shows,

but slapped in massive lettering
on your packaging.

This is a photo of that man's table,

and these are some of the pills
that he told us were "super potent".

They're called Mr. Bull tablets,
and their tagline is, "Do it like pro."

So, we actually ordered some and sent
them to this lab to be analyzed.

And they found that when that
guy said the pills were super potent,

he wasn't lying.

Because each contained


that's three to six times
the prescription dose

of a drug for premature ejaculation
that's not been not approved

for use here in the U.S.

And they contained 270 milligrams
of sildenafil,

the active ingredient in Viagra.

That's nearly three times the maximum
prescription dose. That is a lot.

And worryingly, none of those
ingredients were listed on the package,

which instead claimed it's an
"all-natural herbal supplement"

containing stuff like cinnamon bark,
licorice, and deer root.

All of which just sounds like
the ingredients on Sleepytime tea,

and there is a reason that
the sleepy bear

isn't rocking
a massive hard on, on that package.

So, what do we do?
Well, first, take care of it.

But also, RFK and his FDA director
have actually been talking

about the dangers
of some of these products,

which I guess is good.

I do worry RFK's either gonna
say they cause autism

or suggest they somehow be replaced
with ground-up raccoon carcass,

but still, it's something.

Now, unfortunately, though,
any good moves that they'd take

are likely to be undermined by
the fact that they've gutted the FDA,

which even before they came along
wasn't exactly well-staffed.

Meanwhile, some states are taking
a more proactive approach.

Missouri's AG, for instance,
has launched an investigation

into major kratom manufacturers
and retailers

for potentially dangerous
and ill*gal practices.

That is how they came
to be suing this guy.

Although it shows how slippery
this industry is

that he's said that,
if 7- OH is banned,

his company "already has another
product ready to replace it."

Look, something clearly has
to be done with this industry.

But the key thing
is to do it very carefully.

Because in the case of products
containing kratom, 7-OH and tianeptine,

a lot of people have now
become dependent on them.

And one thing
I want to be absolutely clear about is,

if states are going to start
banning some of these drugs,

that should only happen
alongside a plan to help people

who cannot
suddenly stop using them,

whether it's because
they're using them to treat pain,

or because they've become addicted.

Because if we learned one thing
from the opioid crisis,

it's that every family fortune
is built on the blood of strangers.

But if we learned two things,

it's that when you take something
very strong off the market,

not everyone
can just quit cold turkey.

So, there has to be a harm reduction
plan to go alongside any potential ban.

And I know there are
plenty of substances out there

that are addictive or dangerous:
alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs.

But with those things,
we've tried over the years,

and not always perfectly,
to match the level of regulation

around them
to the level of risks they present.

To make sure that, at the very least,
you know what you're getting,

and what risks you're taking,
when you choose to consume them.

What we haven't done, though,
is let it be a total free-for-all,

where companies can just
sell whatever they want,

to anyone who wants it,
and lie about what it contains.

And unfortunately, right now,
it's become incumbent upon all of us

to make ourselves aware
of the potential dangers here.

Because these products can be
much more addictive than you think,

more powerful than
you may even want them to be,

and contain things
you did not sign up for.

So, if I may quote Joe Rogan,
something I really don't love to do,

it's crucial to know that this stuff
could, in his words, "f*ck you up".

But unlike Joe Rogan,

it's just as crucial to not then
swallow 10 of them.

Because while gas station drugs
may look fun and low-risk,

especially when they're sold
in familiar environments,

the truth is, you could easily
wind up addicted

and losing tens of Honda Civics
worth of money to them,

or indeed, far, far worse.
And now, this.

And Now:
Coming Up on "Inside Edition".

Next, granny gamers.

Give me the k*ll shot.

And, gator face-off.

No! Get back!

Plus, worst first pitch ever?

And identical triplets.
They do everything together,

including hair transplants!

Plus, bickering on kiss cam.

Plus, underground serenade

by the guy
they call "the sewer singer".

Plus, attacked by a giant crab
on live TV.

And…

Jessica!

What's so magical
about the name "Jessica"

that instantly brings
temper tantrums to a halt?

Next, what are all these people
in white hazmat suits doing?

And is that a former star
from TV's "Baywatch"?

And the greatest kitchen
hacks of all time.

Then, agony of da feet!

Selena Gomez's husband's
dirty feet drama.

And… this can't end well.

That's our show, thanks for watching,
we'll see you next week, good night!

All right,
tell everybody the headlines.

There's storm strikes
and please be careful,

hot, then that's so cool, cool.

- Cool air is cool?
- Yeah.

Are you gonna come back and do
this at 10 o'clock here tonight?

You're having so much fun,
we're gonna do this at 10?

Probably not.