Original subtitles

Bye.

Thank you so much for joining us. It has been a busy week. The Iran war hit the

60 -day mark. My mom and dad came to visit the U .S.

And last Saturday, a gunman charged the White House correspondent's 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 The White House

Correspondents Dinner or Father of the Bride and Two Groomsmen apologizing for

accidentally giving the ring bearer cocaine.

For the record, just because someone wanted to shoot you at the DC 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,

is what happens when you let air traffic controllers get notions.

But I guess, kudos to Trump for now having the second most embarrassing

on the topic of presidential ballroom, with the most embarrassing still being

when LBJ called the head of the Hagar Pants Company to say this.

The crotch down where your nuts hang.

It's always a little too tight.

So when you make them up, give me an inch that I can let out there.

Because they cut me. They're just like riding a wire fence.

Let's see if you can't leave me about an inch from where the zipper ends.

Around under my back of my bum hole.

It's still so good.

Every US history textbook should include at least one chapter titled, That Phone

Call Where LBJ Discusses Big Swingin' Nuts, and then says the word bunghole

loud. With an immediate follow -up chapter called, Oh My God, Wait the

Almost Forgot to Talk About the Burp.

And I wish so much I could talk about that all night. But sadly, we need to

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

made progress on racial discrimination, it's been thanks in part to the law. He

just fucking got it. Still, credit to ABC for picking that photo of Alito,

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

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

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

elected. If you tell me I have to be white to serve in Congress from

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,

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

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,

means calling a special session and redrawing our maps.

Yet 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 going to 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 yet another sign

that the current Supreme Court seems to have pretty much the exact same goal as

LBJ's Taylor, and that is to make things a lot more comfortable for a bunch of

very unpleasant nuts and arseholes.

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 going to watch this tomorrow.

Do you want to give a shout -out 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. Whatever they want. 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?

Oh, good.

It feels good. 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

psychedelics to opioids again to lethal injection drugs to opioids for a third

and final time to, of course, a bonus opioid story. But tonight...

We're going to talk about so -called gas station drugs. You know, the colourful

products with weird names that you tend to see behind the counter at gas

stations, convenience stores and smoke shops. It's a whole weird world of

poppers, whippets, questionable supplements and boner pills. And if you

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

just chilling, right?

Working, whatever.

This white dude come up. He's like, yo, you got any, any dick pills? Like rhino

dick pills? And he did this shit with his arm. I was like, we had these. He's

like, fuck it, bro. Let me take him. I was like, all right, bet.

And while he was paying and shit, he opened it and he popped one.

And he popped one in his fucking mouth. And I was like, and he was like, shit.

And then he popped another one. I was like, oh, my fucking... What are you

doing, bro? Why the fuck did you take two in a public area like this? You

couldn't go home?

You couldn't wait till you go home? Like, what the fuck 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 boner 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

just like controlled substances.

And here's 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,

-called natural supplements on display.

Starting in like 2015, 2014, I had an opiate aisle. This is what Hooked looked

like for Brandon.

250 bottles consumed in one month 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 going to 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

-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 are 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

to evade regulation with creative labelling, marketing them with language

for research purposes only, or not for human consumption. But the most common

tactic is simply labelling the product a dietary supplement.

And that is because this 1994 law exempted the supplement industry from

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 kid's marching band. And just trust me, it made sense

the time.

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

whereby products calling themselves supplements are tested or approved

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

fuck 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 going to

on three areas in particular.

Sexual enhancement products, a substance called Kratom and its associated

compound 7 -OH, and TNFD. And let's start with the sexual enhancement stuff.

Products like boner 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, Superball, Ramit, Gold Lion, Super Cheetah, Anaconda, Rhino 8, Rhino

11, Rhino 69, of course, Rhino 96, Rhino 99, and my personal favourite, Boner

Bears, which apparently contains a proprietary Boner Bear blend.

first series of words and which features this image which looks like what a

Beanie baby would see if it walked in on his parents having sex But boner 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 dick 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

to get into the dick pill business, we ordered a sample of empty rhino

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

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 Delu'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 cream eggs were filled

with marinara sauce.

Instead of what they're supposed to be filled with, the Easter Bunny's thick,

thick cum.

And if you thought that clip was exaggerating, just watch what happened

they bought what looks like the same pill from two different stores right

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,

textures.

Yet 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

remains into a gas station dick 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

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 14 times the amount of active ingredient

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 boner pills in the cartridge and you can finish printing off your Smurf

porn.

And because the FDA is basically powerless before

a problem emerges, the main

action it often takes is to simply offer public warning to avoid certain

products. That is why you can come across an official FDA release like this

which reads, FDA continues to advise consumers not to purchase or use schwing

products.

Which is embarrassing enough, even before you realise that the release

this image of the packaging, featuring the brand's mascot, seen here answering

the question, what if Alfred E. Newman got heavily into gooning?

The FDA's also publicly warned against, and these are all real, my steel woody,

willy -go -wild, big penis, 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 sperm

ad campaign.

It's not a dick pill.

It's a carousel.

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

more dangerous than you would reasonably hope. And that is also true of the next

product that we're going to 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 has become increasingly popular with millions of

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

things like that.

Jelly 708 Botanicals is our newest line of Kratom gummies. I'm with this

company, Hydroxy. We're a single alkaloid Kratom extract company. And

going to be the strongest, most purest on the market right now.

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

We wanted to be a soccer mom brand, 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, bro.

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 these

unappealing flavors of Kratom on display, including fresh grape, mocha

and Dave's brew.

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

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

labelling when it comes to these products, it can be hard to know exactly

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, labelled train wreck, were just powder in a bag.

And if you think train wreck... 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 tested, five had no information

ingredients, 11 had no dosing instructions, and 13 had no details

which probably shouldn't be that surprising given, again, one of those

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

within a 24 -hour period.

But it's sold as a shot.

Right!

And that's clearly a problem, because everybody knows a bottle's type dictates

how you drink its content. 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

rules of beverage consumption.

We even found one praise and derive product that claims a single tablet

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. Oh, wow.

Yeah, I just took some. I fucked 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 uh took

six of them see what happens wow ten once now i get why people might think

a drug what is the drug yeah for sure but when i took four i was like well i

took two for the first time i took it i took two and a couple times i took two

and this is like a mild stimulant but then when you get into the range of

to ten pills it's like oh this this will fuck you up

The stuff I take is Urban Ice Organics, and, um... See, it

says... It says take two.

Joe!

Joey!

Josephine!

What the fuck are you doing?

You didn't even know the name of the pill or how many you were supposed to

What did you know?

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

woman found.

Amy has been addicted to Kratom for nearly a decade and she didn't buy it

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 the gas station behind my house, trying not to take opiates

opiates are bad, and it was in a little display right beside me. 90 % of my

money goes to this.

The average price of Kratom is around $15 to $25 per bottle or for the two

of pills.

Amy admits she spent more than $100 ,000 in one year on this substance.

If you think about it, that is 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.

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.

What's her voice worth?

I don't need the news to tell me the price of high -end recreational

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

Now, 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 7 -hydroxybitragynin or 7 -oh 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 light versus

drinking 12 ounces of everclear some products have now even ditched the word

Kratom completely and just put 70H front and center. And sales have exploded.

Here's the head of one company who expanded from CBD products to 70H,

at just how quickly his new product line took off.

I've truly never seen a product with the type of sales as fast.

You know, we had a 10 -year lead with Kansas products, and I've just never

anything move like this.

Yeah,

it turns out 708 products are as popular as that man's shirt is, distractingly

red.

That is Vince Saunders, one of 7 -0 -H's loudest proponents. Fun fact, he was

once a car salesman slash large -scale illegal marijuana dealer. And even

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 accurate salesman in the US behind bars.

And I shouldn't go to prison because I'm America's number one accurate salesman

might be the saddest sentence of all time.

Aside from, I shouldn't go to prison because I'm America's number two agro

-salesman. And while some manufacturers position their products as pain

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

many seem to market them with a knowing wink to consumers about their similarity

to illicit substances. There is Dopium, which is pretty on the nose, but also

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

And the addictive nature of these products can be especially rough for

like this woman, who'd already been through an opioid addiction and thought

-0 -H that she found something safe.

This month, Madison McManus found herself in a place she never wanted to

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

just catatonic.

My body was just... I mean, everything was on fire at her. I just didn't want

do it anymore.

She was six and a half years clean from heroin when a friend suggested she try 7

-0 to help with anxiety.

Products like these.

As soon as I took that 7 -0, it was like taking heroin again for the first time.

Wow. It was like taking heroin. Look, you expect people to say that about

things like fentanyl or watching a Halloween dog parade or...

Getting the push alert that Henry Kissinger died. Inject that straight

veins until I happily die.

But what about taking a drug that's readily available at gas station

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

to direct people away from those examples and instead tell them to focus

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 effects of kratom.

If you Google what are the pros and the positives and the good points of kratom,

that's what you're going to get. You've got to learn how to Google.

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.

And 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

recent three -year span, medical examiners and coroners had listed kratom

contributing to or causing at least 4 ,100 deaths in 44 states and D .C. Now,

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

tested properly for safety, as the former number one Acura salesman in the

country readily admits.

So 7 -OH hasn't had any human trials for regulations or anything like that? That

is correct.

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

Look. 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 shit, then seeing what happens.

And what happened in his case is that the Missouri AG has sued his company for

deceptively marketing 708 and Kratom as safe products.

Incidentally, during that investigation, it was noted his company had recalled

more than 3 million pills after a bottle of tablet that were marketed as

containing 7 .5 milligrams of 7 -OH turned out to contain around...

34 milligrams.

Over four times as much. And while apparently, I have to tell you, the

has said 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

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. Oh shit, oh shit, 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

all of these had some form of regulation on 708 or Kratom, ranging from age

restrictions and labelling requirements to outright bans.

I admit, this is complicated.

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

general, full -on prohibition and criminalisation just isn't great drug

And second, when it comes to this particular industry, whenever one drug

banned, another can quickly take its place. All of which brings us to our

type of gas station drug, T -Neptine. Remember that guy you saw earlier with

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 TNFD.

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 cognitive enhancer in

like Neptune's Fix, Zaza, and Piana. And I will say, it is not a great sign that

TNFD quickly picked up this catchy nickname.

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

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

widely available drug that can be incredibly dangerous. Because TNFD has

linked to hundreds of reports of harm, including overdoses and death.

Alabama actually banned it.

a few years ago, but in true whack -a -mole style, a similar product called

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

labelling it as From the Maker of Tiana.

And even when states pass laws, the truth is they don't always get well

enforced, meaning that TNeptine still wound up sitting on shelves for people

buy. And that has led to some tragic outcomes, like this story from a few

ago in Ohio.

It was at this Midwestern gas station that Chris Hagerty bought a bottle of

Neptune's Fix, even though the product contained PNeptine banned a year earlier

by the state of Ohio.

I miss him dearly.

In an interview with the I -Team almost four months ago, Hagerty's mother billed

gas station heroin as death in a bottle.

Fifteen dollars 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 the gas station next to lottery tickets.

It would be like finding out that PetSmart sells hand grenades next to the

hamsters. Come on, PetSmart!

You know everyone always 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

earlier, and to answer your first question, yeah, of course she saw a

-themed Cybertruck in the parking lot. Of course she saw that. You could

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 material said, the

future of Kratom, compliant in all Kratom legal states, seven hydroxy

replacement, three to four times stronger than 7 -OH.

She also spoke to a rep from a distribution company that sells boner

got surprisingly honest about the fact that while some of their products are

kind of bullshit, others could be actively dangerous.

Take a listen.

Wow.

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

concert.

But not when you're talking about your company's unregulated dick 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 analysed. And

found that when that guy said the pills were super potent, he wasn't lying.

Because each contained 180 milligrams of dipoxetine. That's three to six times

the prescription dose of a drug for premature ejaculation that's not been

approved for use here in the US. 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,

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 sleepy thyme 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. I've actually been talking about the dangers of some of

these products, which I guess is good.

I do worry RFK is either going to say they cause autism or suggest they

be replaced with ground -up raccoon carcass. But still, it's something.

Unfortunately, though, any good moves that they take are likely to be

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 crater manufacturers and

retailers for potentially dangerous and illegal practices.

That is how they came to be suing this guy. Although it shows how slippery this

industry is that he said that if 708 is banned, his company already has another

product ready to replace it. Look, something clearly has to be done with

industry, but the key thing is to do it very carefully.

Because in the case of products containing Kratom, 70H and T -Neptine, a

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 is that when you take something very strong off the market,

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

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, fuck you up.

But unlike Joe Rogan, it's just as crucial to not then swallow ten 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, Grammy gamers.

Give me the kill shot.

And Gator face -off. No.

What? Worst birth pit ever?

And identical triplets. They do everything together.

including hair transplant, 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 defeat.

Selena Gomez's husband's dirty feet drama.

And this can't end well.

That's our show. Thanks so much for watching. We'll see you next week. Good

night.

Tell everybody the headlines.

There's a storm strike.

Then, please be careful.

Hot. Then, that's so cool. Cool. Cool air is cool?

Yeah. Are you going to come back and do this at 10 o 'clock here tonight?

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

Probably not.