If you're listening to The Daily Wire, you know how important the fight for fundamental freedoms is. We're Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal ministry advancing free speech, religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and parental rights. We've helped secure major victories, including at the Supreme Court, and we're actively defending issues like women's sports and free expression. We rely on your support to keep going. Right now, every dollar you give will be matched. Go to joinadf.com slash wire or text wire to 83848 to double your impact today. States are scrambling to regulate a highly addictive, opiate-like substance currently being sold at gas stations. Pratum and 7OH products are quietly surging in popularity with young people, most of whom are totally unaware of the risks. In this episode, we speak to The Daily Wire's own Reagan Conrad about her debut investigative series, the first episode of which is a deep dive on the proliferation and dangers of cratum. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley. It's Saturday, April 11th, and this is Morning Wire. I want to tell you about our friends and Alliance Defending Freedom and an incredible victory for free speech. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of Colorado counselor Kayleigh Chiles, condemning the state's effort to censor viewpoints affirming biological truth in the counseling room. This win signals that the cultural tide is turning toward the truth. Now, children struggling with gender confusion have hope that they will be able to seek counseling that helps them embrace their God-given identity, thanks to faithful ministry friends who carried this case all the way to victory. ADF relies on the generous support of people like you to protect freedom in the courtroom and the culture. Go to joinadf.com slash wire or text wire to 83848 to have your gift to ADF matched. That's joinadf.com slash wire or text wire to 83848 to double your impact for freedom. This episode is sponsored by Brickhouse Nutrition. You've probably heard about those weight loss injections that everyone's been talking about. And for good reason, the results can be pretty incredible. They work by helping regulate blood sugar and keeping your appetite in check. But here's the thing, not everyone wants to deal with weekly injections, especially when you start hearing about some of the side effects that can come with them. That's where lean comes in. It's a weight loss supplement developed by doctors and people are seeing some really impressive results. The ingredients in lean are backed by research showing that they can help lower blood sugar, turn stored fat into energy and reduce those constant cravings that make dieting so hard. This stuff is no joke. I am one of those people that eats sometimes a lot when I'm stressed. But once lean came into the picture, I was able to rein in my cravings. Let's get you started with 20% off and free rush shipping so you can add lean to your healthy diet and exercise plan. Visit takelean.com and enter wire for your discount. That's promo code wire at takelean.com today. This is a journey I've wanted to take for a long time now. And more than anything, I want to build bridges through honest conversations. I'm curious about the culture grounded in truth and pursuing the purpose my creator has for me. And I am so excited for you guys to join me on this journey. So if you have any topics or stories you want me to look into, send them my way and let's dive in. Joining us now to discuss her new show is daily wires, Reagan Conrad. Reagan, thanks for coming on. Hi guys, thanks for having me. I'm honored to be here. This is fun. This is very fun. I always see you guys recording in here. So it's fun to actually get in here for a second. Our domain. So you just launched this new show. It's a deep dive investigative series type show. And you had your first episode on Kratom, which it's a wild topic, very under reported. Can you just tell us the structure of your new show and then also what this first episode is about? Yeah. So this new show is very exciting. It's essentially a channel that is home to a bunch of different formats. So I've covered over the years that essentially every different story deserves its own kind of way to tell it. And so what I wanted to do with this channel is it can be long from interviews. It can be short, quick video essay styles. It can be mini docs. It's going to kind of be an assortment of everything. And I think that's what's fun because every story can kind of be catered to the way that it's best told. So our first one is Kratom. I had originally seen it go viral because these guys were talking about how these kids got their hands on this stuff from a gas station. And then they're saying like, but also it acts like an opiate to be very careful and you can get it out of gas station. And I was like, there's no way this is true. And so we went on this rabbit hole and it proved to be very much true and very much a problem that is just now starting to be discussed. It's sort of like it's lived in a gray area or kind of in the dark for a while. And now people are starting to be like, Hey, this is a huge problem where I'm going to rehab for this thing that I didn't even know was dangerous. And so that's, that's kind of the topic of our first one because we're like, we need to deep dive this because this is a huge issue going on. So when I lived in California about 15, maybe it was, but it was probably 2015 when I first learned about Kratom. And it was a friend of mine who was telling me that he would go like into Chinatown to get this stuff called Kratom and it helps with his pain. And I remember thinking this is like so sketchy, but nothing ever like I never really heard about it in the news. He was demonstrating some signs that to me, this looked like addiction. But I kind of was like, well, if it's legal, it's legal. Can you tell us what exactly this stuff is and what the legal status is? Yes. So it is a leaf that has grown in Southeast Asia originally. It's now come over here sort of under the radar like that where it's in these random little like sketchy areas and people have kind of got their hands on it slowly. They essentially took derivatives from the Kratom plant, something called 708 is the biggest kind of concern in this conversation. And 708 has now been, chemists have gotten involved and they're kind of catering this thing to create a new drug. So people are getting hooked to the Kratom leaf plant probably kind of sounds like what your friend was dealing with. It helps with chronic pain. So people are seeing these good side effects of it, but there's also a dark side that people aren't really talking about or those who are didn't know about it until years into the usage of this product. So there's Kratom and then there's 708. So there's kind of this, everyone's fighting both of these things at the same time. Both of them have issues, both of them are addictive, both of them act like opiates, which is the biggest thing that I think people should be aware of. And so that's what we were trying to break down. Like, what is the differences because there's different legal statuses for both too. A lot of states right now are targeting synthetic 708. So that's because these chemists have gotten involved, they're heightening it, they're making it way more dangerous. It's people are getting super, super addicted to the stuff. So that is becoming outlawed in a couple of states. I think Florida is one of the first ones to really target synthetic 708. Other states, since even the recording of our video, because we've been working this for months, as of this year, a lot of them are now targeting Kratom as well. So there's kind of a lot happening simultaneously, but people are paying attention. When you say targeting, is that like there's an age limit, etc. or where it's allowed to be sold? Yes. A lot of them are being sold in smoke shops. So now when you drive past the smoke shop, you'll see Kratom, which I didn't even, again, I didn't even know the word, I didn't know what it was. It's sort of like the way marijuana just suddenly popped up in outs everywhere. Kratom is kind of essentially doing the same thing. So that's happening everywhere, but people are, they were saying, well, Kratom is fine, but 708 is not. And so that's kind of been the battle, which is safe or are both of them safe? And a lot of states are now starting to say, no, Kratom even has issues, like even in its natural state. So again, that's kind of the issue. Well, and I mean, I've heard of high school students who are experiencing withdrawal symptoms when they're trying to come down from this. This is stuff that they are picking up at a 7-11, no ID required, correct? No, no, I mean, a lot of it's being sort of like a natural herbal supplement or things like a five hour energy. Yes, yes. And it looks like a five hour energy or it just acts like that. And people think, oh, it's totally fine. So they grab it at the gas station. And then they have to grab it multiple times a week. And then they're grabbing it multiple times a day. And it's becoming like genuinely this huge issue. And then people are going to rehab for all of these different derivatives. So it's wild. Is it expensive? No, no. And that's again, people can grab their hands on it really quickly. It's like under $10. I mean, we went out in our video and we bought a lot of different versions of it because we wanted to kind of understand these, the differences. It's very cheap. And every person at these gas stations and the smoke shops were like, yeah, I have a lot of people coming in for this like 11 times a day. That's not normal. And it's not good. And also it's not something to brag about to a random stranger, but people kept saying that. But yeah, that's the trend. Did you try it? No, I didn't. I had these drugs in my office. I got to now throw out, but no, I didn't try it. We've talked to HR. It's fine. Yeah, exactly. They know it's here. Now, I had previously read a few months ago when we reported on this, I think the first time, that there hadn't been officially any deaths linked to cradum and maybe not even 7-0-H. But I understand that's a little bit of a gray area. What is the actual risk of this? I mean, there are a lot of people saying that cradum is now on death certificates. So are they directly linking that as the only thing? No, not from what I'm seeing, but I am seeing a lot of people saying, you know, a lot of even widows speaking to this, my partner was addicted to cradum. He passed away. It's on his death certificate among some other things. They're trying to like figure out the differences of that. But a lot of people are saying there's an absolute correlation between it, especially heavy overdoses, especially of 7-0-H and synthetic 7-0-H. I think that has been proven to have killed a lot of people at this point. So the natural stuff is what's kind of up for debate. The synthetic stuff is definitely way more harmful in smaller quantities, essentially. And again, this is what a high school student can walk into any 7-11 and get. Yeah, and not know it's a drug. I mean, so many people are taking this stuff just thinking, like, oh, it's totally fine. And that's, I think that's my biggest thing with this, of, you know, people can debate how they want to use it or what kind of legal ramifications it should have or regulations, but at least, bare minimum, people should know what they're taking. And they should, just as any other drug, like, you know the dangers of taking alcohol, right? Because a lot of people are comparing it to alcohol, but it's like, you know that alcohol can be dangerous, especially in mass quantities. People do not know that for this product. Now, I know it took part of the reason why opioids became the problem that they are is because the legislation lagged so far behind the harm. Yeah. Are there bills in process to regulate Kratom or 7-OH? Yes, actually a lot. And even, like I said, as of the recording of our episode, there's a couple states, and I can read them here, because I actually have a bunch, that now are having full Kratom bans. So the natural leaf and 7-OH, because again, both of those distinguishers, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Vermont, Wisconsin, Rhode Island's ban just expired in April, but they are trying to keep that going. So actively a lot is happening with this. Now, before you go, you have your second episode dropping this weekend. Yes. Totally different topic. What are you talking about this weekend? Yes. This weekend, I am talking with someone called Spencer Taylor, and he is the creator of a new documentary on Angel Studios called The Death of Recess. And he dove into the education system, essentially wanting to understand what's going wrong, why are we, you know, this very developed, awesome country, and yet our education system, especially public education, is failing so many people. And so he went on this rabbit hole, and it led him to crazy parts in DC and unpacking things happening in the NEA and just crazy corruption on so many levels. And I watched this documentary and he's a friend of mine. I was like, we need to talk about this because there is so much to unpack. So it's a long form conversation where we just talk about this. And I can't stress enough how many surprises there are. There were so many things that are appalling to me, especially as a new parent, like what do I do with my child regarding education? And I'm terrified of some of the things that we learned. So yeah, yeah, honestly. Not to spoil anything, but do you have one or two that you could highlight for us that were shocking? What the surprises? Yes, absolutely. He went undercover with the NEA and found that they were praising the Satanic Temple, like at a conference where there are just a bunch of teachers, like something that it shouldn't be political at all. And yet these breakout sessions were talking about the Satanic Temple and talking about, oh, well, this is the way that we talk about, you know, the Gay Straight Alliance Club, because if we call it that parents will hear it and they'll know what that is. We're actually going to call it this thing instead. I mean, so many things, like the woke ideology was just in it. And I didn't expect nor did he that he would find that anything that was supposed to be about fixing education. You know, if we have a problem, we need it fixed. Those topics are not fixing it at all. They're making it way worse, obviously. It's crazy. Really disheartening. But he record that. Yes. Okay. So this episode came out this weekend. Do you have weekly drops? Is that how this works? Yeah. So we have the big episodes. We go out every Saturday and then we'll have these little little episodes that go out on Wednesdays. They're little kind of conversations, just myself to camera or extended cuts of interviews, whatever we want to show that maybe didn't get out in that Saturday episode. So every week they will be coming out and you can find it at the Reagan Conrad YouTube channel. All right, Reagan, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you guys so much for having me. It was a pleasure. That was the Daily Wires Reagan Conrad and this has been a Weekend Edition of Morning Wire.
