Steve Robinson

She's smart.

I've talked with her off camera.

She knows the issue, not just like my staffer briefed me 10 seconds ago.

She knows the issue.

It's something she cares about.

7-OH is a synthetic opioid drug derived from the kratom plant.

The kratom plant is a coniferous plant indigenous to Southeast Asia, grows throughout Indonesia, primarily is where it's harvested from.

And in its raw form, I would say,

Kratom is to 7-OH, as the poppy seed is to morphine, or the coca leaf is to cocaine.

The kratom leaf has been consumed by locals for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

It can make a tea that's anywhere from mildly stimulating, like a cup of coffee, or anxiolytic is what some of the proponents will say, as in reduces anxiety, aka gets you high.

By itself, it's relatively harmless.

There are plenty of people who consume it as a tea or chew it like chewing tobacco.

But it has some alkaloids in it, which I think nicotine is an alkaloid.

Opioids are alkaloids.

It's just a name for a class of chemicals that interact with your brain.

It has some natural alkaloids in it that will give you those experiences.

In natural kratom leaf, once it begins to decay a little bit, develops trace amounts of something called 7-OH.

And at some point in time, it was discovered that this 7-OH is very potent and a complex chemical process involving harsh chemicals like pool shock and reagents.

And I'm not a chemistry expert, but it's a complicated process.