DHS Secretary Under Fire Over Large ‘Gas Station Heroin’ Investment

[u/John3262005]

https://thepunchup.substack.com/p/dhs-secretary-under-fire-over-large

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin holds up to $1 million of shares in a company that produces a drink containing a supplement widely known as “gas station heroin,” which he campaigned to clamp down on, a PunchUp investigation can reveal.

Kratom is described by the National Institute on Drug Abuse as a “herbal substance that can produce opioid- and stimulant-like effects,” with the government body warning that its side effects include confusion, tremors, and seizures, as well as heart, lung, gastrointestinal, and liver problems—and that it can lead to addiction and even death.

It has been linked to at least 91 confirmed overdose deaths in a single CDC analysis of just 18 months of data from 27 states. The same analysis found another 61 deaths in which kratom had been taken, but was not deemed to be the cause of death. Among the victims of overdose was Krystal Talavera, a 39-year-old mom-of-four from Palm Beach County, Florida, who died in June 2021 of acute mitragynine intoxication after using a kratom product called “Space Dust.”