Edit: Speech_on_Kratom_at_Bowtie_Cinema

Markdown Content:

= Speech on Kratom at Bowtie Cinema =

* First, I want to thank Dean for putting this event together

<blockquote>
* Let’s give him a round of applause  
* Because I’ll tell you, as a legislator, sometimes you introduce a bill and you don’t know if anyone will notice  
* And every once in a while, someone shows up out of the blue and pours everything they have into it  
* Their time, their energy, their voice  
* And for this bill, that person was Dean  
</blockquote>

* And HB360, our kratom consumer protection bill, was one of those bills

<blockquote>
* I didn’t think it would get much attention  
* I thought it would be fairly quiet  
* Because when you say “kratom,” most people still don’t even know what that is  
* And this wasn’t a ban  
* It was a simple idea: give consumers clear information and basic protections  
</blockquote>

* So I thought, who would oppose that

<blockquote>
* And I found out the answer very quickly  
* The American Kratom Association  
</blockquote>

* Within a week, they were in our office asking us to rewrite the bill

<blockquote>
* Then they came back again  
* Then again  
* Then every single day  
</blockquote>

* And from day one, they didn’t just disagree with us

<blockquote>
* They lied  
* They said you can’t overdose on kratom  
* They said it can’t hurt you  
* They said mitragynine and 7-OH are completely different
<blockquote>
* (conveniently they always left out the part where mitragynine turns into 7-OH)
</blockquote>
</blockquote>

* But what stuck with me most wasn’t just the misinformation

<blockquote>
* It was when it became personal  
* They'd tell me one thing and tell my chief of staff something completely different  
* They'd go to the chair of a committee and tell him that I agreed to some amendment they drafted
* They'd lie to our Administrative Assistant about having meetings scheduled
* They spread lies about Dean  
* They called his son a liar  
* They invented conversations that never happened  
</blockquote>

* It’s one thing to believe strongly in your product

<blockquote>
* It’s another to try to manipulate everyone around you  
* Because when you do that, it shows something very clearly  
* You don’t actually believe in your product 
* If your product was the miracle you claim it to be, then you wouldn't need to spin lies
</blockquote>

* Because the truth is this

<blockquote>
* Kratom is not harmless  
* Kratom is not risk-free  
* Kratom as a drug, is classified as an opioid
* And Virginians deserve to know that  
</blockquote>

* The opposition loved to play games with language; they love semantics

<blockquote>
* “This doctor is affiliated with a prestigious institution”  
* But maybe not anymore 
* "This expert is doing groundbreaking work in their field and they think kratom is great"
* But they receive a paycheck from the AKA
* “This is an opioid”  
* But only chemically, just ignore that it binds to the opioid receptor in your brain
* Always just enough ambiguity to confuse people  
</blockquote>

* But here’s what I’m proud of

<blockquote>
* My colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, delegates and senators, saw through it  
* Law enforcement saw through it  
* Local leaders saw through it  
* And now, Virginians will be able to see through it too  
</blockquote>

* Because this bill is now law
<blockquote> 
* And in about 70 days, these protections go into effect 
* It will be illegal to sell kratom without clear warnings 
* And every package will carry this label: 
<blockquote>
* “Kratom may cause dependence and opioid-like withdrawal.” 
</blockquote>
</blockquote>

* That matters

<blockquote>
* Because people deserve to understand what they are putting into their bodies
* And an industry built on deception has no place in our commonwealth
</blockquote>

* We’ve taken an important step toward protecting Virginians

<blockquote>
* And we’re sending a message beyond our state  
* That enough is enough  
* Consumers deserve the truth  
</blockquote>

* And I’ll be honest

<blockquote>
* There is still more work to do  
* This issue is not going away  
* And I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues on what comes next  
</blockquote>

* Thank you all for being here

<blockquote>
* And thank you for continuing this fight  
</blockquote>