John Oliver tore into Joe Rogan for his seemingly haphazard use of the gas-station drug Kratom.
The HBO host spent Sunday night’s episode of Last Week Tonight unpacking the phenomenon of these drugs, which are readily available at gas stations across the country but deemed increasingly unsafe. Kratom’s popularity has skyrocketed across the U.S., and Rogan has admitted to using the drug, too, as Oliver displayed for his audience.
“I just took some,” Rogan, 58, told guest Hamilton Morris on a 2018 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. “I f---ed up my knee the other day. I did something, and it’s been stiff and painful. So I iced it before I came here, and I just took six of them. See what happens...”
The podcaster admitted that he took 10 doses of Kratom once. “Now I get why people might think it’s a drug,” he said, saying that taking eight to 10 pills can “f--- you up.” He displayed a few packets of the brand, not appearing to know their exact names.
Oliver fired back at Rogan for this clip, exclaiming, “Joe, Joey, Josephine, what the f--- are you doing?
“You didn’t even know the name of the pill or how many you were supposed to take. What did you know? Because it seems 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,” the late-night host said.
Oliver explained to his audience that these drugs “can be addictive,” saying, “In working on this story, we’ve seen so many clips of people talking about how hard it is to quit these products.”
Kratom is a tree native to Southeast Asia, and products derived from kratom leaves are available for purchase online and in stores, including health food markets, vape shops, and at gas stations.
Usually sold as supplements, the drugs are typically used for self-treatment of various conditions, the Food and Drug administration explains. The FDA says that not much is “scientifically” known about kratom. The Mayo Clinic, meanwhile, says that kratom is sold as “an energy booster, mood lifter, pain reliever and remedy for the symptoms of quitting opioids.” However, the clinic has labeled the drug unsafe, noting a laundry list of undesired side effects and thousands of reports to poison control centers related to the drug.
The dangers, which have led to thousands of overdose cases, and a lack of regulation surrounding kratom products, have led to backlash and urgent calls for reform and even a national ban.
“Unfortunately, right now, it’s become incumbent upon all of us to make ourselves aware of the potential dangers here,” Oliver explained to his guests.
“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,” Oliver continued. “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, ‘f--- you up.’”
“But unlike Joe Rogan,” he mocked, “It’s just as crucial to not then swallow 10 of them.”
