What is your experience with this ridiculous, nasty substance known as kratom?

My experience is August 30th, 2020, I lost my son, my only child, to a substance.

He used whole leaf powder.

He used a substance for energy.

He was a father of three, a business owner here in New York, a young man, a healthy man who didn't consume alcohol, illicit substances, or prescription medications, a very young and healthy man who loved life, his family, his whole world, just taken away from something he thought was natural and safe.

Back in 2017, when he started using it, there was nothing.

It was...

Am I crazy to say, hey, if you need pain relief, why don't you go to a doctor instead of going to Billy Bob over there at the gas station?

Wendy, you have got a property tip and it comes down to some of these contracts, reading them correctly.

That is right.

Make sure you check the contract thoroughly and look at the minutes of meeting from the most recent AGM, because that's where you'll find gotchas that you may not be aware of.

And over your 30-year career, you would have seen this time and time again.

Absolutely.

They are bulky, weighty, jargon-filled documents, and you must, must understand what you are signing on the dotted line.

From first-time

Always a pleasure.

I, I think like any MP who, um, gets, um, interest in this condition, it's usually because a constituent gets in touch because they are struggling to get help and support for their child, both from a medical and indeed from an educational perspective.

Because one of the things about this condition is the sudden onset of the symptoms that young people who get it, um, experience is, is just pretty devastating for a family.

It's OCD, it's tics, it's food avoidance.

It's just basically absenting themselves from everyday life, from schooling, where they've normally been doing quite well.

And, uh, and it, it-- the, the infection, uh, trigger that you describe, it sometimes can be a few weeks after an infection, so it's very difficult to put two and two together.

So I had a constituent who basically was struggling for support.

But, but the guidelines that are coming later this year, I think they're due in the autumn, they, they will hopefully change that part of the story.

[laughs]

I, I, I mean, this is where, you know, dare I say it, a- as a Scot, we, we hope England get gubbed.

For me, just a little bit gubbed, but, uh, um-

Yeah.

Um, but, uh, yeah, I mean, the thing about Engla- dare I say it, Scotland result, obviously absolutely delighted to get our three points, but as per usual, we didn't make it in any way easy for ourself and our supporters.

And England are pretty good at that as well.

Wendy, how was it for you?

Yeah.

I think what I'd said last time was I found the training between a half and a full marathon pretty tough, and, and, and that's still the case.

I mean, when I got to 33K, which is where my family, uh, were and I saw them for the second time, that was the point where obviously I was running further than I ever had before.

But Richard is absolutely right.

It was amazing how many people I knew [laughs] that, um, I did actually spot on the route, though my London team are gutted because literally they said they were yelling in my face and I sailed on by.

Which are the two charities?

So Pans Panda UK, and then Fife Carer Centre, uh, in my, in my patch.