LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Arkansas Secretary of Health candidate Harland Griggs told supporters Saturday that seasonal allergies are being worsened by reliance on antihistamines, nasal sprays, and what he called “an overly medicalized response to seasonal irritation.”
Griggs made the remarks during a wellness seminar behind a feed store outside Russellville, where his campaign hosted a public demonstration on alternative health practices for about thirty attendees.
“People get a little pollen in their nose and run straight to the pharmacy,” Griggs said. “That’s the problem.”
He argued that hog testicles could offer a natural response to seasonal congestion by supporting the body rather than suppressing its reaction.
“Medication and nasal sprays corrupt the body’s relationship with nature,” Griggs said. “Testicles are where the body comes from. You don’t heal the body by blocking nature. You heal it by bringing the body back to the point of origin.”
At that point, a reporter asked whether hog testicles were safe to consume.
Griggs reached behind the podium and lifted a small glass jar labeled “SPRING BLEND.”
“You don’t consume it,” Griggs said.
He said the jar contained powdered hog testicles mixed with dried goldenrod.
“You snort it,” he said.
When asked again whether the mixture was safe to inhale, Griggs said he had anticipated the question.
To demonstrate, he unscrewed the lid, tapped a thin brownish line of powder across the podium, and snorted it.
Griggs came up fast, blinking hard, then slumped back over the podium.
“Jesus Christ,” he shouted.
Two aides stepped toward him, but Griggs raised one hand and waved them away.
He held the podium until his eyes stopped watering.
“That’s farm to face, baby,” he said. “That’s some good shit.”
Griggs remained at the podium breathing heavily. His eyes were wet, his jaw moved slightly as he gathered himself. He said the reaction was consistent with a strong natural product and that the breathing should not be confused with a medical emergency.
“This is activation,” Griggs said. “People hear breathing and assume distress. That is how far we have fallen from listening to the body.”
When another attendee asked how anyone could verify that the powder was safe, Griggs said the answer could not be found in a laboratory report.
“You verify it before it’s powder,” he said.
“Safety starts at the farm,” Griggs said. “You have to know the farmer and the farm. If you haven’t stood in the mud and held that hog’s testicles in your hand with confidence, you don’t know what you’re putting in your nose.”
He then waved toward a side entrance, where a campaign volunteer led a live hog into the room on a rope. Several attendees looked toward the exit.
Griggs crouched next to the animal and placed one hand on its back.
“I don’t outsource this part,” Griggs said. “I watch how they walk. I watch how they breathe. Then I check the product myself.”
Griggs moved behind the hog, reached beneath it, and cupped the animal’s testicles in one hand while continuing to address the crowd. A campaign aide standing near the podium stared at the floor.
“You’re checking for firmness, weight, spring-back,” Griggs said. “You want density. You want structure.”
The hog shifted its back legs. Griggs adjusted his stance and continued.
Griggs lightly rolled the testicles in his palm and nodded.
“Well handled,” he said.
He pressed them once with his thumb.
“No softness.”
He shifted their weight from one hand to the other, then tossed them lightly in his palm.
“Good density.”
He held them lower and swung them gently back and forth, watching the movement.
“Great swing,” he said.
He lifted them slightly, studying them for another moment.
“That’s going to have lift.”
Griggs released the animal and stood up, wiping his hands on his pants as a campaign volunteer pulled the hog a few feet back from the podium. He said the demonstration showed that safety could be determined at the farm, before the powder was ever prepared.
Griggs said the problem was not that Arkansans lacked interest in natural options, but that state law had made those options unavailable.
Griggs then shifted to his campaign’s next proposal: removing legal barriers so Arkansans could access what he called “farm-certified hog snort” through small farms, feed stores, and trusted local handlers. He said the state should not require pharmacies or physician supervision for “traditional resilience.”
As he continued describing the plan, Griggs opened the jar again, tapped another line of powder across the podium, and snorted it without pausing his remarks.
The hog, which had remained near the side of the room, let out a loud squeal. Griggs stopped, looked toward the animal, slapped it once on the side, and told an aide to get it out of the room.
County health officials said Monday that they do not recommend inhaling powdered animal tissue under any circumstances, warning that it could irritate nasal tissue, introduce bacteria, worsen inflammation, or cause infection.
The Griggs campaign rejected the warning.
“For too long, Arkansas families have been denied access to natural options because the state treats traditional farm knowledge like contraband,” the campaign said in a statement. “Harland believes adults should not have to break the law to make an informed decision.”
Asked whether expanding access could expose more people to infection, Griggs said that was why the state needed standards based on farm knowledge rather than paperwork.
As he answered, a thin line of blood began running from his left nostril. The bleeding increased while Griggs continued explaining that the powder was natural.
“That’s normal,” he said. “Visible reactions have been stigmatized by a culture that expects healing to be quiet.”