Dangerous new drug could be ‘next wave of the opioid epidemic’
Pharmacist TikToker Grant Harting recently bought a gas station pill with ‘super concentrated’ amounts of potentially deadly narcotic 7-OH — plus a cocktail of potentially toxic mystery chemicals.
“This went from very sketchy and dangerous to incredibly super crazy sketchy and dangerous,” Harting said after sending the pill to a lab for analysis.
The chemical comes from the kratom plant — a century-old medicinal herb manufacturers are now using to make a far more potent drug.
“I knew it was going to be an absolute disaster on wheels, and sure enough, it was,” Dr. Sarah Kerrigan, who authored a milestone kratom research survey in 2021, told The Post.
The drug isn’t technically an opioid, but it works similarly.
Kratom-related hospitalizations and deaths have skyrocketed 1,200% in the last 10 years, as 7-OH — nicknamed “gas station heroin” — flood the market, according to the CDC.
But it’s still legal in most states — packaged in gummies, drinks, and even ice cream warns the Food and Drug Administration, which called 7-OH drug “the next wave of the opioid epidemic.
Kratom, particularly 7-OH, is especially dangerous when mixed with alcohol and other drugs, which is the case in around 80% of kratom-linked fatalities, the CDC reported.
Worse, users often have no idea if they’re buying normal kratom or a potentially addictive narcotic, as manufacturers aren’t required to reveal 7-OH on product labels in many states.
“[7-OH] is sold as ‘kratom,’ but is not the leaf material. It is a lot more potent, meaning you need less of it to achieve the desired effect,” warned Dr. Oliver Grundmann, a kratom specialist at the University of Florida.
The full extent of the danger is still a mystery — which is a problem when people can buy 7-OH at vape shops and truck stops with little guidance on how much they’re actually supposed to take.
The pill Harting studied technically contained two doses, but it was too tough for the TikToker to break in half — even when he took a razor to it.
“It will be sold as one tablet, but a quarter of a tablet is one serving size. Who’s doing that? Who’s cutting a tablet into a quarter with a kitchen knife?” Grundmann said.
Another problem is the 7-OH manufacturing process creates mystery side chemicals that get added to the mix.
“We have no idea about the effects of these side products,” Grundmann said.
Indeed: Harting’s gas station pill analysis showed “some additional chemicals, that we don’t really know what they are.”
Lobbyists for the kratom industry — including the American Kratom Association — have fought federal bans on the product, calling instead for a crackdown on 7-OH specifically.
Other kratom advocates claim 7-OH could be a powerful remedy for normal opioid addiction.
“Rushing to ban 7-OH without solid research could push people toward more dangerous substances,” writes the 7-Hope Alliance, a 7-OH advocacy group.
But even if 7-OH can help people wean themselves off stronger opioids, it has no business being peddled at bodegas, Grundmann said.
“It should be appropriately labeled and also only available in the hands of someone who can provide professional guidance, like a licensed pharmacist. Not a clerk at a gas station.”
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