Another state has banned dangerous and addictive substances known as “gas station heroin,” so named because they are typically sold with no restrictions from convenience stores, filling stations, and vape shops.
Connecticut has included the drug tianeptine and a psychoactive substance known as kratom, produced by a tree in Asia, in a new list of banned substances state authorities announced this week.
Fourteen states have officially classified the tricyclic antidepressant tianeptine as a controlled substance, according to Fox News.
Kratom is reportedly banned in at least seven states, as well as in a number of major cities, including Denver and San Diego.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:
Tianeptine, a drug, is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for any medical use. Despite that, some companies are distributing and selling unlawful products containing tianeptine to consumers, including products with high doses. They are also making dangerous and unproven claims that tianeptine can improve brain function and treat anxiety, depression, pain, opioid use disorder, and other conditions.
It can also be addictive, according to the FDA.
The drug is sold retail under names like Tianaa, ZaZa, Neptune’s Fix, Pegasus and TD Red.
Kratom, or Mitragyna Speciosa, is a psychoactive substance made from the leaves of a tree that grows in Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and Thailand.
According to Sprout Health Group, a New Jersey addiction clinic:
Although marketed today as having healing powers, or even as an alternative to opioids, most medical experts agree that the health risks of kratom make it unsafe. Moreover, the active ingredient in kratom varies widely by plant, making its effects unpredictable. This leads to a risk of overdose and serious side-effects, including seizures, hallucinations, chills, vomiting, liver damage or even death.
In a statement announcing the ban in Connecticut, which becomes effective Wednesday, Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Bryan Cafferelli said:
These substances have no approved medical use and have been widely available for sale in establishments easily accessed by children and other vulnerable populations. These products were never regulated, tested, or otherwise deemed safe for human consumption, but have been marketed as health products, misleading people to assume they are safe when, in fact, they are addictive, have a high potential for misuse, and pose a serious threat to public health and safety.
Besides Kratom and tianeptine, the state also added 7-hydroxymitragynine, Bromazolam, Flubromazolam, Nitazenes, and Phenibut to the list of outlawed substances.
The Trump administration’s FDA Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary sounded the alarm last May about such freely available products, calling their availability and use a “dangerous and growing health trend” leading to “serious harm.”
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong enlisted the help of consumers to get rid of such products from the state.
“These products are unsafe, untested, and if you see them, do not purchase them and call the police,” he said in statement earlier this week. “Today, I am mailing letters to every known distributor and manufacturer of these substances to ensure full awareness and compliance with the law.
He added, “These companies are on notice—if you sell in Connecticut, we will know, and we will hold you accountable.”
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. He also cofounded Primary Purpose Productions, a Hollywood non profit that produced short films geared to prompting addicts and alcoholics to seek recovery. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
