KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne reports on stories in Overland Park, Johnson County and topics about government accountability. She's been reporting on 7-OH and its parent plant, kratom, for nearly a year in the series Strong High Weak Laws. Share your story idea with Isabella.
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In the last year, a substance known as "gas station heroin" went from being one of the cheapest and most accessible drugs in the Kansas City metro area to being banned on both sides of the state line.
7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) is also on its way to being temporarily scheduled and banned at the federal level. It's a synthetic derivative of kratom with health effects mimicking traditional opioids.
KSHB 41 News reporter Isabella Ledonne has been reporting on 7-OH and its parent plant, kratom, for nearly a year in the series Strong High Weak Laws.
Even though several bans have now been put in place, health experts still say that "gas station heroin" is a problem.
Kansas City was one of the first municipalities in the region to ban 7-OH sales.
"We do inspections every day," Markus Smith, division manager of KCMO's regulated industries, said. "Most of these places are convenience stores, vape stores, and since we have them on file, we go and randomly make daytime inspections."
Smith explained that more than 100 businesses have legally applied for kratom retail licenses, a new requirement set forth with the city's adopted ordinance on "Gas Station Drugs." Only one store has been caught selling 7-OH illegally in the last six months since the ban took effect.
"Does that tell you that businesses are following the laws and rules?" Ledonne asked Smith.
"It appears that to be the case," Smith responded. "The toughest part is that we got so many places that we regulate, and we have to do all these inspections throughout the whole city with minimal staff to do that. Relying on the community to make complaints when they see these types of violations is very important."
Kansas City's assistant city manager for public safety helped draft the ordinance banning gas station drugs and explained the ban has helped contribute to overall lower crime.
"I do think that we've taken a step in the right direction," Lace Cline said. “I think that bringing people into compliance is the first step, and I personally have not received as many complaints about kratom when our multidisciplinary public safety task force is going out and identifying potential issues that could be affecting crime and that's spilling out into our neighborhoods.”
But as 7-OH is being taken off shelves within Kansas City, Missouri, city limits, it's still popular in smaller communities and in illegal storefronts. It's led Missouri's Attorney General to expand her investigation into two Kansas City-area smoke shops for illegally selling the substance.
"We have more patients coming to us with 7-OH withdrawal or treatment for the 7-OH withdrawal and its dependency than we have fentanyl using patients at this time," Dr. Roopa Sethi, addiction psychiatrist for the University of Kansas Health System, said.
Dr. Sethi has been treating kratom and 7-OH addictions for years and explained she's seen a rise in patients over the last few months.
"Newer products have emerged since the last few months, like MGM15, MGM16, and MP products, which are more potent in their potency for these 7-OH products," Dr. Sethi said. "They can be very addictive."
Because kratom and 7-OH are not federally regulated, there are no guidelines for treatment. Dr. Sethi is working on national guidelines to help psychiatrists nationwide.
"There are so many brands out there that even we as physicians can't keep track of those brands, so we don't know what is really in those brands," Dr. Sethi said. "With more guidelines coming, it will be helpful for more addiction psychiatrists to take this help and help treat this population."
The DEA has taken steps to schedule 7-OH as a Schedule I substance, which is the same category as heroin. That action has not yet been finalized.
"It's a problem everywhere, and it needs to be curbed, just like we curbed the fentanyl crisis," Dr. Sethi said.
You can find more coverage on 7-OH and kratom in the KC metro area here.
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