The Texas Legislature spent a lot of time this year debating how to regulate THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. Before lawmakers stepped in, you could find a wide variety of THC products in gas stations, convenience stores and smoke shops.
But it’s not the only drug easily found on the shelves. 7-OH is not legal to sell in Texas, and the FDA wants to ban it, but reporter Chris Tomlinson didn’t have any problems finding it.
Tomlinson is a business columnist for the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News. He spoke to Texas Standard about his experience trying the drug. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
The transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: Well first, tell us how you got curious about this drug, 7-OH.
Chris Tomlinson: You know, I was contacted by the Global Kratom Coalition, which is an organization that sells kratom leaf products.
This is a tree that grows in Southeast Asia. You grind up the leaves, and it acts as a mild sedative or as a mild stimulant. But they warned me that there were people in the United States concentrating this drug from 2% to 98% purity, and that it was really dangerous.
Now, why is the FDA trying to make this unavailable in the U.S.? And as we said, it’s not legal in Texas.
Well, 7-OH, this molecule acts like an opioid. It’s a partial opioid, so people become very addicted to it. In fact, if you look at Reddit or some of the posts on TikTok, people say getting off 7-OH is worse than getting off heroin.
And that’s how it got its nickname, “gas station heroin.” That’s why the FDA wants to ban it.
Well, what form does it come in? Is it something you smoke or eat? I have to admit, I don’t know much about it.
I found it as a tablet with instructions to cut the tablet in half in order to take it, but people are putting this into gummies, drinks – even ice cream bars.
Well, you tried 7-OH. What was that experience?
It was stunning how strong it was. You know, I felt like I had taken a couple of opioid tablets like Vicodin or Oxycontin.
I couldn’t think straight. I lost track of time. I felt [my] whole body go numb. I was just really shocked that something so powerful, in just half a tablet, I could buy at the gas station without any ID or prescription or anything.
So, Chris, it was in the interest of journalism, but [it] sounds a little risky. What made you decide you wanted to try this yourself?
Well, there are people who want to make 7-OH legal and readily available. I felt like I had a responsibility to try it, and try to understand what I was talking about before I wrote about it.
You and everyone can find it very easily despite 7-OH being illegal in Texas. Why is that? Do you think the FDA ban will have any effect?
You know, I contacted the attorney general’s office and said, “have you issued any warning letters? Have you done anything to get these stores to take it off the shelves?”
And they haven’t. Even though under Texas law, Kratom is legal and 7-OH is not. I found it right next to the five-hour energy drink.
I don’t think law enforcement really understands what it is. And, you know, why would you arrest some 24-year-old shopkeeper for selling something that the store is retailing?
So, the problem goes back to these retailers, and that’s going to require the attorney general or someone at that level to get involved.
OK, so there seems to be a whole host of these new types of drugs ending up in convenience stores. What should we know? And in this case, it does sound risky. Has anyone ended up in the hospital?
You know, chemists are taking these natural substances and concentrating them, making these powerful drugs faster than regulators can do anything about them or faster than the public can understand what they’re taking.
So, we’ve already seen overdoses. We’ve seen 7-OH, when combined with other drugs, lead to deadly overdoses. There’s just a lot out there, and just because it’s available over the counter doesn’t mean it’s safe.
Do we have a sense of how many people may be taking this? Any idea how widespread this is in terms of sales?
According to the 7-OH coalition that wants to make this legal, over a million Americans have taken this drug. Over a billion doses have been sold. So this is far more widespread than you’d think for something that you’ve probably never heard of.
Anything else you think the public should know, or even parents?
You know, I’ve written many columns about legalizing marijuana and THC. I am not a prohibitionist, but this stuff is on another level.
This is something that is very harmful. I’m never going to take it again. We need to let people know that it’s out there, it exists, and even though it looks legal, it’s very harmful stuff.
