Insidious- a word I’ve heard used to describe Addiction, a disease that does not discriminate based on age, gender, race or economic status. A word that perfectly describes the subject of today’s bill.
My name is Sarah Bolton, and I’m a substance abuse counselor in Martinsville, Virginia—an area devastated by the opioid epidemic. Now, a new threat has emerged. It doesn’t require a prescription, can be easily found at any of the local vape shops lining nearly every corner, and it’s completely legal. Kratom, and more specifically 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), is a highly addictive substance that acts on the opioid receptors in the brain. Marketed as “all natural,” consumers are often unaware that 7-OH is more potent than morphine or that stopping its use can cause severe withdrawal.
Recently, a former patient returned to treatment after graduating from our program less than a year earlier with three years of sobriety from methamphetamines. He didn’t come back to treatment for relapsing on meth, though—he came back because he was addicted to kratom/7-OH. He said he tried to stop on his own but couldn’t. He recounted the night before, when he couldn’t stop violently shaking, couldn’t stop the sickness, and couldn’t stop the pain all over his body. Dope sick—that’s what we usually call it—and he couldn’t understand why.
He first purchased 7-OH six months prior when a friend recommended it for pain. As a contractor, an “all natural” way to deal with pain didn’t seem like a bad idea. He told me that had he known what it truly was, he never would have tried it. He told me how that same friend was now addicted too and had pawned his wedding ring to get another pack of 7-OH.
My patient has since made it his mission to warn others, going from vape shop to vape shop sharing his story and asking them to take it off the shelves. Meanwhile, more patients are walking through our doors addicted to kratom/7-OH.
My patients need their voices heard, and they need legislation in place to prevent others from becoming addicted to this insidious substance.
Insidious- a word I’ve heard used to describe Addiction, a disease that does not discriminate based on age, gender, race or economic status. A word that perfectly describes the subject of today’s bill. My name is Sarah Bolton, and I’m a substance abuse counselor in Martinsville, Virginia—an area devastated by the opioid epidemic. Now, a new threat has emerged. It doesn’t require a prescription, can be easily found at any of the local vape shops lining nearly every corner, and it’s completely legal. Kratom, and more specifically 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), is a highly addictive substance that acts on the opioid receptors in the brain. Marketed as “all natural,” consumers are often unaware that 7-OH is more potent than morphine or that stopping its use can cause severe withdrawal. Recently, a former patient returned to treatment after graduating from our program less than a year earlier with three years of sobriety from methamphetamines. He didn’t come back to treatment for relapsing on meth, though—he came back because he was addicted to kratom/7-OH. He said he tried to stop on his own but couldn’t. He recounted the night before, when he couldn’t stop violently shaking, couldn’t stop the sickness, and couldn’t stop the pain all over his body. Dope sick—that’s what we usually call it—and he couldn’t understand why. He first purchased 7-OH six months prior when a friend recommended it for pain. As a contractor, an “all natural” way to deal with pain didn’t seem like a bad idea. He told me that had he known what it truly was, he never would have tried it. He told me how that same friend was now addicted too and had pawned his wedding ring to get another pack of 7-OH. My patient has since made it his mission to warn others, going from vape shop to vape shop sharing his story and asking them to take it off the shelves. Meanwhile, more patients are walking through our doors addicted to kratom/7-OH. My patients need their voices heard, and they need legislation in place to prevent others from becoming addicted to this insidious substance.