Flint health, treatment officials say ‘gas station opioid’ is creating new wave of addicts

GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Flint health and drug rehabilitation officials say they are treating a growing number of patients using what they call a “gas station opioid” -- a highly concentrated byproduct of kratom that’s being sold at convenience stores and smoke shops throughout Genesee County.

While 7-Hydroxymitragynine occurs naturally in trace amounts of kratom -- pills, energy drinks and candy being sold as 7-OH are super-concentrated and can be more potent than opioids like morphine.

“People think it’s benign, something that gives them a little pick-me-up ... a low-grade stimulant like caffeine,” said Dr. Dominic Borgialli, an emergency room physician at Hurley Medical Center.

“People become tolerant of it, and they need it. They can’t stop using it,” Borgialli said. “If they stop usin