“Stop Gas Station Heroin” Seeks to Shut Down the Unregulated Sale of Dangerous Lab-Made Synthetic Drugs Masquerading as Natural, Safe Substances
LOS ANGELES – Stop Gas Station Heroin, a national coalition, today launched a first-of-its-kind effort to educate consumers and advocate for funding to enforce protections around dangerous lab-made, chemically altered substances. Through its mission, the coalition intends to advocate against mislabeled, unregulated synthetic drugs that lack warning labels, quantity limits and prescription requirements.
Commonly referred to as “Gas Station Heroin,” these lab-made, chemically altered substances include tianeptine, synthetic isolate alkaloids like 7-hydroxymitragynine (7OH), high concentration extracts, intoxicating hemp products, and nitrous oxide. Sold in gas stations, convenience stores, smoke shops, and over the internet, these products are cleverly disguised to evade regulatory scrutiny while masquerading as copycat snacks, supplements, and novelty products sold alongside everyday items.
“The fourth wave of the opioid epidemic is unfolding before our eyes with the explosion of intoxicating and dissociative derivatives that mimic the effects of scheduled drugs.
These dangerous lab-made synthetic drugs, packaged like candy and sold at convenience stores, are hurting kids and fueling for-profit addiction in communities across the country,” said Matthew Lowe, Executive Director of Stop Gas Station Heroin. “With Stop Gas Station Heroin, our mission is to shut down the unregulated sale of chemically engineered highs while protecting access to real, natural products with a long history of safe use.”
Despite being marketed as such, these are not dietary supplements, nor traditional botanicals. They are unapproved new drugs. They are lab-manufactured, primarily in China and India, and illegally imported into American communities through foreign national-owned retailers operating under false pretenses as part of a coordinated, multi-billion-dollar syndicate that exploits legal loopholes to drive and profit on addiction, evades regulatory scrutiny, and causes mass confusion amongst consumers between natural grown products and those created in a lab.
Federal officials are taking notice of synthetics, including U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary, who testified in the U.S. Senate on May 22. He stated that the FDA “have begun taking action against new challenges such as gas station heroin,” signaling an increased focus on this emerging threat.
Stop Gas Station Heroin is committed to consumer safety, regulatory compliance, and protecting American communities from foreign criminal enterprises. Blanket bans that lump legitimate botanicals with dangerous synthetics won’t solve this crisis—they’ll only punish law-abiding businesses and drive consumers to more dangerous alternatives.
Smart regulation that distinguishes between legitimate, natural botanicals and dangerous, synthetic drugs, combined with enforcement of current federal laws around unapproved drugs, is the path forward.
To learn more about Stop Gas Station Heroin and its mission, navigate to stopgasstationheroin.com.
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