Forget dark alley deals; the next wave of the opioid epidemic is being rung up next to the beef jerky and energy drinks. A terrifying new class of drug, dubbed ‘gas station heroin,’ is flooding convenience stores and vape shops nationwide—and it’s all perfectly legal in most states. The culprit? A super-concentrated chemical called 7-OH, derived from the kratom plant, packed into pills, gummies, and even ice cream with labels that hide a potentially deadly secret.

Pharmacist and TikTok investigator Grant Harting recently bought one such pill and sent it to a lab. The results were worse than he feared: ‘super concentrated’ levels of 7-OH, a narcotic that works like an opioid, plus a cocktail of mystery chemicals of unknown toxicity. ‘This went from very sketchy and dangerous to incredibly super crazy sketchy and dangerous,’ Harting declared. The kicker? The pill was marketed as two doses, but was impossible to split evenly, practically guaranteeing users would take a dangerously high amount.

The stats are a horror story unfolding in real time. Kratom-related hospitalizations and deaths have skyrocketed by 1,200% over the last decade, with the CDC pinpointing 7-OH as a prime driver. In about 80% of fatalities, it was mixed with alcohol or other drugs—a likely scenario when it’s sold alongside six-packs. ‘We have no idea about the effects of these side products,’ warned Dr. Oliver Grundmann of the University of Florida, referring to the unknown byproducts of the 7-OH manufacturing process found in Harting’s pill.

The FDA has labeled 7-OH ‘the next wave of the opioid epidemic,’ but a powerful lobby led by the American Kratom Association has successfully fought federal bans. Some advocates even push it as a treatment for opioid addiction, a claim that makes experts livid. ‘It should be… only available in the hands of someone who can provide professional guidance, like a licensed pharmacist. Not a clerk at a gas station,’ Grundmann insisted. Meanwhile, the pills keep selling, a slow-motion public health crisis being monetized at the cash register, one dangerous dose at a time.