Gas station opioids

October 2, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Gas station opioids

In Northern Virginia, behind the clerk at a convenience store, next to the cigarettes, sit products with names like "superquay" and "opium" — gummies, shots, and powders that people colloquially call "gas station heroin." One TikTok user describes the feeling: "Within about 10 minutes, I felt light as a feather. I just stared outside and watched a flock of birds fly away. And it was beautiful." These products work on the brain's opioid system, yet they're sold legally at thousands of gas stations and corner stores across the United States. Two recent deaths at the University of Mississippi — where police found a Kratom-like substance near one student and tablets from the same brand near another — have pushed the question into the headlines: how is this legal?

Kratom and 70H: two related substances

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What you'll learn

1 (00:03) **The Gas Station Mystery** - Host Sean Romister introduces the episode by describing the strange, zany products sold behind gas station counters next to cigarettes, setting up the central question: how are these legal?
2 (02:14) **Introducing Kratom and 7-OH** - Guest Mate Busby from Wired joins to explain the two main substances at the center of the controversy.
3 (04:36) **History and Traditional Use of Kratom** - The conversation shifts to how long Kratom has been used in the U.S. and its origins.
4 (05:34) **Personal Experience and Industry Size** - Busby reveals he has tried Kratom himself, and the scale of the industry is discussed.
5 (06:53) **How Kratom is Marketed and Regulated** - The discussion covers how Kratom has evaded a full ban and its current legal status.
6 (08:07) **The University of Mississippi Deaths** - The episode connects the substances to recent tragic news.
7 (10:31) **The Hysteria vs. Reality** - Busby offers a critical perspective on the media and public reaction to these substances.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Drugs like kratom and 7-OH are widely available at corner stores and smoke shops. They've remained largely unregulated until now.

This episode was produced by Kelli Wessinger, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Gabriel Dunatov, engineered by David Tatasciore and Bridger Dunnagan, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.

Capsules of the herbal supplement Kratom, a psychoactive drug derived from the leaves of the kratom plant. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

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