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Undercover probe targets smoke shop synthetic kratom
Pinal County authorities are investigating synthetic kratom sold over the counter. FOX 10's Jacob Luthi has the details on what undercover investigators found inside local smoke shops.
PINAL COUNTY, Ariz. - Pinal County authorities are investigating the sale of synthetic kratom products, warning that some contain highly concentrated compounds that can carry serious risks of addiction and withdrawal.
The backstory:
Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller said his office sent investigators undercover into local smoke shops to learn how the products are marketed and sold to consumers.
Miller said investigators were surprised by how some retailers described the products.
"To call it Kratom is just not true. It’s really synthetic fentanyl," Miller said.
Video from Pinal County shows investigators speaking with smoke shop employees about synthetic kratom products.
One employee in the video described the potential for customers to develop a tolerance.
"The same with Kratom too, you have to keep upping the dosage to get the same effect because you adapt to it pretty quickly," the employee said.
Another employee suggested certain products were being pulled from shelves.
"After that box we are done, we can’t be selling no more because it’s off the market and stuff too. That’s how bad it is," the employee said.
Miller said he was particularly concerned about how some products are marketed.
"I was shocked to learn that the shop owners know that these products are being marketed as percs, M-80’s, blues, they’re purposefully marketing these products as prescription medication, things that are safe, regulated, but these things are not," Miller said.
Miller said the investigation is focused on products containing 7-OH, a compound naturally found in trace amounts in kratom, a plant with opioid-like effects.
Dig deeper:
Doctors say when concentrated or chemically modified, 7-OH can have stronger effects.
Dr. Frank Lovecchio, an ASU professor and Valleywise Health physician, says these compounds act on the brain’s opioid receptors, increasing the risk of dependence and withdrawal.
In some cases, health complications can lead to hospitalization or death.
"What you’re seeing is an evolution of the product. Some manufacturers are taking this plant and concentrating it or chemically modifying it to make it a much stronger active ingredient," LoVecchio said. "We are seeing more and more people addicted to it, we are seeing more and more deaths to it, especially when there’s a combination of different drugs."
One shop owner described a product’s effects by comparing it to a prescription painkiller.
"It’s basically percocet … it’s basically percocet if I am being 100% serious," the shop owner said.
What's next:
Miller said his office is looking to support legislation that would classify 7-OH as a narcotic drug, giving law enforcement more authority to address its sale.
"These are bipartisan issues, they are safety issues. These are issues to protect our kids, and our communities and the families of those people because a drug addict does not operate in isolation, they affect their family, they affect their community, and those are the things we want to prevent and stop," Miller said.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from Brad Miller, Pinal County attorney; an undercover smoke shop worker; a second undercover smoke shop worker; Dr. Frank LoVecchio, ASU professor and Valleywise Health doctor; an undercover smoke shop owner; and Jacob Luthi, reporter for FOX 10.