EDITORIAL: Ban 鈥榞as station heroin鈥� now
The colorful packaging bears trippy names like ZaZa, Neptune’s Fix, Pegasus and Purple Magic.
Sold as an elixir or in pill form, the products promise feelings of “euphoria,” “happiness” and “bliss,” and are marketed to grab the attention – and cash – of young and old consumers alike.
What the labels don’t disclose is that the main ingredient, tianeptine, is a highly addictive substance, and in high doses can mimic the effects of opioids, causing seizures, cardiac arrest, respiratory issues and ultimately death. Unregulated, it’s being sold as a “dietary supplement,” “brain enhancer” or “research chemical,” mainly in convenience stores, smoke shops and gas stations, earning it the street name “gas station heroin.”
Last week, Fayette County reported its first accidental overdose attributed to tianeptine, prompting coroner Dr. Bob Baker to call for a nationwide ban of the substance.
“I’d like to be on the forefront, rather than get caught flat-footed,” Baker told the newspaper Wednesday. “And then the laws take so long to get into effect, and now we’re beating or fighting addiction, overdose deaths.”
Tianeptine is regulated as a controlled substance in some countries, used to treat anxiety and depression. But in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has not approved it for medical use, and, in fact, has warned of its addictive, opioid-like effects.
So far, 15 states have prohibited the sale of products containing the chemical.
Pennsylvania Rep. Andrew Kuzma, whose district takes in portions of Washington and Allegheny counties, introduced House Bill 377, which would ban the sale, possession and manufacture of the drug. The measure cleared the judiciary committee last year but appears to be stalled in the House.
“People are overdosing on it. People are going into comas, people are dying,” Kuzma told the Pennsylvania Capital-Star in October 2024.
Kuzma said then that users mainly fall into two groups: teens and adolescents who are vaping, and truckers who are looking for a way to stay awake.
“It’s overdosing on something almost identical to heroin, and there’s absolutely no reason why it should be sold here,” he said. “… It’s a sketchy, sketchy dietary supplement we have to get rid of.”
It wasn’t so long ago that this newspaper was regularly reporting on spiking overdose deaths as a result of opioid addiction. Rewind to 2015, when in one weekend alone, Washington County made national news for recording 25 overdoses and three deaths in a single weekend.
As we continue to navigate the fallout from the crisis, lawmakers would be wise to act swiftly.
“If we can catch this up front, I really think we’d be ahead of the curve,” Baker said.
We wholeheartedly agree.