NC lawmakers call for ban of ‘gas station heroin’

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – A group of House lawmakers on Tuesday backed a proposal to ban the drug tianeptine, which has garnered the nickname “gas station heroin.”

It’s sold under a variety of product names in places like convenience stores and smoke shops, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a public safety alert regarding “reports of serious medical injuries” and urged stores to remove any product containing tianeptine.

It can have qualities similar to opioids and be highly addictive, experts say.

“I think that the public in general has no idea the amount of substances that are out there so easy to get to,” said Rep. Stephen Ross (R-Alamance).

The House Select Committee on Substance Abuse adopted a report Tuesday that calls for the legislature to make tianeptine a Schedule II controlled substance.

While tianeptine is an approved antidepressant in some countries, it is not approved in the United States.

Some manufacturers are marketing it as a dietary supplement that can boost one’s mood and brain function.

The committee heard from one man, who asked to remain anonymous, about how he quickly became addicted after a store employee offered some pills to him. He recalled having hallucinations about people wanting to kill him and was taking as many as 150 pills in a day.

“The people that produce this drug know exactly what they’re doing,” the man said in recorded testimony.

The FDA says some users have reported serious side effects such as agitation, hallucinations, high blood pressure, coma and even death.

The committee also recently looked at the rising prevalence of the drug xylazine, which is an animal tranquilizer, being found in the illicit drug supply mixed in with fentanyl. Law enforcement officials urged the legislature to address that as well.

Rep. Ross said lawmakers need to study it further. Unlike tianeptine, xylazine does have an approved veterinary use in the United States, which makes it more challenging to address.

Rep. Donna White (R-Johnston) urged lawmakers to do more to address prevention, particularly among teens and children.

She called on schools to have monitors in bathrooms in an effort to deter drug use, saying the state should provide the resources to do that.

“And, it should be an opportunity for us to really work with our schools to work on a real issue they’re dealing with,” said White.

Rep. Amber Baker (D-Forsyth), a longtime educator, raised concerns about school staff being able to take on that responsibility saying during class changes it’s “all on hands on deck” and that staff go “to where the greatest potential for chaos to happen is.”

Rep. Renee Price (D-Orange) was skeptical of the idea.

“I have an issue with trying to get someone monitoring bathrooms. And, I think kids are smart enough to realize if kids are in bathrooms they’re gonna go somewhere else anyway,” she said.

The legislative session begins next week.

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