Federal officials and addiction specialists in the Chicago area are sounding the alarm on a highly potent and addictive drug that can be found at gas stations and vape shops amid a crackdown effort by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
7-OH, or 7-Hydroxymitragynine, is a synthetic compound related to Kratom, but is much more potent and dangerous, according to Dr. David Kushner, medical director at Brightside Recovery, an addiction recovery clinic specializing in opioid use disorders in the Chicago area.
Brightside Recovery — with locations in Northbrook, North Aurora, Olympia Fields, Rockford and Peoria — has seen a threefold increase in the past several months of patients coming in for 7-OH, according to co-founder and executive vice president Phil Atteberry. In the last month, 9 in 10 patients coming into the clinic were using 7-OH…