It's an over-the-counter supplement marketed as a mood booster and pain reliever.

But some experts are ringing alarm bells, warning this stimulant can be addictive and even dangerous.

Some are even calling it gas station heroin.

More about what's called kratom.

And tonight's medical news.

It's a plant from Southeast Asia.

It's actually in the coffee family, but it's an evergreen tree.

And what people were doing in Southeast Asia is they were chewing the leaves because they would be working in the field, and it caused a stimulant effect.

Over time, they built a dependance upon it because it was attaching to the alpha receptor in the brain, which is a stimulant receptor, and it was attaching to the opiate receptor in the brain.

And so then you have a physical dependency.

And then as you have this physical dependency, it produces the opiate like effect.

And then it also produces a stimulant like effect.

So people really become dependent upon this.

The reason I see it as becoming more dangerous is because there's actually a specific alkaloid in this, kratom that is more potent, that is starting to be more concentrated.

And, and more of these products.

Those are really dangerous.

And they are causing toxicity in people and health problems, agitation, convulsions, they have tachycardia.

They're having cardiac events.

So I definitely see this getting worse.

I've had a large increase of patients who have come to us from kratom addiction or kratom use disorder, and many of them were not using any type of opioids before they were abstinent.

But they went and they got this at the gas station because they thought it's it's natural.

So it must be safe.

And it's at the gas station.

So of course it's not harmful.

But then they quickly built this dependance and for instance, you know, a patient I've had in treatment for a little while said I was abstinent from opiates for ten years.

And then I got this drink at the gas station, and it was marketed for energy.

And then here I am two years later, completely dependent with a $200 day habit.

My marriage is over.

I've lost my job.

I've lost my family.

So it's just the same cycle is happening.

The population of people this is most affecting are working, insured, married and between the ages of 30 and 60.

So it's it's this middle aged class that.

And they're even talking to their medical providers and saying, yeah, I started treating my, pain with, kratom tea twice a day because they think it's truly okay to go that route.

So it's it's really scary because we're seeing a different population completely that are using this.

The best course of action at this time is probably to put a lot stricter regulations around the purchase and sale, and especially the amounts, or even just banning it completely because it it is going to get worse and it is really hurting people.

What's happening is that there's not enough evidence that's been presented and legislation to say this is actually harmful, this is going to do damage to our populations and our communities and our families.

If we don't start regulating it, it is going to get worse and worse, and I'm going to see more and more patients.

In June, the Kentucky Department of Public Health and the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy sent out a public advisory warning Kentuckians to avoid kratom products.