AUDIO – NOT GOOD –
Oct. 16, 2025 – The vast majority of the more than 100 testifiers during Wednesday’s marathon seven-hour hearing agreed that 7-OH, which researchers have estimated could be 15 times as potent as morphine, is sold as candy-flavored pills in gas stations across Connecticut, should be banned. At least six states have already banned it. Nikki Gorman, a pediatrician in Westport, testified that her 24-year-old son became addicted to kratom products he had bought at a gas station, and that his eventual withdrawal was similar to what she had seen from heroin addicts.
“He had become an addict, unable to stop, spending the time he wasn’t using kratom alone in his room, sleeping, failing classes, not seeing his girlfriend of four years,” Gorman said. “(During withdrawal) he was shaking and sweating, nauseous and unable to eat, writhing in discomfort.”
