7-OH –
May 7, 2026 – Sold in some smoke shops, vape stores, and gas stations is raising major concerns among addiction specialists, who say the drug can trigger addiction within days.The substance is called 7-OH, short for 7-hydroxymitragynine, a potent kratom derivative…At the Henry Ford Health Maple Grove Recovery Center in West Bloomfield, addiction medicine physician Dr. Joshua Smith said the rise in cases has been dramatic.
“Over the last year or so, we went from having virtually no patients coming in for this to having about 20% of our unit at any given time addicted to 7-Hydroxy,” Smith said.
One recovering user, identified only as Chris because he fears public exposure could jeopardize his career, said the withdrawals were unlike anything he had experienced before. “It was the worst thing I’ve ever dealt with as far as like withdrawals from any type of drugs,” Chris said.
Chris said he had been sober from heroin and other opioids for more than seven years before being introduced to 7-OH while recovering from severe pain after a hospital stay.
Wanting to avoid prescription narcotics, he took a recommendation from a smoke shop employee.
“I just went to my regular smoke shop,” Chris said. “So, I got kind of a talk and talk relationship with him, and just in talking, I was like, man, my side is really killing me today. And he said, “Well, have you ever tried this? And it just so happened to be 7-OH.”
