Description
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October 23, 2025 | 12:00 – 1:00 PM Differentiating “Gas Station Heroin” from Leaf Kratom: Preventing Fourth Wave of Opioid Epidemic
Description:
This presentation will discuss the features of the first three waves of the opioid epidemic and how public health officials and clinicians have bent the curve on deaths. We will then identify what leaf kratom is and how it is characteristically different than the commonly used “gas station heroin” products tianeptine and 7-hydroxymitragynine. After reviewing the potential patient risks, we will describe how emerging alkaloids like mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15, and MGM-16 are in the wings, ready to take 7-OH’s place should the DEA decide to schedule it as a controlled substance and continue to threaten public health. Public health officials can push for determinations by the DEA or language in state laws that allow for the ban of not just 7-OH but also synthetic or semi-synthetic analogues that are potent opioid receptor stimulators.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the drivers of the first three waves of the opioid epidemic.
- Compare and contrast why leaf kratom is characteristically different than “gas station heroin” products.
- Identify the potent opioids being sold to consumers without a prescription or quantity limits that qualify as “gas station heroin”.
- Identify the potential risks uncovered for 7-hydroxymitragynine products and what the FDA is asking the DEA to do as a result.
Presenter: C. Michael White, PharmD, FCP, FCCP, FASHP
Michael White, Pharm.D., FCP, FCCP, FASHP is a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice at the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy. Dr. White’s research interests are in the areas of comparative effectiveness and preventing adverse events from drugs, devices, dietary supplements, and illicit substances. His ~500 publications resulted in 19970 citations, an H-index of 73, and i10 Index of 278; placing him within an elite group of researchers. Five of his publications were among the top 5 read articles in their respective journals in the years they were published. His work has been primarily funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality with additional grants from the Donaghue Foundation, Pfeiffer Foundation, and American College of Clinical Pharmacy. His work has been published in JAMA, Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine and Circulation with research coverage by NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, BBC, CNN, NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Boston Globe, PBSNewsHour, WNPR Morning Edition, Prevention Magazine, The Dr Oz Show, and hundreds of other national media outlets. His total media reach exceeds 3.2 billion people.
He is a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacologists, The American College of Clinical Pharmacy, and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. He is a contributing editor for the Annals of Pharmacotherapy and is on the Pharmacy Practice News editorial board. Dr. White is a UConn Teaching Fellow, the highest university teaching designation, and received the Provost’s Award for Public Engagement for his media, migrant farmworker clinic, and COVID-19 work. He has received the American College of Clinical Pharmacist Young Investigator Award, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Award for Sustained Contributions to the Literature, ASHP Drug Therapy Research Awards, and received the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Lyman Award and the Weaver Award.
Continuing Medical Education:
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the Hanley Center for Health Leadership and Education and CCSME. The Hanley Center for Health Leadership and Education is accredited by the Maine Medical Association Committee on Continuing Medical Education and Accreditation to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The Hanley Center for Health Leadership and Education designates this regularly scheduled series for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit ™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
*Nurses and Nurse Practitioners will be awarded a certificate of participation with a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit ™.
This course has been approved by Co-Occurring Collaborative Serving Maine (CCSME), as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for 1 educational credits. NAADAC Provider #324712, CCSME is responsible for all aspects of the programming.
Contact Hours 1 contact hours for social workers, licensed clinical professional counselors, and behavioral health professionals.
1 Category 1 Contact hours for psychologists. CCSME is a pre-approved sponsor and provider of Professional Education Activities for Psychologists.
1 contract hours CHES. CCSME is a designated provider of continuing education contact hours (CECH) in health education by the National Commission of Health Education Credentialing, Inc.
