Health Alert: Tianeptine or Gas Station Heroin

 

Health officials in the northeast warn about a growing drug threat called Tianeptine, available at gas station convenience stores and sold online, that is causing severe opioid-like effects and putting more kids and teens at risk as it spreads to other states.  

Neptune’s Fix Elixir, ZaZa, Pegasus, and Tiana, known as “gas station heroin”, are products containing Tianeptine that affect brain chemicals and offer potential for abuse. This tricyclic antidepressant has not been approved by the FDA for medical use. Tianeptine interacts with opioid receptors in the brain and can mimic euphoria and effects of heroin. Tianeptine use can cause seizures, electrolyte abnormality, flu-symptoms, depression, anxiety, coma – even respiratory failure and death. 

These products - sold in pills, powder, and in fruit-flavored drinks - are highly addictive. Because they are easily accessible, kids may mistake them as being safe. With so many substances readily available online or at local stores, parents are urged to talk to children about the risks. Tianeptine is not currently controlled under the Controlled Substances Act, but recently Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed an emergency rule categorizing tianeptine as a Schedule 1 substance. 

Overview of Tianeptine: https://www.drugs.com/illicit/tianeptine.html

https://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrelease/video-attorney-general-moody-outlaws-gas-station-heroin-florida