Gas Station Heroin
Tianeptine, ZaZa, Tianna Red — at a gas station near you - Matt Windsor
image by: HWN
HWN Suggests
The US won’t regulate this deadly, addictive antidepressant
Tianeptine is a non-prescription antidepressant that has become a popular method of getting high in the US in the past decade. It’s even been found in powder form in counterfeit pills of hydrocodone and oxycodone. Some products market dietary supplements containing tianeptine under the brand names Tianaa, Tianna Green, Tianna Red, Tianna White, and ZaZa. Kelly Johnson-Arbor, a medical toxicologist based in Washington D.C., says some vendors claim tianeptine can improve brain function, treat opioid addiction, and help with anxiety, “but there is minimal literature supporting the use of tianeptine for these conditions.” While it may have potential to help with irritable bowel syndrome and chronic…
Articles of Interest
Do Not Take The Supplement Tianeptine. It’s ‘Worse Than Heroin.’
Tianeptine first appeared on the scene in the mid-2010s. Regulators were cracking down on opioids like oxycodone and fentanyl. People addicted to those drugs were seeking alternatives, including heroin. Some found an over-the-counter supplement called Tianaa, or tianeptine. People who have used the drug say that it creates a euphoria like opioids and heroin, but that a person’s tolerance to tianeptine jumps quickly. That could make it especially risky for overdoses.
FDA urged to protect consumers from illegal sales of tianeptine
An unapproved and addictive drug is commonly available for sale in gas stations, vape stores, and other retail outlets in the South, notably in Alabama, and online. The Center for Science in the Public Interest says the Food and Drug Administration should take further enforcement action against manufacturers, distributors, and retailers that sell tianeptine—a drug approved in some countries, though not in the United States, as an antidepressant, but illegally sold here as if it were a dietary supplement.
Growing Danger Of ‘Gas Station Heroin’: Kentucky Latest State To Ban Tianeptine—Opioid-Like Drug Sold In Groceries
The clinical effects of tianeptine abuse and withdrawal can also mimic opioid toxicity and withdrawal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which added the drug has the potential to be abused by former opiate drug users.
The Controversy Over the Antidepressant Tianeptine
Some hail the drug as a beneficial alternative to other antidepressants. However, others say it can be addictive and may not do what some claim it can.
The FDA Waited 9 Months to Warn the Public on Tianeptine, a Supplement 'Worse Than Heroin'
While the agency investigated, people were harmed, even died after taking the opioidlike substance.
The Rise in Tianeptine Abuse: Our Next Kratom Problem?
Despite its tricyclic chemical structural similarity to tricyclic antidepressants and similar evidence for effectively treating depression, studies have shown that it does not directly modulate monoamine axes or transporters at the neuronal level. This pharmacology is vastly different than most antidepressants (including tricyclic antidepressants) currently approved in the US for depression and other mood disorders.
Tianeptine Abuse, Addiction & Recovery FAQ
Tianeptine is a prescription medication marketed as a tricyclic antidepressant in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Instead of increasing serotonin like many antidepressants, tianeptine mainly works by affecting the opioid and glutamate receptors in the brain. When taken in high quantities, it can produce opioid like effects. It is often marketed as a supplement or research chemical in the form of either tianeptine sulfate or tianeptine sodium through unregulated online vendors.
Tianeptine: 5+ Dangers & Why The Zaza Drug Still Isn’t FDA Approved
Tianeptine is often abused for its euphoric effects that produce feelings similar to those of opioids.
Toxicologist unravels the dangerous medical mystery of ZaZa, Alabama’s 'gas-station dope'
Tianeptine is an antidepressant that is approved for use in several European countries but not approved in the United States, as Rushton and several UAB co-authors explained in a paper published in the journal Clinical Toxicology in June 2020. Structurally, tianeptine resembles tricyclic antidepressants, some of the earliest depression treatments. But it has become a drug of abuse sporadically in the United States since at least 2000 "due to its strong affinity at the mu-opioid receptors and through increases in extracellular dopamine concentrations throughout cerebral tissue," Rushton and colleagues wrote.
Users getting hooked on ‘gas station heroin’ pills that have ‘painful opioid-like’ withdrawals: report
A potentially dangerous supplement dubbed “gas station heroin” is being sold at convenience stores and online and getting users hooked. The pills contain tianeptine and are sold under names including “Za Za Red” and “Tianna.” They are hawked as a dietary supplement that helps to improve brain function and to treat anxiety and depression...
‘Gas Station Dope’ Is Increasing In Popularity. Here’s Why It Shouldn’t Be
Tianeptine is legally being sold in many states, but has brought deadly outcomes.
‘Gas station heroin’ banned in 9 states. What is tianeptine and why is it dangerous?
Though tianeptine isn’t approved for medical use, it’s still sold as an ingredient in products marketed as dietary supplements online and in some gas stations and convenience stores in the United States. It’s sold under the names Pegasus, Tianaa or Zaza Red, among others, and is often referred to by its nickname “gas station heroin,” according to Moody.
