According to his YouTube video on the topic, Eric Zink has been sober since July 2017. After facing his addictions and the underlying mental health challenges, he became an advocate for those struggling with the same. Now, he has an urgent warning for gas station customers.

7-Hydroxymitragynine is the “most dangerous substance found in a gas station.”

“It’s spearmint! Look at the packaging…it looks fun…” Zink starts. “Hydroxymitragynine…whatever this is, this must be good for you, right?”

Indeed, the packaging looks innocent enough, almost like a clean, fancy breath mint. And if it and similar products are as easy as just driving on over to the local gas station, what’s the harm?

“No,” Zink says. “This will [curse] steal your soul.”

“I know people that have taken a pill, and have been hooked to it.”

Drivers (or anyone) who peruse gas station “pain relief” products might not understand what they’re buying, he says.

They might think they’re a great alternative because they’re often marketed as “all natural.” Plus, they’re so readily available, so they “must” be safe.

But like the mess created by vaping (our youth unknowingly ruining their lungs), Zink assures gas station customers of the dangers of these products.

The Commissioner of Food and Drugs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also warns about “gas station heroin”

Martin A. Makary, M.D., M.P.H, wrote an open letter to colleagues in May 2025. While the topic at hand was Tianeptine, Zink’s message runs parallel to the health expert’s.

The FDA tracks and often takes measures to warn consumers of both Tianpetine and Kratom-based products, like 7-Hydroxymitragynine. Gas stations sell both, despite the FDA’s efforts to deter the industry’s marketing and unregulated consumption.

7-Hydroxymitragynine is highly potent and addictive, Zink warns. 

Gas station customers might take it to soothe soreness or “take a load off.” The effects might feel “dazzling” at first. Zink attributes the products to providing a brief sense of euphoria or dopamine hit.

But Zink claims 7OH, a specific Kratom alkaloid product, is “10 times more addictive than morphine or heroin by weight.”

It might “work” at first, since it bonds to your pain receptors. But once 7OH wears off, you’ll want more right away. Why? “Hot and cold flashes…you’ll feel like you have a fever like no other,” Zink explains. Plus, there’s constipation, vomiting, and restlessness, too.

In other words, the withdrawal creates such a high level of discomfort that users often just take another dose. And another.

“It’s the scariest substance” at a gas station, Kink warns.

The comments section has mixed reactions

Some posted protesting Zink’s claims that 7OH and other Kratom “pain relief” products are as dangerous as hard drugs.

Others confirmed how addictive they are.

“5 days clean after a year… holy crap.”

“Took this stuff not knowing really what it was definitely was a little bit of a addiction there after one use and thought about using it again but had a bad feeling about it and didnt and found out about a month or two after what it really was and thank God i didnt continue.”

“Just made a video on this this morning. This stuff is poison. Thank you for bringing attention to it. Our patient[s] sleep through withdrawals from this stuff and people like you bringing awareness to it is everything I hope I can share this,” a detox center rep advocating for sedated detox wrote.

If you’ve been buying Kratom products from gas stations and want help stopping, it’s available. You can call the National Drug Helpline at 1-844-289-0879. They answer 24/7.

MotorBiscuit reached out to Eric Zink for comment via direct message on his TikTok account, @recovery.edu.