I Was Buying Kratom At The Gas Station Every Morning Just To Function....It Destroyed Me

I Was Buying Kratom At The Gas Station Every Morning Just To Function....It Destroyed Me

From Rise Above with Kevin Lanning by Kevin Lanning

July 15, 2026 · 1h 14m

About this episode

Matt Von Boecklin shares his harrowing journey through addiction to kratom and his path to recovery.

Matt Von Boecklin grew up outside Seattle, raised by a single mother after his father suffered a mental break when Matt was a toddler and had to be cared for in a home. A socially anxious kid always reaching for the edge of the cool crowd, Matt found early that alcohol quieted that feeling — and years later, a motorcycle accident introduced him to opiates and opened a door he says was impossible to un-see. What followed was a global, restless run — tramadol by the pocketful in Mexico, a rock-bottom withdrawal alone in Nairobi crying on a shower floor, and finally the substance almost nobody talks about honestly: kratom, and its concentrated form 7-OH, sold legally over the counter at gas stations and smoke shops. This episode is essential listening on a crisis that's exploding right now, because Matt lived it and beat it. He describes buying "feel free" bottles and the hardest-hitting extract shots every single morning just to get through work meetings, seeing double, losing his balance, hiding it from the fiancée he loved, and the shame of driving a mile and a half for a fix in the time it should've taken to grab a bagel. Here's what makes his story valuable: Matt is a chemical…

People in this episode

Host: Kevin Lanning

Guest: Matt Von Boecklin

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Products: kratom, tramadol, 7-OH

Places: Seattle, Mexico, Nairobi

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