About this episode

Nick Thornton shares his journey through addiction to 7-OH and his path to recovery.

Nick Thornton grew up outside Portland, Maine, raised by his grandparents after his mother's addiction pulled her out of his life. He was warned early that with both parents struggling, he could never drink — a warning he took as a challenge. By 14 he was drinking and smoking weed daily, and from the very first time, he always went harder than everyone around him. What followed was a decade-plus run through Oxy and blues, cocaine, a move to California, a marriage, a business, and a drinking problem he was certain he'd beaten — right up until he replaced it with something he could buy legally at the store. This episode goes deep on the drug almost nobody's talking about honestly yet: 7-OH, the concentrated kratom derivative sold at gas stations and vape shops that Nick describes as, functionally, a legal opioid. He was taking 400 to 500 milligrams a day, living on an eight-hour timer, waking up in full withdrawal in the middle of the night, and dropping three to four thousand dollars a month — all on a product sitting on a shelf next to the register. He talks candidly about the nodding off at his desk, snapping at his kids, the brutal withdrawals when Florida made 7-OH illegal…

People in this episode

Host: Kevin Lanning

Guest: Nick Thornton

Topics covered

• addiction
• substance abuse
• personal recovery
• mental health
• family dynamics

Keywords

• 7-OH
• addiction
• recovery
• kratom
• opioids
• mental health
• Florida
• withdrawal

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Florida

Products: 7-OH, kratom

Places: Portland, Maine

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