ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Jodi Mabry works in addiction recovery. She started at the Asheville Recovery Center after working in urgent care and seeing a need for more mental health and substance abuse professionals.

What You Need To Know

  • There are growing concerns over a drug known as “gas station heroin” 

  • Tianeptine is not approved by the FDA, and people are abusing the drug, which can cause serious issues

  • Keystone Laboratories is one of the few labs in the Southeast that tests for the street drug  

“Patients were utilizing urgent care, coming in, needing help, and there were no resources in this area,” Mabry said. “Patients would come in, suicidal ideation, overdoses in the parking lot, needing help, and there was nowhere to send them.”   

Now she’s a nurse practitioner at the Asheville Recovery Center. She’s concerned about an uptick in a street drug called tianeptine, or “gas station heroin.”  

“People are using it for a euphoric effect. Taken in excess amount, it can cause an opioid-like effect and it can cause physical and chemical dependence. That is where our concern lies,” Mabry said.  “People are using it for a euphoric effect. Taken in excess amount, it can cause an opioid-like effect and it can cause physical and chemical dependence. That is where our concern lies,” Mabry said.  

Withdrawal symptoms can include shakes and aches, sweats, nausea, vomiting and seizures.  

Tianeptine is legal in other countries as an antidepressant in small doses. But Mabry says they’re seeing more people overdosing on it in Asheville. One of the biggest issues is tianeptine wasn’t showing up on drug tests, until now.  

“If someone needs help with this, we need to make sure that we can help them in the best way possible, so we collaborated with Keystone (Laboratories) to ensure that we had a test for tianeptine,” Mabry said. 

Keystone Laboratories in Asheville, where Matthew McGreevy is the lab manager, started testing for tianeptine in February.   

“We really strive to be constantly innovative, listening to what’s in the field, listening to what is emerging among us and being able to react to that,” McGreevy said. 

It's one of the few labs that tests for tianeptine in the Southeast. 

“We’re really able to help make a difference in the public health crisis of addiction. It's a big portion of what we’re doing here,” McGreevy said. 

He said the lab's testing allows it to end up with qualitative data, which includes more than just a positive test.

“Not just positive but actually what level is in there and how much is in there essentially is what we’re providing back to our clients,” McGreevy said. 

At the Asheville Recovery Center, Mabry said being able to test for this drug is huge, because it means they can get people the help they need.  

“Keystone was phenomenal with coming up with a test, to help us with this. So now we can test for tianeptine in our program, which is huge to make sure we’re doing what’s best for our clients and ensuring accountability and their forward-going sobriety,” Mabry said. 

Keystone Laboratories runs quarterly reports, but so far, it has reported 10 or less positive tests.