{"id":369892,"date":"2026-10-10T18:06:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T18:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/369892\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T18:06:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T18:06:15","slug":"underage-reporter-offered-gas-station-heroin-kratom-in-nyc-smoke-shops-without-having-to-show-id","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/369892\/","title":{"rendered":"Underage reporter offered ‘gas station heroin’ kratom in NYC smoke shops without having to show ID"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly half the smoke shops in Manhattan visited by an underage Post reporter as part of a weeks long probe into the kratom crisis were willing to sell her highly-addictive opioid-like products<\/a> without ever bothering to ask for ID.<\/p>\n

In New York, individuals must be 21 or older to purchase any products containing or derived from the South Asian kratom plant, known for its euphoric or sedative-like effects. <\/p>\n

Post scribe Sidney Blasco, 20, found the drug at 18 smoke shops along 8th Avenue in Hell\u2019s Kitchen \u2014 and only nine bothered to ask her to show a valid form of identification.<\/p>\n

Reporter Sidney Blasco visited smoke shops on 8th Avenue. Michael Nagle for NY Post<\/p>\n

Seven stores sent her walking because she couldn\u2019t prove she was 21. Two shops simply asked her is she was 21 without asking to see her ID. Blasco never purchased any products from any of the stores.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s many little smoke shops around, they sell whatever they want because they don\u2019t have the license or anything,\u201d Rohi Bati, 38, the manager of Esmoke on 40th Street and 8th Avenue told Blasco after she revealed her identity. <\/p>\n

Bati was one of the store employees who asked Blasco for identification and refused to sell to her.<\/p>\n

Pills, tablets, powders, drinks and gummies containing 7-OH \u2014 a compound derived from kratom that experts say is 13 times stronger than morphine<\/a> \u2014 have become shelf staples at smoke shops. Critics slam the dangerous substance as \u201cgas station heroin.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Deli Grill on 9th Ave. and West 53rd St. didn\u2019t ask for her ID. Helayne Seidman for NY Post<\/p>\n

The products are often marketed in brightly colored packages resembling candies and energy drinks.<\/p>\n

It came as no surprise to Rich Marianos, a former ATF official and executive with the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network, that so many shops appeared willing to sell the products without checking Blasco\u2019s ID.<\/p>\n

She visited 23 smoke shops. Smoke Scene is one of the stores that did not ID her. Helayne Seidman for NY Post<\/p>\n

892 Mini Mart was one of the stores that did not ID her. Helayne Seidman for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys [smoke shops] are such bad actors \u2026 So why would you expect them to say, well, \u2018are you 21?\u2019\u201d Marianos said. \u201cThey\u2019re giving all this stuff to kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Experts and concerned anti-kratom advocates<\/a> are worried about how easily young New Yorkers are getting their hands on the drug \u2014 which acts as a stimulant when taken in lower amounts, and as a sedative in higher dosages.<\/p>\n

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Wendy Chamberlain, the founder nonprofit Kratom Danger Awareness, said she\u2019s tried helping hundreds of people in the throes of addiction since she founded the group in 2022 \u2014 two years after her son Joseph Chamberlain, 38, died in his Upstate New York home from an accidental kratom overdose.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get people of all ages, including 17- to 19-year-olds. I suggest they talk to their parents and doctors, and I help them find local resources or free treatment,\u201d she explained. <\/p>\n

Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s office, the NYC Health Department and the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection did not return requests for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly half the smoke shops in Manhattan visited by an underage Post reporter as part of a weeks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[34536,75,57,9,56,63,65,64,27382,58],"class_list":["post-369892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-kratom","tag-manhattan","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-smoking","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}