Picture yourself popping into a mini-mart to find a refreshing drink after a long day. Scanning the shelves, you spot a new “wellness” product, an herbal tonic in an attractive little 2-ounce bottle. You give it a try. You like it. You wind up becoming hooked, quite literally, consuming more and more of the beverage until it begins to make you feel seriously ill—nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, dizziness. You go to the doctor and discover that you’re experiencing withdrawal from opioid addiction.
That’s what McKenzie Wisdom says happened to her after consumption of a legal over-the-counter beverage wound up earning the twentysomething health and wellness entrepreneur a five-week stay in rehab. One of the ingredients in the tonic she was ingesting is kratom, a highly addictive plant from Southeast Asia.
Despite warnings from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, kratom use is on the rise. More than 5 million people in the U.S. say they’ve used it, according to a recent study by the University of Michigan and Texas State University. This includes more than 100,000 children ages 12 to 17.
“Gas-station heroin”
Kratom is sold in more than 10,000 stores in the U.S. According to the Mayo Clinic, the supplement is typically marketed as an energy booster, mood lifter, pain reliever, and, ironically, a remedy for symptoms of withdrawal from opioid addiction.
Kratom comes from an evergreen tree called the Mitragyna speciosa, which grows in Southeast Asia. The herbs can be chewed, swallowed, brewed, or extracted into a liquid. At low doses, kratom can act as a stimulant, and at higher doses, as a sedative. The amount of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) in the leaves can vary.
Dubbed “gas-station heroin,” kratom or 7-OH can be found in products readily available at service stations and convenience stores in a multitude of forms, including powder, liquid extracts, edibles, and raw leaves. Kratom is also an increasingly popular variation ingredient in many beverages.
Feel Free, the flagship beverage line produced by Botanic Tonics, has sparked backlash from consumers who, like Wisdom, say they were unaware of its addictive properties and later experienced withdrawal. Feel Free carries a 21+ label, but an investigation by CBS News revealed that many stores in the Chicago area did not ID customers who purchased the drink.
The company claims it’s selling the product responsibly. In a statement to Fast Company, it said, “Over the past several years, Botanic Tonics has built a consumer education and transparency framework that goes well beyond what this category requires.”
The company says its products go through rigorous third-party testing, clinical review, enhanced labeling, and voluntary restriction of sales to adults above the age of 21 with no regulatory mandate requiring it. It also states it has received zero verified complaints about addiction or serious side effects, and zero verified reports of severe health problems.
Assorted fruity flavors
Some kratom products come in colorful packaging, which may entice younger consumers to purchase them. They also come in an assortment of flavors, such as watermelon, strawberry, cherry, blue raspberry, pineapple, grape, lemonade, and more.
According to the American Medical Association, these marketing practices have coincided with increasing pediatric exposures reported to poison centers and greater access to these products by minors. The AMA is urging the Food and Drug Administration and state legislatures to classify 7-OH kratom products as adulterated or misbranded when sold in child-friendly forms, and to prohibit availability in retail stores and online platforms.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis of the National Poison Data System revealed a 1,200% increase in kratom-related exposure reports from 2015 to 2025 and 233 kratom-related deaths.
As a supplemental ingredient, kratom falls into a gray area that creates loopholes for manufacturers. The FDA identifies the substance as an “unsafe food additive” but lacks the authority to ban it outright. Regulation has fallen to underfunded state agencies. (Kratom is currently banned in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.)
The AMA would like to see those bans expanded and is arguing to prohibit the distribution and marketing of 7-OH products, including kratom. On July 1, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration filed an intent to temporarily include 7-OH and related substances on Schedule I of the Controlled Substance Act. But even this move would not eradicate kratom, as it would target synthesized products and those with elevated concentrations of 7-OH but would not apply to botanical kratom products containing naturally occurring 7-OH.
In its press release, the DEA described the action as “part of a broader effort to combat the opioid epidemic and protect American families from dangerous synthetic drugs.” For now, however, Feel Free and other 7-OH products remain readily available online and most likely at a vape shop or gas station near you.
