The insidious marketing of addictive chemicals as “health tonics” poses a real danger, especially to recovering addicts. Kratom-based drugs have sprung up so fast that health officials struggle to regulate these substances known colloquially as “gas station heroin.”
Kratom is a mood-booster sold in a health shot, in tiny blue bottles one might mistake for a Five Hour Energy. Just like your mid-day caffeine pick-me-up, kratom-based tonics are marketed as safe drugs, often alongside liberal uses of the words “wellness,” “clean” and “natural.”
These buzzwords aren’t entirely misleading. Kratom, or Mitragyna speciosa, is a tree native to Southeast Asia. Its psychoactive properties come from its leaves, which can be made into teas, tonics, seltzers, tablets or ingested directly.
The drug’s popularity is no surprise, considering its purported efficacy in treating chronic pain and opioid withdrawals. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, kratom has been used across the globe, particularly in its native Southeast Asia, for centuries. It is primarily used for its opioid-adjacent and stimulant properties.
Body and Mind
Popular kratom manufacturers include Jack Botanicals, Happy Go Leafy and the increasingly popular Feel Free tonics. One glance at the Jack Botanicals website reveals overwhelmingly green, natural imagery, as if you were entering a site to buy organic tea. There is even an option to search for a kratom strain which aligns most with your mood.
This kind of health-forward marketing of kratom might make it seem like another innocuous health fad, like CBD or ashwagandha. The drug has legitimate roots in cultural medicinal practices and in self-treatment of chronic pain. In small doses, kratom does effectively relieve anxiety and act as a mild stimulant.
The FDA, however, has not approved any use of kratom, medicinal or otherwise. While kratom may not be well-understood at the moment, the FDA has even gone so far as to warn against the use of it.
The complicated thing about kratom is that no one can seem to agree on how to legislate it. Six states have banned it outright: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. Four states have taken measures to legalize it while heavily regulating it: Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Georgia. Outside of these states, kratom regulations can vary county by county, with differing age restrictions, or none at all.
Here in Florida, kratom is banned outright in Sarasota county. Elsewhere in the state, it is legal for individuals over the age of 21.
So what’s all the fuss about?
The Darker Side
Kratom tonics are not only under-researched in their effects; they have a track record of triggering addictions.
Feel Free, a popular tonic “supplement” that combines kratom leaf with the similarly calming, though less habit-forming kava root, has come under scrutiny online in the past few years. Medical influencers like Dr. Ethan Melillo (@milennialrx) and Dr. Shereene Idriss (@shereeneidriss) have made videos warning users of the risks of kava and kratom supplements, despite their harmless “all-natural” appearance. With thousands of views each, these videos are full of commenters sharing their experiences with kratom addiction.
Some of these people were gas station employees who recalled seeing customers come in several times a day to buy kratom tonics, which are typically sold in small servings.
Given that some states do not regulate the legal age for consumption of kratom, and some establishments may not enforce age restrictions, it is no surprise that public concern over kratom regulation is growing. Horror stories about getting addicted to a chemical so widely available are effective in raising awareness about these drugs.
In an episode of the podcast “We’re All Insane” — a podcast centered around the bizarre, deeply personal and often traumatic stories of strangers — guest Jasmine Adeoye divulged her experience with kratom addiction. The episode, titled “Addicted to Gas Station Heroin,” was posted in October and has garnered 170,000 views on YouTube.
Adeoye shared that she was enticed to try kratom tonics as they had been marketed as a safe alternative to alcohol. What started as a healthy supplement, in her mind, transformed into an addiction that sent her to the hospital with severe physical withdrawals.
The nickname “gas station heroin” is not as much of an exaggeration as it seems. Kratom bears similarities to opioids on a chemical level. According to NIDA, the active compounds mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine — 7OH — activate mu-opioid receptors, the primary targets of drugs like fentanyl and heroin.
Our Next Steps
As of August 2025, Florida Attorney General James Uthemeir placed 7OH on the list of Schedule I drugs, effectively making it illegal without a prescription. According to the Florida Phoenix, this reclassification targets more concentrated forms of the substance than are typically found in kratom. The ruling places into question the future of kratom tonics and their legality.
Though similar in some ways, kratom cannot be so easily equated to opioids like fentanyl and heroin. It is not nearly as strong in concentration and does not produce the same life-threatening effects, such as respiratory depression, that stronger opioids do.
However, the disingenuous marketing of kratom tonics takes advantage of a particular gap in public health knowledge, to reach a consumer group eager to latch on to the next health trend.
If the consumer’s bias for “natural,” “plant-based remedies” were correct, then cocaine, heroin, and all kinds of magic mushrooms might as well be on the table. They might even be considered medicinal. This bias, however, is as flawed as any other. Not everything that comes from the Earth is good for you.
words&design_jay moyer. photo_genevieve jones.
This article was published in Distraction’s Spring 2026 print issue.
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