This kratom drink was marketed as an alternative to alcohol to be sold over the counter. Some consumers say it’s addictive.

When Jasmine Adeoye, an account manager based in Austin, Texas, decided to stop drinking in June 2022, she turned to a kratom drink promoted as an alternative to alcohol. Within a year and a half, Adeoye said she was addicted to the drink, “Feel Free Classic”, lured by what she calls the company’s deceptive marketing tactics.

The 29-year-old account manager, based in Austin, Texas, said her favorite podcasters promoted the drink, which Botanic Tonics makes and sells, as a “miracle drink” that could help people who trying to overcome addiction and embrace sobriety. Having struggled with excessive alcohol consumption in the past, Adeoye was intrigued.

She said she didn’t know the drink contained kratom, a plant native to Southeast Asia that can produce feelings of energy, ease anxiety and reduce pain, but carries a risk of addiction, seizures and, very rarely, death . Because kratom is unregulated in the US, some products are sold very focused is formed and could contain contaminants such as heavy metals and harmful bacteria, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Ultimately, Adeoye says he was drinking up to 10 two-ounce bottles a day and spending around $100 a day. The company recommends that consumers drink no more than one bottle per day. Until then, she said, her life revolved around booze and she had to make sure she had access to it wherever she went.

A drink advertised an #alternative to alcohol

Then came the withdrawals, which some users compare on social media to withdrawal from an opioid.

“When I’d wake up, I’d be ‘drug duck’, basically, and I’d have to go straight to the gas station and go buy Feel Free to instantly feel better,” Adeoye said.

Last March, after a bout of withdrawal symptoms was so severe, she sought medical care close to her home in Austin. She didn’t tell doctors she was struggling with kratom use, she said, and they attributed her symptoms to a virus.

“All of a sudden it just gets out of control and you get to a point where you feel like you can’t live without them,” she said. “And you become just a shell of a person.”

Adeoye, who was trying to stay sober from alcohol, said he unwittingly found himself in agony addiction — and it’s not the only one.

A forum on the social network Reddit called r/kittingkratom has over 45,000 members while a forum dedicated exclusively to opting out of Feel Free has almost 3,000. There are podcasts, support groups, and books dedicated to quitting kratom.

In 2023, a class-action lawsuit was filed in California against Botanic Tonics, alleging that the drink was promoted as a safe alternative to alcohol. The company used social media to reach its “desired customer base,” the lawsuit said, which included people who struggled with addiction. According to the 2023 suit, Botanic Tonics posted more than a thousand ads on Instagram using the hashtag #alcoholalternative. Cost also says the Instagram ads omitted any mention of kratom or potential side effects.

CBS News spoke with another consumer about their experience with Feel Free Classic, who also described the drink’s appeal as an alternative to alcohol and said they became addicted to the drink and eventually experienced withdrawal symptoms.

The company told CBS News in a statement that it “failed to meet the high standards of transparency and consumer education that our company now holds.” And they’ve taken steps to “continually improve and do what’s right for consumers.”

Botanic Tonics said it had implemented changes including improved labelling, increased age restrictions to 21 and over, investment in clinical research, expanded consumer education resources and maintained rigorous manufacturing standards in FDA-registered, cGMP-certified facilities.

CBS News found through an internet search that Feel Free Classic has been featured on at least 22 podcasts. Company founder JW Ross spoke openly with the podcast hosts about his past struggles with alcohol and how Feel Free Classic was developed as an alternative.

“We make a powerful product. This product works for many people, but it doesn’t work for everyone,” Botanic Tonics said in a statement to CBS News. “Our priority as a company is to make sure it gets into the right hands, which is why it’s so important for us to focus on letting people with substance abuse problems know it’s not for them.”

When the lawsuit was settled in September, Botanic Tonics said it would issue clear labels and warnings — but around the time Adeoye started taking Feel Free Classic and eventually became hooked, the website announced that the drinks will be “used to increase productivity or as healthy alcohol. alternative.” As recently as January 2024, a banner on the site read “dry January predictions”.

The risks of Kratom are not fully known to the public

Kratom is used by approximately 2 to 15 million Americans. How to use kratom is rising in the US, and so are the risks. FDA warns public against medical use of kratom due to risk of liver toxicity, seizures, and substance use disorders; The DEA classifies it as a “drug of concern” and warns that it can be addictive. Botanic Tonics said, “while leaf kratom can lead to physical dependence, its risk profile is significantly lower compared to many other commonly used substances.” The company pointed CBS News to comparative safety practices and the FDA studied available on the website of the Global Kratom Coalition, an advocacy group promoting the use of kratom.

It’s rare to overdose on kratom alone—the vast majority of overdoses usually include an accompanying substance, such as alcohol or cocaine. But it happens.

Florida Georgia Wrongful Death Lawsuits, Texas, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington followed. The family of a Florida woman whose 2021 death was attributed to a chemical compound found in kratom was Awards $11 million in a wrongful death lawsuit. Last year, it was $2.5 million Awards in the first kratom wrongful death lawsuit in the United States. A Washington state-based kratom company has been found liable for negligence, among other claims, in the death of a 39-year-old man who was found dead in his living room after consuming kratom.

Despite kratom’s potential for addiction and subsequent withdrawal symptoms, it has gained a reputation among the online sobriety community as a self-management method for opioid withdrawal—which has yet to be scientifically proven.

Adeoye said that while information about the dangers of kratom was readily available, she did not understand the risks involved. If she could go back two years, she said, she would have researched the ingredients “as much as possible.”

“As far as I know, it was something like matcha, like a tea or a coffee,” Adeoye said. “So, I thought it was completely harmless.”

Scrutiny is growing around kratom marketing

Botanic Tonics isn’t the only kratom product company that has come under scrutiny.

In July, the FDA issued a warning advising consumers not to use OPMS black liquid Kratom, which “has been linked to serious adverse health effects, including death,” according to the agency. Shot of Joy, which sells kratom shots, received a warning letter from the FDA in 2023 saying the company markets its products for the “treatment or cure of opioid addiction” — a claim the FDA has not determined by agency. In a series of Instagram ads viewed by CBS News, Shot of Joy promotes its drink as an alternative to alcohol. FDA has issued warning letters to ten companies selling kratom products between 2019 and 2023.

After nearly two years of struggling in silence, Adeoye told her mother and then her husband after that medical visit. He was ready to give up.

He spent the next few days detoxing at home.

“I couldn’t eat anything. My mom had to force me to eat,” she said, noting that she had to have someone with her “around the clock.”

Although the physical withdrawals subsided after about three days, she says it took six months to feel mentally adjusted.

“It’s very depressing to feel this emptiness,” Adeoye said of giving up kratom. “You feel like life will never be the same again.”

The Botanic Tonics FAQ page now includes a section addressing past marketing practices.

“Our marketing strategy has changed dramatically over the past year, but not in reaction to the filing of the lawsuit,” the statement said. “As our business has grown, particularly in retail, we’ve shifted our focus to marketing accordingly.”