Feel Free Kratom Drink Fueling Addiction Crisis, CBS Investigation Finds

Why it matters

Feel Free, a kratom-based energy drink sold at convenience stores and marketed as a wellness product, is being linked to severe addiction, opioid-like withdrawal, and death — raising questions about how such products remain unregulated.

The big picture

As the kratom market expands beyond traditional powders and capsules into appealing consumer beverages, health experts warn that products like Feel Free blur the line between wellness tonics and opioid-like substances. Poison control calls related to kratom more than doubled in 2025, with Illinois recording 145 reports — more than double 2024 levels. FDA has warned against kratom use and in July 2025 moved to restrict synthetic 7-OH products, but leaf kratom beverages remain largely unregulated.

Key findings

• Kratom drink Feel Free, made by Botanic Tonics, has generated thousands of addiction and withdrawal cases and is sold without meaningful age verification at stores across Illinois and nationally
• A CBS News Chicago investigation found users developing severe opioid-style withdrawal — hot and cold flashes, shaking, severe depression, and paranoia — with some requiring five-week inpatient rehab stays
• Addiction medicine specialists report Feel Free users sometimes need higher buprenorphine doses to manage withdrawal than patients coming off fentanyl
• Botanic Tonics settled a class action lawsuit in 2024–2025 for $8.75 million and agreed to add "may be habit-forming and harmful" warnings to labels
• In 2024, Botanic Tonics raised the minimum purchase age to 21+, but CBS News investigators found few store employees checking ID

What they say

"I think people are buying these drinks like Feel Free thinking they're healthy alternatives to alcohol," said Dr. Elisabeth Poorman, an addiction medicine specialist with UI Health. "That's how they're marketed. They're wellness drinks. And we're just seeing that people are developing, very quickly, addictive behaviors and very severe withdrawal very fast."

Bottom line

A CBS News investigation found that Feel Free kratom drinks — marketed as wellness tonics — are triggering serious opioid-like addiction and withdrawal, often requiring intensive medical treatment.