Policy · 2026-08-13
Ohio Kratom Maker Disclosed 59,000 Daily Bottle Sales Before State Ban; Doctors Call It a Public Health Disaster
Source: Signal Cincinnati
Why it matters
Court-disclosed sales data — 59,000 bottles per day in Ohio alone — puts hard numbers on a supply chain that addiction physicians say is driving a new opioid-style epidemic. Ohio''s emergency ban is now being legally contested.
The big picture
Ohio's Board of Pharmacy enacted an emergency rule making processed kratom a Schedule I substance. Botanic Tonics, maker of Feel Free kratom drinks, disclosed its Ohio sales volume in a court filing requesting a stay of the ruling. The company's founder previously pleaded guilty to securities fraud, and its major investor is DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. A Franklin County judge upheld the emergency rule but granted a 10-day stay to allow inventory relocation.
Key findings
- Botanic Tonics self-reported selling approximately 59,000 bottles of Feel Free per day in Ohio before the ban — roughly 21.5 million bottles per year at $10 each
- At least one addiction physician reports admitting nearly as many patients withdrawing from kratom per week as from fentanyl
- Ohio''s emergency ban covers processed kratom including Feel Free but not leaf-form kratom
- Franklin County Judge Mark Serrott upheld the emergency rule but granted a 10-day stay to allow inventory relocation
- The Reddit community r/QuittingFeelFree attracts 16,000 weekly visitors seeking help to quit the product
- Botanic Tonics'' founder JW Ross pleaded guilty in 2010 to securities charges involving $10 million in investor funds
What they say
"Kratom and its analogues are a public health disaster. I have been admitting almost as many patients per week withdrawing from kratom and its analogues as I am from fentanyl for at least the past year." — Dr. Theodore Parran, Northeast Ohio physician
Bottom line
A court filing revealed that a single kratom drink brand sold 59,000 bottles a day in Ohio — worth over $600 million annually — before the state''s emergency Schedule I ban took effect.