‘He didn’t wake up:’ Mom shares story of son’s kratom death as regulation debate continues

A plain-English roundup of this week’s most important kratom news for natural-leaf powder and capsule shoppers. Kratom supporters say, in its natural form, the plant can help curb opioid addiction and manage pain. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Tennessee lawmakers have passed a full ban on kratom, derived from a Southeast Asian plant, following a weeks-long debate over its safety and effects. Botanic Tonics, the company that makes Feel Free, said their product only contains natural whole leaf kratom and limits 7-OH content to 1%. Besides being potentially addictive, doctors warn that kratom, a substance that comes from a tropical tree in Southeast Asia, could have serious health consequences. We exclusively partner with the top industry brands to ensure we offer only exceptional kratom products designed to meet the wide-ranging needs of our customers.

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The synthetic byproduct isn’t legal in dietary supplements or food products. While 7-OH can be found naturally in kratom in small amounts, manufacturers have figured out how to supercharge it — boosting its concentrations in capsules, powders, liquids and edibles. Real Botanicals remains committed to providing safe, lab-tested, naturally extracted 7-OH products in compliance with state and federal law.

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• These schedules mimic the federal controlled substances schedule that was created by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, where substances are scheduled depending on their medical usefulness and potential for addiction or abuse.
• “When it comes to these synthetic compounds, it’s like we’re playing whack-a-mole,” said Rep. Sean Brennan (D-Parma) at the JCARR meeting in April. “We ban one and they create another.
• Certified third-party lab testing ensures that your kava and kratom shots are pure, potent, and free from contaminants such as yeast, mold, coliform, salmonella, staphylococcus, E.

One man in Colorado says he got addicted to kratom after mistaking it for an alternative to coffee. Soon, the kava bar's drink wasn't enough; she started buying kratom powder from the gas station so she could ingest greater amounts at home. It wasn't long before Beutler found herself returning to her local kava bar in Idaho for kratom every day. Emily Beutler says she became addicted to kratom in 2022 after trying a tea with it at a kava bar in Arizona. "These are not drug people that I talk to for the vast majority of them," he says. At first, he says, he used kratom like an energy drink.

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Kroll also adds that a new paper just published looking at 551 deaths in Florida where mitragynine was detected post-mortem. Even the most potent cannabis flower is 20-25% THC, but shatter and waxes have 70-95% THC. People can end up with heart attacks if they drink several of those, whereas you would have to drink a significantly higher amount of coffee to get into health problems.

What’s New? A More Potent Form of Kratom

It’s a potent kratom alkaloid designed for careful, responsible use. It’s possible that a brick-and-mortar kratom shop will be able to provide test results for its kratom or some other benchmark to prove its quality, but it’s unlikely. At brick-and-mortar kratom shops, it’s a little trickier. “There should be product formulation limitations, there should be strict labeling requirements, and there should be age restrictions on the use of any kratom product.” Lawmakers on Beacon Hill are currently considering several bills that would ban or regulate kratom, including one drafted with the help of the American Kratom Association.

Every discounted Super Speciosa product is the same high-quality, lab-tested kratom that meets our strict purity and safety standards. This suspension of sales does not ban kratom in Open Kratom Missouri, but the Attorney General plans to tackle that. “I recognize that kratom will continue to be sold online, in other cities and counties, but this ordinance makes it clear where our community stands on this drug,” Ziel-Dingman said. Many said they still support the regulation of kratom but not a full ban on sales.

A father says his addiction drove him $50,000 into debt and tanked his credit score into the 500s. A woman in California says she maxed out at least two credit cards to fuel her addiction − and now she doesn't know what the future holds for herself or her 9-year-old son. Others thought it was a healthy alternative to alcohol. Maloney believes her addiction would have taken her life too, had she not gone to rehab in 2024. Her addiction, she says, took nearly everything from her. Among those who spoke for the ban was Susie and Roger Bullard of Tipp City, whose 27-year-old son Philip died in November 2024.

In a PNN survey of over 6,000 kratom users, about one in ten said they used kratom as a treatment for OUD or alcoholism, with over 90% saying it was “very effective.” Many said kratom reduced their cravings and helped ween them from drugs. Although the main purpose of the placebo-controlled trial is to test the safety and tolerability of mitragynine – not whether it can treat OUD – the fact that NIH is even conducting such a study is being hailed as a “major milestone” by kratom advocates. “We’ve seen the potential of mitragynine in the lab, and now we’re finally able to examine its potential in people. In a small Phase One clinical study, NIH and University of Florida researchers will test a purified formulation of mitragynine on 32 healthy volunteers with a recent history of opioid use. His son Cameron found kratom online in college after seeing it marketed as a plant-based herbal supplement. Ahealthierphilly is sponsored by Independence Blue Cross, the leading health insurance organization in Southeastern Pennsylvania, serving nearly 2.5 million people in the region, providing health news and related information that leads to a more informed, healthier life.