Gas Station
Kratom
An opioid-like drug is being sold beside candy, soda, vapes, and energy drinks. Most people walking past it have no idea what it is.
This is not just a “parent issue.” This is a neighborhood issue.
Kratom is sold as a harmless plant, a wellness drink, a focus booster, a relaxation aid, or a natural energy product. But kratom contains compounds that act on opioid receptors in the body. People have reported addiction, withdrawal, seizures, liver injury, emergency-room visits, and deaths linked to kratom products.
Kratom, explained in plain English
You do not need a medical degree to understand the danger. If a product can affect opioid receptors, cause dependence, trigger withdrawal, and send people to the hospital, it should not be sitting next to candy at the corner store.
What is kratom?
Kratom is made from the leaves of a tropical tree called Mitragyna speciosa. Its main chemical, mitragynine, can act on the same opioid receptor system involved with drugs like morphine and oxycodone.
That does not mean every kratom product looks like a drug. Many look like tea, gummies, shots, capsules, soda, or wellness powder.
Why should regular people care?
Because this is being sold in regular stores, in regular towns, to regular people who may have no idea what they are buying.
- A tired worker may buy it for energy.
- A student may buy it for focus.
- A person in pain may buy it instead of seeking care.
- Someone in recovery may buy it thinking it is “just herbal.”
- A teen may see a gummy, shot, or colorful pouch and think it is harmless.
Where is it sold?
Kratom is sold in gas stations, vape shops, smoke shops, CBD stores, convenience stores, and online. Some products are displayed near checkout counters, coolers, candy, energy drinks, and other impulse-buy items.
In many places, a person can walk in and buy a substance with opioid-like effects as casually as buying a soda.
How is it marketed?
Kratom companies often avoid scary language. Instead, they use soft, friendly words:
- “Plant-based”
- “Natural”
- “Feel good”
- “Focus”
- “Energy”
- “Relaxation”
- “Wellness”
That language makes the product feel safe. But a pleasant label does not change what the substance can do inside the body.
What can kratom do to the body?
Kratom can affect mood, alertness, pain, sedation, and breathing. People use it for energy, relaxation, pain relief, or a “legal high.” Some people become dependent and experience withdrawal when they stop.
Reported problems include nausea, vomiting, confusion, agitation, seizures, liver injury, heart rhythm concerns, respiratory depression, addiction, withdrawal, and death.
Why are extracts and shots especially alarming?
Traditional leaf powder is one thing. Concentrated extracts, shots, gummies, and enhanced products are another. These products can deliver much stronger doses in a small bottle, pouch, or candy-like form.
A person may not understand how much they are taking. A small bottle can look harmless while containing a powerful dose.
Can kratom cause addiction?
Yes. People report needing more over time, feeling sick without it, craving it, hiding use, spending large amounts of money on it, and struggling to quit.
Many people discover the danger only after they try to stop.
Is it legal?
Kratom is not federally scheduled, but that does not mean it is safe. Some states ban it. Others restrict it. Many communities still allow it to be sold openly.
The legal status is confusing, and that confusion helps the industry. Many shoppers assume that if it is sold at a gas station, it must have been proven safe. That is not true.
This is what people are seeing in stores and online
These products do not look like dangerous drugs. They look like snacks, drinks, wellness products, gaming products, or trendy supplements. That is exactly why communities should be alarmed.
The most disturbing part is not just that kratom exists. It is that these products are dressed up to look ordinary, friendly, and safe while being sold in everyday places where families, workers, students, and people in recovery shop.
Reported increase in kratom-related poison center exposure reports from 2015 to 2025.
Kratom-associated deaths reported in CDC poison-center data from 2015 to 2025.
Ohio deaths from 2019 to 2024 where kratom was listed as a cause.
What to look for in your neighborhood
Red flags on shelves
- Small bottles that look like energy shots
- Gummies, fruit flavors, and candy-like packaging
- Words like “natural,” “focus,” “energy,” “calm,” or “feel good”
- Cartoon mascots, playful names, or youth-style branding
- Products placed near candy, drinks, vapes, or checkout counters
- Fine-print warnings that most shoppers will never read
What communities can do
- Ask local stores why opioid-like products are being sold near candy and drinks.
- Warn neighbors, schools, coaches, churches, and recovery groups.
- Report deceptive marketing to local health departments and consumer protection agencies.
- Tell city councils and state lawmakers that kratom should not be sold like soda.
- File a complaint with the FTC about deceptive marketing: reportfraud.ftc.gov