What is Kratom?
What is Kratom?
Teens can buy this opioid-like product at many U.S. convenience stores. Here's what parents should know.
What's in those colorful gummies and drinks?
Kratom is a plant native to Southeast Asia. In its traditional form, it has mild stimulant effects at low doses and opioid-like effects—pain relief, euphoria and a real potential for addiction—at higher ones.¹
The kratom product on store shelves in the U.S. is often quite different from—and much more potent than—the traditional plant. Manufacturers extract and concentrate a compound called 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH for short. These concentrated products are highly addictive and sold as gummies, drinks, capsules and shots under brand names like Feel Free, Happy Go Leafy and Super Speciosa.
Why is it sold next to energy drinks?
Kratom isn't classified as a drug, and it isn't a regulated dietary supplement either. The FDA has flagged it as an unsafe food additive, yet at the federal level it remains effectively unregulated.² In most states there are no age restrictions on purchase, which means a 12-year-old can walk into a convenience store and buy a kratom product alongside the energy drinks and beef jerky.
The marketing is built for young people. Bright packaging. Brand names like "Kray Kray, the feel good gummy." Shelf placement at kid-eye level. Many teens don't think of these products as drugs at all.
What does kratom do to a teen?
Kratom activates the same brain receptors as opioids like oxycodone and morphine. That's what makes it addictive.³ The adolescent brain is especially vulnerable to that kind of reinforcement—addiction is most likely to take hold before age 25, when the prefrontal cortex is still developing.
Side effects can include hallucinations and other mental-health disturbances. Used in combination with other drugs, kratom can be lethal.³
Kratom use is rising across the U.S., and research links it with higher rates of depression, serious psychological distress and other substance use.⁴
How can parents bring it up?
You don't need to be an expert on kratom. You just need to be someone your teen can talk to. The most effective conversations start from curiosity and connection, not alarm—often in low-key moments like a long car ride, when there's time to talk and no pressure.
Start with curiosity. "Have you seen those Feel Free drinks at the gas station? Do you know anything about them? Have your friends mentioned them?" Let your teen share what they know first.
Share the facts. "Just because something comes from a plant and is sold legally doesn't mean it's safe. This stuff acts on the same receptors as opioids, and it's highly addictive."
Keep the door open. "If you ever try something like this and feel bad—physically or otherwise—I want you to tell me. No judgment."
Sources:
¹ U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. "Kratom." Drug Fact Sheet, December 2024.
² U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "FDA and Kratom." Updated December 2, 2025.
References:
Dr. Keith Humphreys, Esther Ting Memorial Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine
Dr. Jill Pearson, Board-Certified Pediatrician, President, Pathways Pediatric Consulting
Marcia Lee Taylor, Founder, MLT Strategies, Former President & CEO, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
