What To Know About 'Addictive' Energy Drink Generating Social Media Warnings

Putting down the little blue bottle of Feel Free energy drink — ubiquitous at gas station and convenience store cash registers — may be harder than you think. But if you don’t, your skin could flake off in an addiction as strong as heroin, fans of the natural drink warn.

Here’s the problem:

Feel Free contains herbal extracts that work against each other. It contains kava root, a depressant known as an aid for relaxation and anxiety relief, and kratom, an herbal extract from a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia that even at small doses “acts as an upper,” according to Mayo Clinic.

Although it is a 21-and-older product, it’s not hard for kids to get their hands on Feel Free, according to TikToker Misha Brown, whose viral video last month brought awareness to the product.

He said he was approached at a gas station by a kid who was “maybe 14” who asked him to buy a bottle of Feel Free. When he refused, “this young kid lunged at me and tried to take my wallet.”

Brown told the clerk inside the store what had happened, “and she was just like, ‘oh my gosh, it’s this,’ and she pointed to this little blue bottle on the counter that I had never seen before.”

‘People Act Like Actual Crackheads’

He wondered aloud, what is Feel Free, a five-hour energy drink? No, the clerk said, explaining:

“I have people coming in here five, six times a day to get this. It’s so addictive, and people lose their minds. People act like actual crackheads or like they have a heroin addiction over this little drink.

“So I get home, and I look into this, and people are literally going to rehab over this little drink that is legal in most states in the U.S. and is sold at gas stations. I mean, it’s called Feel Free, but it traps you in an addiction that feels very nefarious.

“I don’t think we talk enough about things that are legal but sold next to gum and energy drinks. This kid was so young and like, his face was, like, burned into my memory over how lost he looked, so please be careful.”

‘Flakes Of Skin Flying Off’

Botanic Tonics bills its plant-based drink as perfect for “whenever you want a mood lift, a caffeine-free energy-boost, or a little extra focus.”

One man told NBC News he had been sober from a heroin and methamphetamine addiction for eight years when he tried the drink for the first time.

“It was a feeling that brought me back to how he was,” he said.

By the time he ended up in the ICU for 12 days with withdrawal symptoms, he was downing about a dozen of the drinks a day.

“I was lethargic, depressed, anxious, barely able to get out of bed,” Jasmine Adeoye, who heard about Feel Free on a podcast, told the New York Post. “I was throwing up from the kratom, and the kava can make your skin dry, like alligator skin, literal flakes of skin just like flying off.”

Adeoye had given up alcohol when she started drinking Feel Free. She told the Post she became so dependent on it that she hid her addiction.

“I would hop around from gas station to gas station, because I was embarrassed about the amount that I was buying,” she said. “I would even get them on UberEats sometimes so I didn’t have to face anyone.”

What Botanic Tonics Says

Santa Monica, California-based Botanic Tonics, which makes Feel Free, said in a statement to NBC it had received fewer than 1,000 complaints out of more than 130 million servings, and that none of them involved severe addiction.

Botanic Tonic voluntarily raised the age limit for purchase of Feel Free and other products in May 2024, saying in a statement the “decision underscores the company’s dedication to promoting responsible consumption and consumer education in an industry that currently lacks comprehensive regulations.” The company also now includes label warnings that it can be habit-forming

The labels warn the 2-ounce bottles contain two servings, and no more than two servings should be consumed in 24 hours.

Months after the changes, Botanic Tonic agreed to an $8.75 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit in September 2024, with a final hearing on the terms set for Aug. 28 in U.S. District Court in California’s Northern District.

In the settlement agreement, Botanic Tonics acknowledged its early marketing practices fell short of its current commitment to transparency and consumer education.

FDA: Schedule Kratom As A Narcotic

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration recommended that products containing concentrated kratom (7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH) be scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act. There are no approved medical uses for kratom, but it is widely available on the internet and in brick-and-mortar stores, the agency said in a July 29 notice.

The 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimated 1.7 million Americans 12 and older used products containing kratom that year. It is often used to self-treat conditions such as pain, coughing, diarrhea, anxiety, depression, opioid disorders and opioid withdrawal, the FDA said.

“Kratom is frequently used to self-treat conditions such as pain, coughing, diarrhea, anxiety and depression, opioid use disorder, and opioid withdrawal. An estimated 1.7 million Americans aged 12 and older used kratom in 2021, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Botanic Tonics said Feel Free Classic only contains natural leaf kratom, meaning the FDA crackdown won’t affect the product. However, the FDA has said that even in the leaf form, kratom may have lethal effects.

“In rare cases, deaths have been associated with kratom use, as confirmed by a medical examiner or toxicology reports,” the agency said. “However, in these cases, kratom was usually used in combination with other drugs, and the contribution of kratom in the deaths is unclear.”

The Drug Enforcement Administration has also issued warnings about kratom, listing it as a “drug of chemical concern,” a designation that signifies potential risk associated with its use.

‘I’ve Lost My Son’

The family of Jordan McKibban, 37, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Cowlitz County, Washington, in 2023 against the makers and sellers of products containing kratom for their role in the man’s death. The defendants included brands such as Whole Herbs kratom capsules and Hush Kratom liquid shots, and bulk kratom powder sold by Cloud House Vaporz.

McKibban’s mother, Pam Mauldin, found him unconscious in his room after drinking a mixture of kratom and lemonade as an alternative to traditional pharmaceuticals. She attempted CPR, but could not revive him.

The lawsuit came after a July 2023 trial in Cowlitz County, where a jury awarded $2.5 million in a similar kratom-related death.

“I’ve lost my son. I’ve lost my grandchildren that I could have had, I’ve lost watching him walk down that aisle, watching him have a life that I get to watch with my other kids. I’ve lost enjoying these years with him,” she told the New York Post.

Is Kava Root Safe On Its Own?

There have been no attempts to schedule kava root. The FDA classifies as a supplement, which falls under a different regulatory framework than pharmaceutical drugs.

It can pose safety concerns, especially regarding liver health, according to the National Institutes of Health. Most people can use it safely in limited amounts, but in rare cases, it can cause serious damage to the liver or even death.

In 2002, the FDA issued a consumer advisory warning of the risk of liver damage — including hepatitis and liver failure — with the use of dietary supplements that contain kava.

Both kava and kratom have been used for hundreds of years in their respective cultures

The Mitragyna speciosa tree, indigenous to Southeast Asia, yields kratom from its leaves, a substance long appreciated for both its stimulating and pain-relieving qualities. In Polynesian cultures, the roots of the Piper methysticum plant are transformed into kava, a revered beverage consumed during rituals and gatherings for its calming and subtly euphoric effects.

Drink ‘Should Be Banned’

East Greenwich, Rhode Island, pharmacist Ethan Melillo told the New York Post thinks Feel Free “should be banned.”

“This combination is something you don’t want to be mixing together,” he said. “ … They’re both regularly available supplements, but what concerns me is the combination of the two of them.”

Rhode Island is among five states — Alabama, Arkansas, and Wisconsin are the others — that have banned kratom, effectively stopping the sale of the drink.

Florida recently became the first state to ban 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, synthetic drug compounds that can be “more potent than morphine” and are widely available at gas stations and vape shops. The synthetic compounds are chemically distinct from the trace amounts that occur naturally in kratom leaf, which FDA Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary has previously said kratom leaf alone poses no significant health risk.

At the same time, the decision preserves access to traditional botanical products, including Feel Free.

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