Feel Free Wellness Tonic Made with Addictive Opioid Kratom, Class Action Alleges [UPDATE]

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims Botanic Tonics and 7-Eleven have falsely marketed Feel Free Wellness Tonic as a safe, sober and healthy alternative to alcohol when the product contains kratom, a highly addictive opioid with harmful side effects.

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The 32-page lawsuit says that the wellness brand and “co-conspirator” 7-Eleven advertise that the drink is made with kava—a plant that acts as a mild depressant—and is healthy, has no side effects, and is no more addictive than sugar or caffeine. However, the suit alleges that despite these representations, Feel Free Wellness Tonic’s primary ingredient is, in fact, kratom—an herbal opioid that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have warned can be highly addictive and cause dangerous side effects.

According to the case, although there is more than twice as much kratom in Feel Free Wellness Tonic as there is kava, Botanic Tonics “took care to avoid” referencing the opioid in its marketing campaigns to prevent consumers from uncovering the “scientific consensus on kratom’s opioid nature.” Further, Botanic Tonics purportedly altered the product’s formula to intensify the drink’s effects, the complaint claims.

“Unbeknownst to consumers, Botanic Tonics not only added kratom in large amounts, but also manipulated the formula of Feel Free to magnify the effects of kratom and induce a quicker, longer-lasting, and greater high,” the filing charges.

Per the lawsuit, kratom triggers “the same opioid receptors as narcotics like morphine,” and because of the high amounts included in Feel Free Wellness Tonic, consumption of the drink can lead to physiological dependence at a level similar to other opioids.

Kratom can cause side effects that range from nausea, sweating, itching, agitation and trouble sleeping to more serious consequences, such as seizures, high blood pressure, vomiting, liver failure, hallucinations, psychosis, cardiac arrest, coma and even death, the case relays.

Though Botanic Tonics advertises that the product is made in an “FDA-regulated facility,” the case argues that this is deceptive because the drink is not regulated or approved by the agency—far from it, in fact. According to the complaint, the FDA has, in reality, “strongly maintained that Feel Free’s active ingredient, kratom, is an opioid-like drug that poses a danger to public health.”

To build its college-age consumer base, Botanic Tonics partners with social media influencers, universities and sports teams, and organizes free giveaways on college campuses, the filing describes. However, the company’s marketing campaigns, the case says, also target consumers looking for a way to stop drinking or stay sober, including, per the suit, “highly vulnerable” individuals with histories of substance abuse who may be struggling with sobriety.

As the suit tells it, more than a thousand ads on Instagram, which are tagged “#alcoholalternative,” include statements like “[life] without alcohol allows you to feel free” and “[all] the buzz without the booze.”

The case goes on to contend that the “scope of Feel Free’s effect on public health would have been far more limited” if not for 7-Eleven, which allegedly provided Botanic Tonics with inside knowledge and guidance about its stores to more effectively sell the product. The complaint claims that as both defendants participated in the drink’s marketing, both companies are at fault for failing to warn consumers of the potentially dangerous side effects of the beverage.

The plaintiff, a California resident who the lawsuit says suffered from alcoholism in the past and had been sober since 2014, started receiving targeted ads about Feel Free Wellness Tonic on social media in 2020, the filing explains. The man purchased the drink for the first time in 2021 from a 7-Eleven store and within three months had become addicted to the product, the lawsuit states.

“Like [with] any other highly addictive substance, [the plaintiff] could no longer function without Feel Free and suffered severe withdrawal symptoms when he attempted to stop using [it],” the suit reads.

The man purportedly relapsed and returned to drinking alcohol in 2022 in an effort to “cope” with the symptoms of his Feel Free addiction, the case reports. After undergoing medical detox—whereby the plaintiff was treated for opioid addiction—the man was admitted to a rehabilitation center that same year, the complaint describes.

“Feel Free has caused [the plaintiff] to lose his job, had severe impacts on his family life, and has undermined his decades of work in recovery,” the filing scathes.

For many vulnerable consumers who have posted scores of negative experiences with the product online, Feel Free Wellness Tonic has “perpetuated the very addiction they sought to avoid,” the case contends.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone who purchased Feel Free Wellness Tonic in California at any time since March 28, 2019.

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