Kratom, what?
Sep 25, 2026
Dear Parents,
Let's talk about the "gas station herb" your teen has probably already heard of.
I know you can’t be everywhere all at once, so I am sharing this here for you. You may or may not have heard, 2 college students died this week from taking Kratom (possibly mixed with other drugs or alcohol). I had a teen client a few years ago die from ONE hit of a synthetic over the counter Spice product sold to minors. Kratom is sold as "not for human consumption" to avoid FDA oversight and sold as "herbal incense" or "potpourri." It now comes as liquids for disposable and reusable e-cigarettes, too, so it's not just the smoked leafy stuff anymore for kids.
Kratom sounds like an ingredient for a TikTok influencer's smoothie. It isn't.
Full disclosure, the number of deaths from Kratom are not mega high. And, if it were your child, numbers wouldn't matter.
What it is: Kratom comes from the leaves of Mitragyna Speciosa, a Southeast Asian tree. Not so fun fact, the tree is in the coffee family (Rubiaceae), and it grows mainly in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea. People there have traditionally chewed the leaves or brewed them into tea, often to fight fatigue during manual labor. That traditional use is a big reason the "it's natural" marketing works so well on kids today, even though a leaf chewed in a field is very different from a concentrated 7-OH gummy. Kratom leaves contain compounds that act like stimulants in small amounts and like opioids in larger amounts. Its concentrated cousin, 7-OH, is the thing keeping ER doctors up at night. Experts say 7-OH acts similarly to opioids like heroin and fentanyl and is more potent than morphine. This is all scary.
Form and strength. 7-OH occurs naturally in kratom, but only in small amounts, at roughly 2% of the leaf. What's on shelves now is concentrated, often in candy-like, pill form, or straight shots. Plain kratom is more often sold as leaf powder or capsules. A kid can't tell the difference by looking, and packaging doesn't always make it clear.
Where kids find it: Not a dark alley. It's marketed online and sold in gas stations, convenience stores, and smoke shops as powders, tablets, capsules, gummies, and dissolvable strips. Yep, gummies. Let that sink in. It is everywhere and kids think it is all “natural.”
Is it legal? It depends where you are. Plain kratom leaf isn't federally controlled, but as of September 2026 it's banned in roughly a dozen states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin. In California, state health officials say it's illegal to manufacture or sell kratom or 7-OH products for consumption at any age. And a federal order placing the three related synthetic substances in Schedule I took effect August 26, 2026, while the broader 7-OH order hadn't published as of early September but could happen any time. This is moving in the right direction.
The breathing part: According to NIDA, plain kratom leaf hasn't been found to cause the slow, shallow breathing of a life-threatening opioid overdose except when mixed with other drugs and alcohol, but 7-OH has, and naloxone (Narcan) can reverse it. The danger climbs when it's mixed; risks rise significantly with alcohol, benzodiazepines, or other opioids.
Narcan (naloxone): Get it, Keep it, Teach it. Narcan nasal spray is available over the counter at pharmacies, and when state Department of Health Care Services distributes it free in naloxone kits through county health departments and community organizations. One catch: 7-OH lasts longer than naloxone, so someone who wakes up from not breathing can slip back into not breathing again. So, this is the protocol: Spray, call 911, Stay. Questions? Poison Control is 1-800-222-1222.
Now, here is the talk. You know this: skip the lecture; lectures bounce off teenage brains like hail off a car hood. Be curious instead: "Have you seen kratom or 7-OH anywhere? What do kids say it does?" Then listen more than you talk. A kid who feels safe with you tells you things. A kid who feels ambushed tells you nothing.
Remember: connection first. Facts second. Narcan in the glovebox always. Tell them where it is and give them permission to use it even if they aren’t sure.
Parents, these are worrisome times. Education helps significantly, but the Narcan available in a known place saves lives.
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