Kratom, often marketed as a health product, faces scrutiny over danger to consumers

Nearly 2 million Americans in 2021 used the herbal supplement Kratom to treat pain, anxiety and opioid withdrawal, according to the Food and Drug Administration. But the substance is also blamed for addiction, seizures and deaths — like that of Dustin Hernandez.

Hernandez's death was caught on security video, which showed him collapsing and having a seizure before he died.

Toxicology testing by the medical examiner blamed the "toxic effects of mitragynine," which is typically marketed as kratom.

Hernandez's sister, Dusti Young, said her brother took kratom for his anxiety.

"He was in denial about it being addictive," she told CBS News.

Kratom is commonly marketed as a wellness wonder, and is widely sold online and in gas stations. But the FDA says the substance is addictive and warns not to use kratom because of the "risk of serious adverse effects."

The agency has been trying to bar kratom from being imported since 2014.

"Every bag of kratom on the shelf got here by people who are fraudulently saying it's something else," Talis Abolins, an attorney who represents Hernandez's family, said.

"What makes it even worse is that they're selling it like it's coffee or tea," Abolins added.

The American Kratom Association admits there are many illegitimate kratom products. The group's spokesman, Mac Haddow, told CBS News that out of about 8,000 players in the kratom industry, only around "three dozen" are legitimate.

Haddow blames the FDA. "They simply say, 'We're not gonna regulate. We wanna ban it,'" he said. "They should be regulating and protecting consumers."

The American Kratom Association is pushing for the Kratom Consumer Protection Act, which it calls a best practices standard. Local versions of the act have already been passed in 11 states.

But critics say the issue is kratom itself.

"This kratom product is associated with seizures, coma and death. And if that had been on the bag, a lot of lives would be saved," Abolins said.

In:
• Food and Drug Administration

Mark Strassmann

Mark Strassmann has been a CBS News correspondent since January 2001 and is based in the Atlanta bureau.