Why we exist One family. Eight years. A warning too late.
In 2017, Cameron Francis found kratom online. He was a college athlete. The product was marketed as a safe, plant-based herbal supplement. No warning labels. No age restrictions. No pharmacist.
By 2021, he was in a hospital emergency room in severe withdrawal. His physician told his family plainly: kratom acts like an opioid.
What followed were years of physical and emotional devastation. Cameron lost nearly eight years of his life to a product sold as harmless.
His father Dean founded End Kratom Addiction so no other family would be blindsided the way theirs was.
Today, Cameron's story is no longer rare.
How does an opioid end up next to the energy drinks?
The kratom industry sells its products as a "food," not a drug. That single legal maneuver lets it bypass the safeguards we expect for opioid-class substances: no pharmacy consultation, no purchase limits, no age verification in most states.
Kratom's active compounds bind to opioid receptors. Part of it converts in the liver to 7-hydroxymitragynine, a compound the FDA has found produces respiratory depression at more than three times the potency of morphine. The FDA has not approved kratom for any use. Yet it sits on shelves in convenience stores, smoke shops, and gas stations nationwide. That is not an accident. It is a business strategy.
Expert Voices
More than half of the patients presented to me for detox do so because of kratom derivatives. It is distressing to watch these readily available substances—marketed as herbal dietary supplements—cause such profound harm in our community.
– Dr. Kate Gibson, DNP, APRN, PMHNP, CPRS Addiction Medicine Nurse Practitioner, Richmond, VA
The claim that kratom has no potential abuse and can do no harm is ludicrous. Until we truly understand how kratom interacts with other medications, promoting it as a safe herbal supplement puts lives at risk.
– Dr. Faried Banimahd, MD Board-Certified Addiction Physician, Coleman Clinic, Richmond, VA
Traditional kratom preparations have been associated for years with tolerance, withdrawal, and compulsive use, demonstrating inherent addictive potential. Kratom marketed as 'safe' or 'non-addictive' is contributing to a growing population struggling with dependence and withdrawal.
– Dr. Ronald Mejzak Director of Addiction Services and Medical Staff President at Virginia Beach Psychiatric Center
As kratom's popularity continues to grow, so does the number of individuals struggling with dependence. At The Coleman Institute, approximately 75% of our patient intakes were linked to kratom addiction as of 2025.
– Jennifer Gifford Chief Executive Officer, The Coleman Institute for Addiction Medicine
Kratom addiction is real, and so is the pain and suffering that goes with it. Tens of thousands of people, and all their families, are facing a crisis that never should have happened. This industry chose to side-step safeguards to maximize a profit, and now attempts to blame the users. It was preventable then, and it is preventable now.
The good news is that we are no longer suffering in isolation. We’ve organized, and our collective voice will be heard.
– Hilary Tesluck Executive Director of End Kratom Addiction
The evidence isn't just in labs. It's online.
More than 55,000 people belong to r/quittingkratom, a Reddit community for people struggling to stop. Kratom Quitters runs daily support meetings for over 11,000 members. The Kratom Sobriety Podcast documents the reality the industry denies.
These communities exist because the problem is real. And they are growing.
More than 20 states have banned or regulated kratom. Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Washington D.C. have banned it outright. Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah have imposed age restrictions, labeling requirements, or product bans. The U.S. military banned kratom across all branches effective December 31, 2025.
More states are moving in 2026. The science is catching up. The law is catching up. The industry is running out of cover.
