The opioid crisis didn’t just leave destruction in its wake. It left a vacuum.
As prescriptions were pulled back and access to painkillers became more restricted, people turned elsewhere. For those already dependent on opioids, or terrified of becoming so, kratom offered a lifeline. It was cheap. It was legal. It claimed to be natural. And it didn’t come with a doctor, a pharmacist, or a record.
Kratom’s popularity in the United States didn’t come out of nowhere. It rose in the shadow of an epidemic that was both medical and moral. And over the last decade, kratom has evolved from a fringe plant powder to a mainstream substitute with real risks.
Today’s kratom is stronger, more concentrated, and more addictive than ever. And it’s still hiding in plain sight on Kansas store shelves.
In the early 2000s, pain clinics in Kansas and across the Midwest were writing thousands of prescriptions for hydrocodone, oxycodone, and morphine. By 2010, overprescribing was rampant. And by 2016, the DEA and CDC began tightening the screws. Guidelines changed. Pills disappeared. Doctors were warned. Patients were cut off, some overnight.
People in real pain had nowhere to turn. People addicted to pills were suddenly forced into withdrawal. And into that void stepped kratom.
It wasn’t just that kratom was legal. It was available. It didn’t require a prescription or a diagnosis. For a lot of working-class Kansans, kratom became the new middle ground, a way to stay afloat without breaking the law or turning to the street.
But the kratom of today is not the kratom that first showed up in American vape shops and gas stations.
Traditionally, kratom is consumed as dried leaves or brewed into tea. That’s still how it’s used in parts of Southeast Asia, where it’s been relied on for generations. The natural balance of alkaloids in those leaves tends to produce milder effects; gentle stimulation at low doses, mild sedation at higher ones.
When kratom first landed in the U.S., it looked more or less the same: raw powder, hard to swallow, earthy in taste, and unpleasant in large amounts. But as demand grew, manufacturers began isolating and concentrating its most powerful alkaloid: 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH.
While the original kratom plant contains only trace amounts of 7-OH, modern kratom extracts, shots, and enhanced capsules often contain far more. Some of these products are chemically altered to boost the presence of 7-OH and speed up its effects. And unlike opioids, there is no standardized dosing or quality control.
That means two bottles with the same label can affect the brain in dramatically different ways.
One of the key insights in addiction science is that the faster a substance hits the brain, the more addictive it tends to be. This is why smoking crack feels different than chewing coca leaves, and why fentanyl poses a higher risk than morphine.
The same principle applies to kratom.
The shift from plant powder to high-potency liquid shots changed how quickly the alkaloids cross the blood-brain barrier. What once required grams of bitter powder now comes in a two-ounce bottle with artificial flavors and a label that suggests it’s just another herbal energy boost.
But the effects can be far more intense. And far more difficult to quit.
Clients in treatment for kratom today often describe withdrawal symptoms similar to traditional opioid detox: chills, anxiety, nausea, depression, irritability, insomnia. These symptoms tend to be worse with products containing high concentrations of 7-OH, especially when used daily.
The irony is that kratom was never supposed to be a problem. It was supposed to be a solution. A solution to pain, to anxiety, to opioid withdrawal, to the lack of options. And for some, it worked that way for a while.
But addiction is never just about the substance. It’s about access. It’s about stress. It’s about trauma. It’s about how fast something can offer relief and how hard it is to let go once it becomes the only thing keeping you going.
In Kansas and across the country, people are now entering addiction treatment specifically for kratom and 7-OH. And they’re often surprised to find out they’re not alone.
To have an honest conversation about kratom today, we have to stop treating it like a single substance. The gap between leaf tea and commercial kratom shots is wide. One comes from the ground. The other comes from a lab. They may share a name, but not a risk profile.
This matters for families trying to understand why their loved one can’t stop. It matters for treatment providers developing detox protocols. And it matters for everyday Kansans trying to make informed decisions about what they’re putting in their bodies.
Sunflower Recovery offers full-spectrum treatment for individuals struggling with kratom and 7-OH dependence. If you or someone you love is feeling trapped by something that was supposed to help, give Sunflower a call. You’re not out of options.
Recovery starts by telling the truth about what you’re dealing with. Let’s start there.