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In 2023, Colin, a college student in Los Angeles struggling with social anxiety, started using Feel Free, a kratom-containing drink sold at convenience stores like 7-Eleven. Initially finding relief from his anxiety and improved focus, Colin's consumption escalated to eight bottles daily despite the recommended one-per-day limit. After experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms when he quit cold turkey in early 2025, he fears potential job loss if his habit is discovered.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-04,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In 2023, Colin, a college student in Los Angeles dealing with social anxiety since the pandemic, began using Feel Free, an alcohol-free "social tonic" sold at stores like 7-Eleven and high-end health-food chain Erewhon. The drink, priced at $9 for two ounces, contains kratom, which can enhance focus and produce a mild opioid-like effect with higher doses. Initially, Feel Free helped Colin manage his anxiety, improve his studies, and socialize more easily. However, he soon became heavily reliant on the product, drinking up to eight bottles daily. Colin requested anonymity due to potential job repercussions if discovered using Feel Free.
Written for “Addiction Crisis Continues” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 56068 · logged 2026-10-04
It started with a tiny blue bottle next to the cash register at a 7-Eleven.
asserted
It → start → Eleven
Colin was a college student in Los Angeles and “dealing with a lot of social anxiety,” he told me, when he paid $9 for a Feel Free, a drink marketed as an alcohol-free “social tonic.”
asserted
he → deal → tonic
The two-ounce bottle contained kratom, a natural substance that can improve focus and produce an opioid-like high when consumed in higher doses.
asserted
that → contain → doses
Colin had seen Feel Free on social media and on the shelves at Erewhon, a high-end health-food grocery chain in Southern California with locations in places like Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach.
asserted
Colin → see → Hills
At first, Feel Free solved a lot of Colin’s problems.
asserted
Free → solve → problems
The sense of isolation he had felt since starting college during the pandemic evaporated.
asserted
he → feel → pandemic
He found it much easier to study—and to party.
asserted
it → find → ?
His focus improved, and his social anxiety melted away.
asserted
anxiety → improve → ?
Those little blue drinks felt “like some kind of wonder drug that I had just kind of stumbled upon,” said Colin, now 25.
asserted
Colin → feel → that
He asked to be identified by his first name because he fears that he could lose his job if his employer found out that he uses Feel Free.
uncertain
he → ask → Free
Before long, Colin was drinking eight bottles of Feel Free every day, even though the drink’s manufacturer says not to exceed one bottle per day.
asserted
manufacturer → drink → day
He couldn’t stop.
asserted
He → stop → ?
If he didn’t drink one right when he woke up, he got a splitting headache.
asserted
he → drink → headache
He hid his Feel Free habit from his girlfriend and parents until early 2025, when he quit cold turkey and plunged into withdrawal: no sleep for three nights, restless legs syndrome, and nausea.
asserted
he → hide → nights
“It was like an incredibly strong itch inside your body that you’re not able to scratch,” he said, and “the most uncomfortable feeling I’ve ever felt.”
asserted
I → ’re → that
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