Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
7%
1 of 15 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
96/100
The Free Press's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Health
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
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
The Aporia
