Merchant Alert: Adulterated Kava Products Containing Kratom Discovered in [Alabama](https://kratombans.com/states/alabama-kratom-legal-status) – High Risk for Retailers

Sentinel Alert: This legislative shift in Alabama primarily impacts All Payment Processors. Risk Level: High. Impact: Potential for immediate legal liability and payment processing account termination for selling mislabeled products.

The 'So What?':

• Immediate Legal Status Changes: Products marketed as kava but containing mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine are considered Schedule I controlled substances in Alabama, making their sale illegal.
• Payment Processing/Bank Stability Risks: Merchants selling mislabeled products containing scheduled substances face high chargeback rates, account termination, and potential legal action, severely impacting payment processing stability.
• Shipping/Logistics Warnings: Shipping products labeled as kava but containing kratom alkaloids into or within Alabama constitutes shipping a Schedule I substance, leading to potential seizure, fines, and criminal charges.

Full Details: Scientists have identified kratom alkaloids, including mitragynine, 7-hydroxymitragynine, and mitragynine-pseudoindoxyl, in three liquid shot products explicitly marketed as “kava” and sold in Alabama. Alabama law classifies mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine as Schedule I controlled substances, and mitragynine-pseudoindoxyl is controlled as an analogue. The products in question were Happy Hour Shot 777 Mixed Berry, Happy Hour Shot BlueBurstPop, and Boujee Bliss Strawberry Banana. While kavalactones were present, all three also contained significant levels of kratom alkaloids.

Researchers noted that the predominance of mitragynine-pseudoindoxyl suggests intentional adulteration or mislabeling. Barcode searches for two of the products (Mixed Berry and BlueBurstPop) linked them to Dharma Isomers, LLC, based in Duluth, Georgia, a company that primarily sells legal cannabinoid products and does not list kava or kratom on its website. A distributor, Star Importers from Tucker, Georgia, also sells a Happy Hour 777 product with the same barcode numbers. Interestingly, the full product names included “Alabama” in their titles.

This discovery follows multiple cases identified by Alabama Poison Control in 2025 of opioid-like withdrawal linked to products labeled as kava. This is not an isolated incident; in 2023, a class-action lawsuit was filed in federal court in California alleging similar mislabeling by Botanic Tonics for its “Feel” product.

Source: Kratom Science via Sentinel Newsroom