That’s right. A Chicago Sun-Times reporter decided to do some investigative journalism and purchase a 10-gram silver-foil pouch of Bali Red kratom at a corner store in Bucktown to find out what all the buzz (no pun intended) was about when it came to kratom being so popular in the United States currently.
On a second visit to the CBDKratom store located in Chicgao an employee warns the reporter that mixing kratom with alcohol is dangerous. When questioning the store owner of effects the 
reporter was told they “could last for four hours.”
The kratom purchased by the Chicago Sun-Times didn’t come with any written instructions or warnings about side-effects and any safety precautions were from the store salesperson so obviously the information about how to properly take kratom may or may not be received by the customer depending on the store where the kratom was purchased., as would be required with a drug approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. Kratom, whose main active ingredient is a substance called mitragynine, is unregulated.
Eric Miller, manager of Hempire State Smoke Shop, spoke on the dangers of not properly educating customers who purchase kratom:
“It shouldn’t be mixed with alcohol or prescription drugs. That can be very dangerous. Too many people are selling kratom and not understanding that the people that they sell the kratom to may be looking to ‘party hard’ with it. This can be a fatal mistake. It should be used alone and in the proper doses for medicinal reasons.” , Eric said from his shop in Rochester New York. “New York and Chicago have a pretty good relationship when it comes to the smoking and vaping scene but bad information or no information at all is being passed on to too many customers and it’s something that needs to be addressed. Smoke shop owners everywhere, not just in Chicago and New York, need to understand the importance of educating the general public on kratom usage.”
The death of a 27 year old last September due to overdosing on kratom is testament to Eric’s words.
In Chicago and New York alike kratom is currently legal for purchase and usage but it’s still potentially dangerous, according to the FDA and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which have found themselves locked in a fight with kratom’s manufacturers and supporters.