Beyond Energy Drinks: THC, Kratom, and “Functional” Beverages Parents Need to Know About
Disclaimer: This post is not advocating for a ban on these products. MAHA supports responsible adult regulation but urges stricter controls to prevent youth access, deceptive labeling, and child-friendly marketing of psychoactive “functional” beverages.
The next wave of “herbal highs” isn’t coming in capsules—it’s on store shelves beside sports drinks. A growing category of THC, kratom, and kava beverages is being marketed as functional drinks or euphoric seltzers—offering calm, focus, or energy while delivering potent psychoactive compounds.
With sleek designs, fruit flavors, and language borrowed from wellness culture, these products blend seamlessly into mainstream retail displays. Many are labeled “non-alcoholic,” yet their psychoactive effects rival or exceed alcohol intoxication.
What’s Inside These Drinks
Most products fall into one of three categories:
- THC or Delta-9/Delta-8 beverages: Contain psychoactive cannabinoids that can impair coordination, cognition, and reaction time.
- Kratom drinks: Made from Mitragyna speciosa, a plant with opioid-like alkaloids that can cause dependence and withdrawal.
- Kava or “euphoric” blends: Marketed for relaxation and mood enhancement, but linked to liver toxicity and sedation.
Labels often claim “natural,” “herbal,” or “functional,” creating confusion about safety. In reality, these drinks contain pharmacologically active ingredients that alter mood and perception. Many states lack age restrictions or ingredient disclosure requirements for such products.
Why Parents Should Pay Attention
These beverages appeal to youth for the same reasons energy drinks and flavored vapes do—colorful packaging, playful branding, and candy-like flavors. Some brands even use cartoonish logos or pastel cans that mirror soda and juice designs. Because they’re sold in convenience stores, vape shops, and online without age checks, they’re easily accessible to minors.
The Risk Behind the Trend
Unlike alcohol, these “functional” beverages aren’t regulated under a uniform national framework. Many don’t disclose full cannabinoid or alkaloid content. Case reports and poison control data link kratom and THC seltzers to severe intoxication, liver injury, and emergency department visits. Meanwhile, marketing continues to blur the line between adult relaxation and youth experimentation.
Call to Action — Protect Youth from “Functional” Drug Drinks
- Urge legislators to enact age restrictions and meaningful penalties for selling THC, kratom, or kava beverages to anyone under 21.
- Ban deceptive packaging that mimics energy drinks, sodas, or sports beverages. Require plain labeling and ingredient disclosures.
- Show lawmakers the evidence. Bring photos of these cans and their placement in stores. Point out youth-friendly fonts, colors, and candy flavors like “Mango,” “Cran Razz,” or “Fruit Punch.”
- Use MAHA tools — send a message through Form Letters or coordinate testimony via Take Action to demand consumer protection laws that treat psychoactive beverages like alcohol.
- Spread awareness. Share this post with parents, schools, and community coalitions to help others recognize the new face of the “herbal high” industry.
Bottom Line: These drinks are not harmless “social tonics.” They are potent psychoactive products dressed up as lifestyle beverages. Responsible adult regulation can coexist with public health—but only if lawmakers close the loopholes and parents recognize the marketing aimed at their kids.