KC-based American Shaman hit with new lawsuit over ‘dangerous’ gas station drug
A new class-action lawsuit accuses Kansas City-based CBD American Shaman and related entities of engaging in a scheme to defraud customers by aggressively marketing an addictive opioid derived from kratom while downplaying the risks of dependence and withdrawal.
The case, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, centers around owner Vince Sanders’ use of American Shaman’s network of retail stores to sell Advanced Alkaloids — chewable tablets containing 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH. The product is an opioid compound found in kratom in trace amounts but manufactured at higher concentrations by Sanders’ company.
“These are dangerous products, and 7-OH is a predatory business,” said Eric Barton of the law firm Wagstaff & Cartmell, which is representing the plaintiffs.
“People are told 7-OH will help relieve pain, and people with pain are vulnerable because they want to believe something will help,” he said. “But consumers are not told how addictive these are and how horrible the withdrawal symptoms are, because addiction is great for business. They sell a supposed pain remedy that may help briefly at first, but then causes even worse pain that feels like it can only be helped by taking more of the product. It’s insidious.”
Sanders’ attorney, Nicholas Porto, declined to comment on the lawsuit Friday.
The lawsuit was filed days after The Kansas City Star published a three-part investigation into Sanders, American Shaman, and the rise of 7-OH. That series documented how sales of the product have exploded at gas stations, vape shops, and smoke stores across the country, even as medical experts warn about its dangers and the federal government has moved to ban it.
The named defendants are Sanders, CBD American Shaman, SVS Enterprises LLC (which the complaint alleges is a parent company of CBD American Shaman), and John Does 1-10, which the complaint says are as-yet unidentified parties alleged to have helped develop, produce, market, or distribute Advanced Alkaloids and other 7-OH products sold by CBD American Shaman or through other retailers.
The suit alleges that Sanders and those affiliated entities ran a racketeering scheme in violation of federal RICO statutes, using mail and wire fraud to market and sell Advanced Alkaloids while falsely promoting it as safe, legal and natural. The complaint also cites deceptive advertising, concealment of addiction risks, and violations of Kansas and Missouri consumer protection laws.
The plaintiffs are Edward Zachary Korte of Overland Park and Steven Ray of Kansas City. Both say they began buying Advanced Alkaloids in 2025, seeking pain relief and mood improvement, only to find themselves caught in painful withdrawal cycles and spending thousands of dollars to maintain their use.
Korte said he purchased about 20 bottles of Advanced Alkaloids, each containing 30 tablets and priced at $99.99, spending roughly $2,000 in just four months. He alleges American Shaman store employees minimized the risk of dependence, leaving him unaware of the “severity of pain and discomfort of withdrawal symptoms that quickly arose from use of the product.”
Ray said he first encountered the tablets when a Shaman employee gave him a free sample in late 2024, assuring him they were safe despite his concern about addiction. He went on to buy numerous two-packs at $9.99 and 30-tablet bottles at $99.99, ultimately spending thousands of dollars over several months.
The complaint alleges that Sanders positioned Advanced Alkaloids as a financial lifeline for American Shaman stores as its core CBD business declined. Recreational cannabis legalization had undercut the company’s niche, and Sanders, barred from holding dispensary licenses due to a prior felony drug conviction, turned to 7-OH to fill the gap, the lawsuit says.
“For struggling CBD American Shaman stores, the introduction and sales of Advanced Alkaloids has been a lifeline,” according to the lawsuit.
“But it has come at the expense of deceived consumers who have been misled about the product they are purchasing, and who have been financially as well as, in some case, physically and emotionally injured by the scheme, many of whom find themselves trapped in a cycle of withdrawals that is painful, sometimes debilitating, sometimes embarrassing, and always expensive.”
The filing also highlights the profitability of the company’s 7-OH tablets.
“Within a short time of introducing the first Advanced Alkaloids products through CBD American Shaman stores in the first half of 2024, some stores had total revenues from sales of Advanced Alkaloids that surpassed total revenues from some stores’ sales of all other products combined,” the suit says.
The Star reported earlier this week that Sanders had said his company’s 7-OH business was “significantly larger” than $100 million a year.
The lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of customers nationwide who purchased 7-OH products made or sold through CBD American Shaman. Barton told The Star that would include customers harmed not just by Advanced Alkaloids but also the 7-OH products made by Shaman Botanicals, the Sanders-owned company that manufactures products for other 7-OH brands.
Plaintiffs are seeking damages, disgorgement of profits, and injunctive relief to stop sales of the products.
