Most kratom products won’t be on Utah shelves as of Wednesday as new legislation went into effect allowing only pure leaf powders and capsules to be sold in specialty stores.

A lawsuit from Botanic Tonics, the manufacturer of “feel free” tonics, won’t delay the law. A federal judge denied the company’s request for an injunction on Monday.

Quickly after the Utah Legislature approved a partial kratom ban this year prohibiting adulterated kratom from being sold in the state, the company sued state officials in federal court, asking for a judge to declare the new regulations unconstitutional while arguing it contradicts federal law.

Botanic Tonic’s “feel free” tonic mixes kratom and kava root, which according to the new law, will be illegal to sell in Utah as it combines kratom with a “nonkratom” substance. Utah’s law, the company said, would cause them to remove their products from Utah stores and immediately lose over $10.7 million.

However, according to court documents, a judge found the company “failed to show a likelihood of success on their legal arguments that federal law preempts any relevant part of the Kratom Regulation Act.”

“Even if feel free falls within the federal definition of a dietary supplement and does not meet statutory criteria for being deemed to be adulterated, these federal statutes do not require that feel free be sold,” the court wrote in its decision.

That means that even if federal law allows kratom supplements like “feel free,” the company is able to comply with Utah regulations “by simply declining to sell feel free in Utah.”

Botanic Tonics filed an appeal to the decision on Tuesday. It did not reply to a request for comment.

The kratom leaf, native to Southeast Asia, has been the center of controversy nationally. While many say it’s highly effective in treating conditions like chronic pain, anxiety and opioid use disorders, kratom products can also have opioid-like characteristics and have been responsible for addiction and even death among Utahns.

Lawmakers have discussed at length kratom products’ presence in gas stations and convenience stores, especially studying the impacts of items that increase the herb’s potency by artificially enhancing 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, a naturally occurring alkaloid that’s only a minor constituent of the plant.

Senate Minority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, who sponsored the law and has heavily advocated for a full kratom ban in the state, told Utah News Dispatch he believes the court reached the right conclusion.

While the company may have appealed, McKell predicted the company won’t prevail.

“That’s a really bad sign for them, if the court, looking at it at this initial level, doesn’t feel like they have a substantial likelihood of prevailing,” McKell said. “It’s going to be an uphill battle for them, certainly.”

Now that the partial ban is going into effect, McKell said he intends to keep an eye on the issue, hoping for a full ban. But, as of Tuesday afternoon, he said “midnight can’t come soon enough.”

“Bottom line is the product sold by the company Botanic Tonics is really dangerous, and I’m glad that we’re no longer going to be selling the product ‘feel free’ in the state of Utah,” he said. “It is one of the worst, and it didn’t surprise me that they wanted to litigate it, but I’m also glad the court ruled against them.”

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.