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SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Three months ago, federal health officials announced that the government planned to ban a potent opioid that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said “put American lives at risk.”

The substance was a highly addictive compound derived from the kratom leaf, a plant from Southeast Asia that is in powders and tinctures sold as energy boosters and pain relievers in convenience stores and vape shops across the United States. The ban was crucial, the officials said, “to avoid an imminent hazard to public safety.”

This month, the government reversed course.

Mr. Kennedy announced Oct. 9 that his department had “followed the science” and decided to allow some levels of the compound.

The policy U-turn came after a number of kratom companies discovered the substance in products marketed as “natural” in recent months.…