How the Western world refers to kratom
It’s no secret that there is plenty of misinformation about kratom around the world. Even though there are no evidences proving any death has been caused exclusively by its components so far, an important part of the media has a sensationalist and irresponsable approach when mentioning it, since considering it as a dangerous and addictive substance, until relating deaths of people to kratom, even knowing that different types of drugs were found in their bodies.
Mainstream British media is a worthy example of spreading fake news about kratom, as some of its main newspapers and news channels, like BBC, Daily Mail and Metro, disseminated that 91 people were “killed” by kratom, when actually, if we have a honest look at the survey (conducted by CDC – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from the U.S.) that led them to promote these news, actually it’s clearly said that 84 of those who overdosed had fentanyl or heroin in their system, and the other 7 have inconclusive results, with CDC explicitly clarifying that “the presence of additional substances cannot be ruled out”.
The legal situation of kratom varies a lot around the globe, having its status as legal, controlled, illegal or non-regulated depending on the country. It’s important to remember kratom is included as a controlled psychoactive plant-based substance, defined as one of the New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which agreements are signed and adopted by most of its members, certainly influencing on direct or indirect restrictions without major scientific evidences through policies and laws promoted by countries as Portugal, Argentina, United Kingdom, South Korea, Israel or Italy.
“When there is any noise about something new going on in the U.S., many other countries have their policies influenced by decisions taken in America, independently if they are reasonable or not, like the prohibitive approach to cannabis during the XX century.”
Complementing the reason why kratom has been acquiring bad reputation in many places, it’s reasonable to mention that the United States has been seen as one of the main sources and examples for anti-drug policies around the world due to its economical and political influence through the XX and XXI centuries. Therefore, when there is any noise about something new going on there, many other countries have their policies influenced by decisions taken in the U.S., independently if they are reasonable or not, like the prohibitive approach to cannabis during the XX century.
The influence of the U.S. on these issues around the globe has been still remarkable lately, specially when we have a closer look regarding cannabis’ medical uses and legalization: many countries follow their flow. When it comes to kratom, as it’s been getting so popular there, if the rest of the world needs examples, news and anything regarding policies pro or against it, they will undoubtely pay attention on what’s going on in the United States.
Regarding the European Union, we have to consider that the drug policies vary depending on the member states’ national legislations, even if there is a common strategy proposed by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), where kratom is specifically mentioned among the drug profiles: “neither Mitragyna speciosa nor mitragynine or other alkaloids from the plant are listed in any of the Schedules of the United Nations Drug Conventions. Mitragyna speciosa and/or mitragynine and/or 7-hydroxymitragynine are currently (September 2011) controlled in a number of EU Member States such as Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Sweden”.
Hopefully science will win this battle against biased propaganda against kratom. It will be a long fight as there are powerful actors – such as the opioid industry – defending their trillionaire interests. It’s very clear that people’s well-being is not their priority, otherwise the number of scientific studies going on to understand why so many people have been helped to have at least a bit of their normal life back thanks to kratom would be encouraged by those who finance scientific studies at the most important universities.
The Western civilization has only just begun to learn about kratom.
I support kratom for active opiate users as a healthy alternative, I suffered a lengthy and painful withdrawal from opiate pain medication 10 years ago. 2 1/2 years ago, I was introduced to Kratom at a Cava bar in St. Petersburg Fl. I enjoyed the subtle uplifting affect and researched the substance. I learned that 8 or less grams per day would not cause dependency. As I enjoyed the company of the other patrons, it became my social scene. After 4-6 months of daily use during early evenings, I was experiencing symptoms of sweating and fatigue throughout each day until I realized I was experiencing withdrawal until I consumed my evening dose of 6 grams. I am friends with daily Kratom users who have never had an opiate addiction in their past and friends who have had an opiate addiction in their past. My friends who haven’t had a past opiate addiction experience only mild fatigue when they skip a day or a week of daily Kratom consumption. My friends with a past opiate addiction, like me, have to dose throughout the day to prevent symptoms of withdrawal. The weird thing is, are no cravings, just withdrawal symptoms that only subside with a 1 gram dose of Kratom. My opiate addiction from 10 years ago what is an extremely traumatic event in my life as was getting clean from the addiction. That trauma is re-stimulated by my dependency on Kratom. I am interested in any research that has been done to help people like me, that never intended to be dependent on Kratom, to be free of the dependency. Are there any such guides to weaning off of this substance to reduce withdrawal symptoms and the lack of the ability to function in work and life throughout the process. Thank you for your time and any information you have for me that might help.
Hi Judy, thank you for sharing your experience with kratom. The effects a person gets from kratom vary a lot depending on each organism. In most of the cases people use it to go through the withdrawal of opiates without major complications it´s successful. I understand that in your case your organism createad a dependency that we might find a solution. The first question would be if the original reason why you have used opiates is solved. Then, if you don’t need any medicine for pain or anxiety nowadays, and you don’t want to take kratom anymore, I would personally recommend to start alternating the days you take it and slowly lowering the dose. If your organism has a tendency for dependency, it is a little difficult not feel some fatigue while you leave it. It is really a question of time and patience as I believe you don’t want to go back to the opiates. In any case, I suggest you to have a look at some cases in Reddit, where you can find different cases of people going through withdrawal of opiates and taking kratom, and maybe some of those stories could motivate you too. I believe it is a case of persistance and patience, as for any substance we get addicted to, as sugar, caffeine or even some cases we develeop psychological – and not chemical – dependence on something, like some cannabis users. Good luck and hope I gave you some light 🙂