Does anybody have any knowledge of Kratom beyond what Google offers? We have this very good and very progressive new state rep that we elected over a horrible and corrupt old-timer incumbent a short while ago. She’s been doing amazing work for the region. But now people are massively against her because she seemed to support a Kratom ban (even though she now says there should be a hearing before it’s banned.) Why are there efforts to ban it? Does it really help opiate addicts?
11 responses to “Kratom”
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Kratom is currently completely unregulated so people trying to use it for any purpose have the typical issue of not knowing how much of the active ingredient they are consuming.
Kratom can also get you high and become addictive. It’s kind of similar to a person saying that they’re smoking marijuana to quit heroin, except that kratom can also cause overdoses, especially when mixed with other substances, and in my experience, mixing substances is what most addicts turn to when their usual substance stops providing a high.
So, sorry to be a killjoy, but I’m all for strict regulation.
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No, this is actually what I hoped to hear. I like this state representative and I want her to be on the side of the angels. Thank you.
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Krstom isn’t Unregulated, the FDA considers it a dietary supplement and is regulsted under Dietary Supplment Health and Education Act of 1994 and current regulations lile 21cfr111. Your state rep can’t change how the federal government regulates it so just short of a ban there are things they can do. Setting age limits, requiring any products sold be properly tested, etc can become part of the state law prior to selling it. There are companies that actually do just that but currently most states have no formal regulations as they pertain to supplements as they leave that to the FDA who is currently hamstrung due to the way the laws are so they are horrible at actually enforcing the laws. If they wanted to regulate it better they totally could, sadly some think a ban is going to make it safer except prohibition causes black markets. If your Rep is truly progressive they should be grasping this. There is plenty of ways to make it a safer market and yet continue to actually allow access to those that take it responsibly, the hundreds of thousands that do so daily.
I’ve attached some links as well as a drive filled with every bit of research that is available in English.
Cnn/Sanjay Gupta report-
https://youtu.be/O758VhEgbrUThe Cut/NY Magazine article-
https://www.thecut.com/2017/01/the-intriguing-therapeutic-potential-of-kratom.htmlArticle from the federalist-
http://thefederalist.com/2017/03/23/regulators-ban-herbal-treatment-recovering-opioid-addicts/A Google Drive filled with articles and research that explains the plant-
https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/0B_SMhCuwVcKjZ3p0amk4ZXpmSzg
The plant has never been proven to be able to cause overdose, much like cannibis there has been a massive push of misinformation provided public about it. Alot of that is led by lobbyists from a group called Natural Products Association who is headed by the former FDA dirextor of dietary supplements and funded by pharma Industry. Please if you plan to get in to this read every bit of the reseqrch and find out there is ways yo create a safer market for a plant that has helped millions worldwide.
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“Kratom” is unlikely to be listed as the cause of a fatal overdose, because the biological compound in Kratom most likely to cause the overdose is mitragynine, which has been linked to overdoses.
Further, because Kratom is relatively new in the states, it’s not typically part of a standard toxicology panel, so the test has to be specifically requested, and it probably won’t become part of the standard panel until it’s officially considered a controlled substances or until the problem is much more noticed.
Here’s a scientific study on fatal mitragynine overdoses linked to Kratom use:
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You are presenting a product from Sweden that was a blend of Kratom extracts and a research chemical, o-desmethyltramadol, that was likely coming from Russia some years ago to claim that mitragynine is the unsafe thing here. Please feel free to show me the resewrch that finds a verified LD50 for mytraginine as that resewrch chemical isn’t even legal in the US and that Krypton product is the type of thing a black market would create.
Krwtom isn’t new in this country, it was studied as far back as the 1960s when GlaxoSmithKline took over a patent on one of the alkaloids, speciofoline, and has been sold openly in its raw for in the US since the late 90s(that’s over 20 years).
Market regulation and oversight can happen to co tinge pushing for mandatory testing showing the products are not adultered or contaminated but that won’t happen with a ban. If you have looked at all the research the largest concern is due to adultered products, not the raw plant. Your research provided proves that specific point. Prohibition of the plant isn’t going to stop a black market selling adultered products, in fact it will increase the risk, look at every black market substance in this country.
Responsible Kratom advocates know that oversight of the market can happen and would make things far safer while protecting the access for those that choose to have the plant as part of their wellbeing toolbox. Presenting information like the above resewrch out of context is highly unfair and is a large part of the problem with fixing the issues that actually may exist in the market selling the products.
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It can’t be listed as the cause as there is no Scientific proof that Mytraginine can cause overdose by itself. Unless you can provide some new study that shows you have achieved what no one else has been able to, establish a verifiable LD50, then there is no way to claim mytraginine caused the overdose. Even in animal studies, the few deaths happened due to constipation. So unless you can show some new research that has achieved what dozens of researchers so far could not, you can not just openly claim that there is even such a thing as mytraginine overdose. That isn’t how academic research works.
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I personally have taken it for years and let me tell you it has changed my entire life. I was for at least 13 years a raging alcoholic and used every drug, but opiates were my kryptonite. Kratom literally changed my life. I do not even get cravings for nicotene anymore. It is safe and yes slightly addictive but with my level of Chronic pain it was this or much more dangerous opiates. Tramadol which has killed over 240 people in Britian alone in 2014 is what all the doctors were trying to push on me, after they cut back on prescribing true opiates. It is not even half as effective for pain, and the side effects are numerous, yet the medical industry does not even blink at prescribing it to almost anyone in any pain. It all comes down to if your politician is in”Big Pharmas”, pocket or not. I feel better the last few years of taking Kratom, and Kratom alone, than in my whole adult life. “Kratom Saves Lives”, without it I would be dead or in Prison. It is safe, you “CAN NOT” overdose as you will throw up long before getting enough in your system, and I have personally gotten friends on deaths door off heroin and meth. Banning it means murdering millions of recovering addicts.
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Fair enough, except for one thing. These are not recovering addicts but addicts, period. Changing the substance one is addicted to is still being an addict.
I wish you the best of luck in your struggle!
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Wow that is Harsh, though I guess someone who does not struggle with Chronic pain would not understand someone who does. I actually got addicted to various substances dealing with pain and anxiety. So regardless some type of relief is needed and it is by far the safest option. It is like the difference in depending on caffeine vs crack for energy. One is a devil the other helps you make it through a long day. So calling someone a addict for finding a reasonable and safe alternative to pain relief is showing that you simply do not struggle with this type of addiction. Maybe your addiction is sexual in nature, or you are addicted to technology which can cause health problems and mental disorders just like chemical addiction, maybe it is eating disorders. The point is everyone is addicted to something it is in our very nature, it is the fact that the government makes billions off substances much more addicting than Kratom could ever dream of yet no one blinks at those deaths, and Kratom is unique in its addiction combating compounds. So it is not a simple as “an addict is still an addict on Kratom. It is about saving lives and rebuilding families and relationships. If a very slight Kratom addiction can do that how should anyone have the right to ban it. Hell I believe abortion is murder but women have the choice to murder babies, so how dare someone tell me I can not save my own life while others murder in the name of choice. That all said if you believe you are perfect and free of all addiction then you are truly addicted to you sense of superiority and that in itself is a complex so think more proactively and have some compassion for a day will come you need someone else to be compassionate to you for something you are powerless to control.
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“Wow that is Harsh”
- Which part is harsh? I never said a single bad word about this substance.
“So calling someone a addict for finding a reasonable and safe alternative to pain relief is showing that you simply do not struggle with this type of addiction.”
- Please don’t make sweeping assumptions about complete strangers. You know nothing about my life and my struggles.
“So it is not a simple as “an addict is still an addict on Kratom. It is about saving lives and rebuilding families and relationships. If a very slight Kratom addiction can do that how should anyone have the right to ban it.”
- Addicts tend to be in unbreakable relationships with their co-dependents. So what?
“Hell I believe abortion is murder but women have the choice to murder babies, so how dare someone tell me I can not save my own life while others murder in the name of choice.”
- And this is the person who tries to teach others not to be judgmental. Hypocritical much?
“That all said if you believe you are perfect and free of all addiction”
- What on earth makes you assume something like this? The difference between me and that commenter is that I’m honest with myself and don’t say, for example, “smoking helped me kick alcoholism, so I’m no longer addicted.”
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Yes I am a kratom advocate and it has saved my life I blog about it if you wanna check me out! I’m going to tell my back story and then attempt to educate ppl through it
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A conservative literary critic and college professor
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