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What do people seem to fear most about our beloved kratom?

We get rather complacent in our understanding and experience. We might forget that some individuals are walking around with a big ugly mess of lies about kratom in their heads.

I’ll never forget the time a Facebook friend, proprietor of a local hippie/new age boutique said, “That shit scares me!” about kratom.

She had mentioned some symptoms that she was experiencing, so I told her about kratom. I explained that kratom (mitragyna speciosa) is a far safer and more effective solution than opioids. She rejected my advice, solely based on propaganda that unduly influenced her, coming from Big Pharma. She didn’t want to hear my testimony on how kratom has helped me. It was sad to see.

You’ll know when you see it. That hostile, misinformed attitude toward kratom. People brainwashed by Big Pharma often like will like cannabis, which has been lied about for generations, but don’t spend enough time researching another wonderful herb in the plant kingdom: mitragyna speciosa (botanical name for kratom). They think “Science” is against kratom, but it’s not.

I was afraid of kratom at first, too.

A friend had made an elaborate sign for my electronic music act that I call Str8 Sounds. He wanted to give the sign to me. I met him at a local restaurant nearby, a Steak ‘n Shake hamburger joint. I bought his lunch and thanked him for the amazing sign. We got to talking about medications and he asked me if I ever heard of kratom.

He told me that kratom is being sold just one block away, at the local hippie boutique The Co-op Shop. So I bought a bottle of Thai kratom powder in capsules. Those 60 capsules sat in that unopened bottle in my kitchen for 30 days! I finally got up the courage to give it try. I found a new friend in kratom!

What was I scared of exactly?

Well, I had read some user stories and anecdotes on various psycho-active substance forums online. I heard kratom effects described as a mild mescaline, a super THC rush, a numbing sedative, and other wild-ass reports.

I developed an exaggerated view of how kratom impacts our systems. After using kratom just a few times, I quickly discovered how wrong I was about kratom’s effects. I was even wanting a good friend of mine to be with me, to monitor and protect me, when I first took some kratom capsules. It was ridiculous, especially coming from a guy like me who has experimented with just about everything at least once, but settled down with cannabis as my favorite substance.

So, enough talk about me. How about you? And your friends? Do you have some false notions about kratom? Do your companions and family members have fears regarding kratom? Let’s look at a 3 of the most common kratom fears.

ONE – Fear of addiction.

This is probably the #1 concern, especially of individuals formerly dependent on opioids and benzos. They fear just adding one more substance to their list of things that are habit-forming in their lives. They want to avoid getting hooked on something new.

This is a valid point that needs consideration. But cast your phobias aside, because kratom has an extremely low addiction potential. There have been multitudes reporting that when they stopped taking kratom, it was no big deal. It was fairly easy to quit for a while, or permanently, and abstaining from kratom was not a big shock to their system.

The “withdrawal symptoms” from kratom are very mild or non-existent. This makes kratom an entirely different substance from heroin, cocaine, crystal meth, krokadil, Oxycontin, Fentanyl, Xanax, Adderal, Ritalin, etc.

Peter Grinspoon, advocate for cannabis and other alternative therapies, published a Harvard blog on kratom, in which he addresses some of the things people are troubled by when it comes to kratom:

“Depending on what you read, kratom is a dangerous addictive drug with no medical utility and severe side effects, including overdose and death, or it is an accessible pathway out of undertreated chronic pain and opiate withdrawal. How can the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), medical professionals, and millions of regular kratom users have such divergent views of the same plant?”

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/kratom-fear-worthy-foliage-or-beneficial-botanical-2019080717466

TWO – Fear of opioids.

Some people think that switching to kratom is just substituting one dangerous narcotic for another, so nothing is gained. They will tell you that “you are still using” and they will condemn you for it. They often substitute addiction to group meetings for addiction to a substance. They may prefer that you take no substances at all, and just be dependent on an organization.

This is more ridiculous misinformation being spread by the FDA and DEA.

Kratom is NOT an opioid.

Marc Swogger, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center stated:

“I’m not sure why this particular drug hysteria is being pushed by the FDA, but their comments about kratom have been unscientific,” he says. “They do not match the current science.”

Swogger, who’s done several studies on kratom, says the FDA’s computer analysis doesn’t paint a complete picture.

“Kratom does not act on opioid receptors in the same way that classical opioids do,” he says. “It’s a partial effect. So you don’t get the same sort of respiratory depression and you don’t get the same sort of euphoria.”

Oliver Grundmann, who teaches medicinal chemistry and toxicology at the University of Florida’s College of Pharmacy, has studied the pharmacology of kratom. He says part of the problem with the FDA’s analysis is that it’s based entirely on a computer model, instead of actual user tests and observations.

Not only does kratom act differently in our bodies, those who take kratom exhibit very normal behavior, unlike those dependent on opioids and benzos.

In fact, kratom users tend to be the very opposite of heroin users. Kratom users lead happy, productive lives as good parents, good employees, and good neighbors. No sneaking around in the middle of the night, trying to score another fix. No needles, pipes, or other paraphernalia. No increase of dose amount or frequency. No lying and hiding.

THREE – Fear of overdosing and death.

For those who have been taking kratom for a number of years, this is almost laughable, it’s so wrong.

First of all, it’s highly unlikely that anyone is going to take too much kratom. It’s hard enough to take your required amount of kratom, much less an inordinate amount.

If you swallow too much kratom, your body will revolt against your ignorance. It’s so bitter, your stomach will vomit out excessive amounts of kratom. Trying to abuse kratom is a loser’s game. It’s just not easy to go overboard to a life-threatening degree.

Second, any deaths that have been attributed to kratom have been given a deceptive negative spin by the news media, in league with Big Pharma, which spends a ton of money advertising their more dangerous drugs. Fatalities occur only when a person mixes kratom with alcohol, Oxycontin, Fentanyl, and other hard drugs. It’s not the kratom killing anybody, it’s the deadly blending of different substances recklessly.

To die from kratom alone has never been recorded and is very improbable.

CONCLUSION

When you discuss kratom with others, these 3 major worries will surely arise in the conversation at some point. Now you have some information with which to reply to those unfounded fears.