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PBS has a fantastic article on kratom.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/kratom-help-treat-opioid-addiction

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The national epidemic of opioid abuse has claimed more than 300,000 lives in the U.S. over the last 16 years — and some researchers claim that kratom, an herbal psychoactive drug that is currently unregulated, could help people struggling with addiction.

But federal drug policy-makers may classify kratom as an illegal drug, which would slow down its sale, research and development. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Mike Taibbi reports.

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With all the fentanyl, tranq, benzo dope, etc. flowing across the Mexican border, the US government is more concerned with persecuting a plant that can set people free from opioid addiction. There is no concerted will to end the opioid crisis. Kratom is one of the best answers, but it’s stupidly demonized by the corrupt FDA and by greedy Big Pharma.

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If you haven’t heard of kratom — sometimes called kray-tom — you will. It’s a coffee-like plant native to Southeast Asia whose leaves can be ground up into capsules or to used make tea or mix with juice or other liquids. For centuries kratom has been used as a replacement for opium or to wean users off it.

In the U.S., kratom is currently very easy to buy on the internet, in specialty bars as tea or some other liquid mixture, or in pill form in shops like Grateful J’s in Delray Beach, Florida, which also sells tobacco and smoking paraphernalia.

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A “coffee-like plant”? Close, but actually speciosa mitragyna (kratom) is a member of the coffee family botanically, but it’s not much “coffee-like” aside from the energy it’s said to provide those who enjoy it.

Glad to see some honest reporting here though, with most of the facts perfectly straight.

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While many use it medicinally, others also say they simply enjoy its slight euphoric effect, similar to drinking a cup of coffee or having a beer.

University of Florida Medicinal Chemistry Professor Christopher McCurdy has been collecting samples and studying kratom for more than a decade.

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In the kratom community, we avoid terms like “euphoria” and “dose” – these are too much associated with the street dope scene.

But the effects of kratom, while generally a bit stronger than one cup of coffee or one beer, is similar to the effects of these substances.

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Whether people say they use it to curb an addiction, to self-medicate for pain, or just to feel good, the sale of kratom and kratom products is now largely unregulated and widely available without a doctor’s prescription

Florida State Representative Kristen Jacobs has fought to have kratom banned in her state as it is now in 6 other states and 15 countries.

In laboratory experiments on mice, McCurdy and his colleagues say they have shown how kratom can wean users off opioids. They took mice, like these, addicted to morphine and then deprived them of the drug, thrusting them into withdrawal. Then, they replaced their morphine with kratom.

We would look at low doses, medium doses, high doses. We even went to doses that were off the chart for what a human would use, and this is a mouse! And we didn’t ever see any toxicity with the plant material itself. Not one died.

The DEA does cite 15 deaths in the U-S since 2014 as kratom-related, but 14 of those people had other drugs in their system at the time of death.

Addiction treatment specialists like Ryan Johnston of Fort Lauderdale’s Cornerstone Recovery Center oppose the use of kratom for those struggling with substance abuse, because they’re substituting one drug for another.

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Idiots like Florida State Repugnancy Kristen Jacobs is just robotically repeating what her controllers in Big Pharma tell her to say. She has no scientific mind, she buys into the ignorant “Reefer Madness” hysteria pushed by dubious elements who see kratom as a rival to opioid profits.

Be sure to read the rest of this interesting report on PBS.