I had tried opiates and gabapentin to manage my pain- both of which come with their own major side effects, both have major regulations in this state because they are known to be addictive. As someone who has taken the prescribed pain management alternatives to kratom, I can attest it is not the dangerous supplement that those lobbying against it want to make it out to be. I can say that the prescribed alternatives are FAR MORE dangerous and addictive than natural growing trees leaves.
Sure, you can say that there’s potential for it to be addictive and there can be withdrawals. However, the tree that kratom leaves comes from is from the coffee species and caffeine also has these properties. Caffeine can also cause people to overdose at high enough doses. As someone who went through both opiate withdrawals and kratom withdrawal before, I can say that opiates was far worse to get off of. Kratom withdrawals are similar to that of skipping my morning coffee-I feel fatigued and have a headache that day.
And needless to say, it’s the dose that makes the poison. I do not find kratom in its natural form to be dangerous. Yes there are unregulated concentrations out there and maybe these extracts need to be looked into. However, what about the supercharged energy drinks people abuse that are still on the market? Haven’t people overdosed on them due to misuse? Look at the Panera lemonade situation that’s made headlines recently. Again, it’s the dose that makes the poison. I find it unfair to compare a herbal supplement similar to caffeine to narcotics. It should however be comparable to coffee, which is the species that kratom come from.
If kratom is banned people like me who rely on it for medicinal properties to manage pain naturally will be forced back on to known scheduled/addictive drugs. I have safely taken kratom now for six years. I also have liver disease and see a liver specialist every six month- my lab values are great and I can attest that long term usage does not cause liver injury as many claim. What does cause liver injury is long term usage of over the counter pain medication, like NSAIDs and acetaminophen though- and I do not see people lobbying against those medications. It seem hypocritical to single out kratom when there are over things freely available that can also cause damage or be fatal to people with over usage or misuse. Although I do think cases that claim “kratom overdose” should be looked into more closely. Majority of these cases are “poly substances” deaths- aka multiple drugs where in the deceases system. How can we try to claim it was kratom that was fatal substance in cases like this when kratom has a threshold ceiling effect? It seem irresponsible to make misinformed claims when scientifically it is impossible. Even published scientific studies from last year stated the 1.9% (4 people) of overdoses examined that did have kratom in their systems all had additional drugs in their systems.
This study investigated coroner autopsy reports from Kern County in California for the year 2020 which included qualitative data on substances from blood toxicological reports. Of the 214 opioid-associated accidental overdoses reported, 4 subjects (1.9%) had mitragynine (kratom) exposure on the autopsy report and were included in the study.
All 4 individuals with mitragynine (kratom) toxicology had accidental opioid overdose deaths noted in autopsy reports. Each subject also had toxicology positive for at least one other substance. Fentanyl was found in 3 (75%) of the cases and suspected to be the primary contributor to opioid-related deaths in those cases. However, one fatality was without fentanyl, but instead had tested positive for benzodiazepines, cannabis, and other psychiatric medications.
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10806006/]
In conclusion, I find it dangerous and irresponsible to try to fear monger towards the publics opinion regarding kratom. Claims of it being some dangerous drug go against all scientific research and the mere existence of this herbal medicine. It is a leaf that comes from a tree that is in the coffee species. In its natural unaltered form it is HIGHLY safe. It is no more dangerous than caffeine. Rather than wasting the time of the Virginia lawmakers to try to ban a tree leaf, perhaps we should be paying attention to the fentanyl crisis that is killing people on the daily in this state. Perhaps we shouldn’t be trying to ban a safer alternative for chronic pain patients like myself. Irresponsible and over use of kratom that has adverse side effects is not the plants fault, it is a general failure of the person willfully over administering it. Again, anything can be dangerous at a high enough dosage- even water can kill you id you take enough too quickly.