The Pros and Cons of Kratom

Malaysia, Indonesia, New Papua Guinea, and Thailand are four major Kratom growing regions of Southeast Asia. All strains of kratom are marketed in three colors: green kratom, white kratom, and red kratom. The colors denote the color of the stem and the veins of the leaves at the time of harvesting the plant for extracting kratom. Red Malay Kratom is one of the most enduring kratom strains.

Kratom trees (Mitragyna Speciosa) do not require special attention and care and grow throughout the country. For a long time, their leaves have been used in Thailand as a herbal stimulant that helps people who are involved in hard physical work to endure daily stress more easily.

The State Committee on Drug Addiction in Thailand estimates that over 400,000 people use kratom in the country. Moreover, 44% of them are residents of the southern provinces. In this region, kratom is very popular with farmers who eat two to four leaves a day to keep their minds and body alive while working in the fields.

A few years ago, the Thai Ministry of Justice and the Narcotics Enforcement Administration expressed the unanimous opinion that the potential of kratom as a traditional medicine outweighs the side effects of its abuse.

When fresh, kratom helps relieve diarrhea, headaches, and muscle pain. Tea drink with fried kratom leaves normalizes blood sugar levels. A solution of crushed Mitragyna Speciosa leaves and “lao khao” rice vodka promotes rapid healing of herpes sores on the skin.

In addition, kratom has a positive therapeutic effect on the entire body. Small doses of kratom cheer you up, relieve nervous tension and help you fall asleep quickly and soundly.

The further study of the properties of kratom opens up great opportunities for the creation of new pain relievers, antitussives, and even medicines for the prevention of diabetes. At the same time, modern science has yet to familiarize itself in detail with the toxic effects of kratom on the human body.

Side effect

The general opinion of Thai doctors and ordinary people is that the judicious use of kratom does not cause serious side effects. However, there are many documented cases where long-term use of large doses of kratom led to undesirable consequences. The most common among these are nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, muscle tremors, loss of appetite, and weight loss.

The main active ingredient in kratom is the poorly studied active alkaloid mitragynine. Frequent physiological consequences of long-term effects of mitragynine on the human body include darkening of the skin, chronic rhinitis, constipation, and the formation of polyps in the gastrointestinal tract. The latter occurs when a person eats not only the pulp of the leaves but also the elastic fibrous veins that are not absorbed during the digestion process.

Emotionally, excessive use of kratom can lead to depression, insomnia, aggressiveness, and other manifestations of a nervous disorder. High doses of mitragynine have negative effects on the central nervous system. The person becomes apathetic and sleepy, which leads to loss of attention and increases the risk of accidents. In case of severe overdose, the patient may develop paranoia, delirium, and hallucinations.

It is worth noting that regular consumption of kratom can be addictive. People who eat the leaves of this plant for a long time get used to the daily state of “vigor” and “positive” and over time begin to increase the dose. This dependence is not necessarily fatal. However, the Thai Ministry of Health warns that excessive consumption of this plant can have a devastating effect on the human body and mind.

The main problem is that kratom could be used also for the manufacture of synthetic drugs. Currently, the most common kratom-based drug is the so-called “4×100 cocktail”.

To prepare this drink, a decoction of kratom leaves is mixed with cough syrup, neon powder, and soda. The resulting drink has a much stronger narcotic effect than pure kratom. Such narcotic cocktails are popular among young people in all hangout resorts in Thailand.

By the way, the law enforcement agencies of Phuket, for example, have completely different attitudes towards those who have a kratom bush growing on the site, and those who sell substances in nightclubs that include Mitragyna Speciosa leaves.