Sorry if the tag is wrong I couldn’t decide between biology or chemistry.
So I’m in New York City for the weekend on vacation this week. Where I live I have never seen this stuff despite being in a weed legal state.
I’ve passed a bunch of stores just today that have signs that say “weed and kratom”. I tried doing some google searches but it honestly left me more confused than resolved lol.
I know it’s apparently all natural and might help with opioid withdrawal (I’m not addicted to painkillers I’m just saying what I read)
So basically I’m just confused as to what this stuff even is?
Edit : I have no interest in it, I’m just curious what it is
In: Biology
Kratom is a plant native to southeast Asia. It has opiate-like effects and is used both recreationally and in traditional medicine. Its legal status is kind of ambiguous, which is why a lot of head shops sell it.
Kratom is a tree that grows natively in Southeast Asia. It is a member of the coffee family.
What you would buy in one of those shops is some kind of drug derived from the kratom tree (at least if the labeling is accurate, which can be a problem). The most basic form of the drug sold in the US is simply dried ground leaves from the kratom tree. The reason people would consume this drug is that the plant contains chemicals which stimulate, among other things, opioid receptors.
Much like other opioids, in general kratom creates a euphoric effect. That is, take kratom and you feel good in the same way you would feel if you take Vicodin or oxycodone. It is much less potent, at least as a ground leaf, than either of those drugs, but the euphoria effect is very similar. People also say that at lower doses, and/or depending on which strain you consume, kratom has stimulant effects like coffee.
One interesting thing about kratom is that, unlike traditional opioids and opiates, it does not cause respiratory depression. The chemical that stimulates the opioid receptors in kratom does not interact with the biochemical pathway that causes people to breathe less frequently when taking traditional opioids. For this reason, the risks of acute overdose on kratom are much lower than the risks of overdose on traditional opioid drugs. That is not to say that the risks are zero. Kratom can cause many undesirable effects, like elevated heart rate, trembling and even seizures, and in some people liver damage over an extended period of use. It can also cause the same kinds of withdrawal effects as other opioid drugs if use is substantial for an extended period time, and those withdrawal effects are generally quite unpleasant. That said, users who have tried both kratom and other opioids generally say that withdrawal symptoms when ceasing kratom are milder.
The reason kratom is marketed to the public as an opioid addiction treatment tool is precisely because it stimulates the opioid receptors, reducing or eliminating symptoms of withdrawal, but does not run a similar risk of respiratory depression and death. It is, in this sense, objectively safer to use. However, it’s also a way to pick up an opioid habit if you are not somebody who is already using opioids. And its long-term effects on health are less well known because it has not been subject to the same kinds of study as pharmaceutical opioids. The same thing is true of its interactions with other drugs. They are not well known, although it appears that they are essentially the same as interactions common to other opioid drugs.
One very serious problem with kratom, especially the kind of kratom product that you might end up buying in the kind of store you’re discussing, is adulteration. First, there is just adulteration with kratom derivatives. That is, you might buy a product you believe to be ground leaf exclusively, which is indeed ground leaf but with the extracted psychoactive chemicals from other leaf added to it. This can be problematic because it’s a very easy way to rapidly increase tolerance, and therefore the risk of side effects and withdrawals syndromes, without really understanding what’s going on. Another issue is adulteration with other opioids which are traditional opioids and exhibit respiratory depression. Kratom customers are expecting the effects of opioids when they take a substantial amount of kratom, so in some cases manufacturers adulterate their kratom with a small amount of other opioids which can be manufactured cheaply, including but not limited to fentanyl (more commonly, adulteration has been with Tramadol or Tramadol derivatives, but fentanyl is not unheard of). This is much worse than adulterating kratom with concentrated kratom extract, of course, because traditional opioids cause respiratory depression and death, unlike kratom.
It’s a leaf that’s native to Southeast Asia, and when chewed or smoked in high enough doses, it can cause an opioid like effect. While it is currently legal, there are still dangers to its use. It can be addictive and cause withdrawals and use can also lead to seizures and possibly death. It may help with opioid withdrawals but withdrawals from kratom can also be pretty bad.
It’s basically a pseudo heroin addiction for people who don’t like needles but drink a lot of homemade shakes. There’s a dude on youtube basically recording how it’s actively ruining his life. He already lost his wife to that stuff and he’s still going.
Kratom is an opiate drug. Opiates are psychoactive and highly addictive, like heroin or morphine.
Opiates are very dangerous.
Kratom may have low concentration, and many will tell you it is not as dangerous, but it makes no difference to your body whatsoever.
You will feel good taking it, and you will feel bad when you stop.
Does it show up on drug tests? If so, does it show up as Opiods? Seems risky to take if it does, well that is if you have a job that drug tests
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