Mitragyna speciosa – Kratom
FAMILY: Rubiaceae GENUS: Mitragyna SPECIES: Speciosa COMMON NAMES: Kratom, Biak, Katawn, Mabog, Mitragyne, Ithang, Kakuan, Thom
Mitragyna speciosa is a tropical tree native to parts of the Southeast Asian peninsula (Thailand and Malaysia), Borneo, and New Guinea. The tree has a straight trunk that grows to an average of 4 meters in height (13 feet), but can reach heights of between 12-30 meters (40-100 feet) under appropriate growing conditions. The branches are forked, and the ovate leaves are tapered at their ends. The leaves grow opposite each other on the branch, and are on average 10 centimeters (4 inches) wide and 12 centimeters (7 inches) long. Mitragyna speciosa flowers grow in clusters on stalks at the ends of the leaf axils, and are a deep yellow in color (Ratsch 1998, 366).
As it is a tropical plant, kratom does not respond well to cold temperatures and grows best in environments that provide a generous amount of sunlight and water. This excellent article on How to Grow Kratom from Seed provides more information about how to propagate and grow kratom plants.
TRADITIONAL USES: The epicenter of kratom’s traditional use is in Thailand, where it is also called ithang, kakuam, and in the south, thom. There may have also been some kratom use on the Malaysian Peninsula. In Thailand, kratom has been used for so long that the approximate date at which its use began cannot be determined. Although the government of Thailand declared kratom illegal in 1943, its use among peasants, farmers, and laborers to ease lives of hard labor and poverty has continued to this day. Female users of kratom are rare, and the age of onset for kratom use tends to be older than for other medicines (Murple 2006).
Traditionally, kratom leaves have been chewed as a substitute for opium when it was unavailable, and also to mitigate a moderate opium addiction; a few individuals also use kratom to prolong sexual intercourse (Ratsch 1998, 366). kratom is most often chewed by day laborers because of its stimulant effect, and a perceived ability to generate work ethic. In fact, in Thai culture, parents looking to give daughters away in marriage often see kratom chewers as more desirable potential husbands than users of marijuana, whom they perceive as lazy compared to the industrious kratom users. Habitual kratom chewers have echoed this sentiment in surveys, in which many individuals state that they first started chewing kratom out of a desire to work more efficiently and get more enjoyment out of work (Murple 2006).
There are still not enough studies to generate an estimate of kratom’s addictive potential: some studies have found no addiction problems in village populations of kratom users, while others have. The main active compounds in kratom leaf have a binding affinity for mu-opioid receptors, and it is possible that in high enough doses, mu-opioid receptor crossover could result in potential addiction. Habitual use of kratom does seem to carry habituating effects, such that while new users of kratom may be able to achieve desired effects by chewing just a few leaves, more experienced users may have to increase dosage to 10-30 leaves or more a day. Heavy users may chew kratom between three and ten times per day on average (Murple 2006).
Users distinguish two varieties of Mitragyna speciosa by the color of veins in the leaf: white/green-veined kratom and red-veined kratom. There is also a related species called Mitragyna javanica that has not been extensively assayed but may generate some of the same psychoactive effects. M. javanica is sometimes used as a kratom substitute to get around the Thai law banning possession of M. speciosa. Between the white/green-veined and red-veined varieties of kratom, the white/green kind is thought to generate stronger effects. One study of Thai kratom users found that most preferred a blend of the white and red-veined varieties, followed by red-veined only and white-veined only (Murple 2006).
Considering that M. speciosa is a tree species native to Thailand, the Thai laws surrounding kratom are extremely strict: as a drug, Mitragyna speciosa is classed in the same enforcement category as heroin and cocaine, with possession of one ounce of kratom extract punishable by death. The Kratom Act, passed August 3rd, 1943, outlawed the planting of new kratom trees and required that existing ones be cut down; however, since kratom is native to Thailand the law has been essentially impossible to enforce. The main effect of the Thai laws against growing and possessing kratom has been to increase black market prices for the leaves. People sometimes also consume the related Mitragyna javanica, but the effects are perceived to be weaker. So far, there have been no pharmacological tests of mitrajavine, this species’ dominant alkaloid (Murple 2006).
Sources: http://www.buykratom.us/Malay_p_14.html http://entheology.com/plants/mitragyna-speciosa-kratom/