alternative medicine
KRATOM
Interview with Mac Haddow, Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the American Kratom Association
It was an unseasonably cold February night in 2018 when I found myself in one of Alaska’s roughest neighborhoods. Indistinct shouting and blaring police sirens cut through my anxiety as I approached a wooden lean-to lit by only a neon green sign that read “Smoke Shop.” When I opened the creaky front door, I was greeted by dim fluorescent lights and a slew of unsavory characters who were probably just as confused by my presence as I was. But we were all there for the same thing: kratom.
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jun. 2021
Illustration by Adobe/Irissca
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erived from the Mitragyna speciosa tree that is native to Southeast Asia, kratom has been consumed for centuries. An herbal cure-all of sorts, kratom is said to treat everything from impotence to stomach bugs, as well as ease pain and anxiety. While the plant has a rich history in Eastern medicine, it is relatively new to the Western consciousness. First introduced to Europe in the early 19th century by Dutch botanist Pieter Korthals, the plant has yet to gain wide acceptance Suppose Haddow is correct in his assertions, and kratom can in the United States, in part, because of misinformation. wean those addicted to prescription opioids of their affliction. Why is So, why has this humble plant become so demonized in kratom currently classified as a Schedule I drug alongside Cannabis, the United States? Used in small doses, heroin, LSD, ecstasy, meth and peyote? According to Mac Haddow, a Senior Fellow on Public kratom works as a In this, Haddow is succinct. Policy at the American Kratom Association, the answer is stimulant – similar to “[The FDA] has expansive power, and they disseminate relatively straightforward. drinking an energy propaganda about [kratom]. They infect the whole discussion from “It’s probably an outgrowth of the [FDA] bias against drink. In large quantities, a public policy standpoint by citing a string of deaths that were all-natural products. They hate homeopathic products, kratom can have an previously attributed to kratom, but have since been refuted,” says and they hate plants and anything that doesn’t require a analgesic effect as it Haddow. ‘New Drug Application,’” says Haddow. binds to the body’s The most damaging narrative to come from the FDA concerns the The problem, Haddow believes, is akin to the natural μ-opioid death of nine Swedes in 2010. Two years later, the original cause of FDA’s response to vitamin supplements in the ‘90s. In receptors death was redacted by The National Board of Forensic Medicine in 1991, the Nutrition Advertising Coordination Act was Sweden. While kratom was detected in the systems of the deceased, introduced, in which the FDA would have the power to the Board determined that it was not the primary cause of death, but rather, it was tighten the regulations regarding supplement labeling. The Act was shot the adulteration of the consumed kratom. down and replaced by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act “Kratom in its pure state is not dangerous,” insists Haddow. (DSHEA) in 1994 during the Clinton Administration. Under the DSHEA, Just like Cannabis, the problem is not the plant itself. It is the mismanagement a dietary supplement cannot be approved or authorized for investigation of the product by smoke shops and other entities that saw the analgesic effect of as a new drug, antibiotic, or biologic unless it was marketed as a food or kratom and thought, “Maybe we can mix it with some things.” dietary supplement before such approval or authorization. On this, Haddow and the FDA agree. This distinction becomes important when it comes to the ability of “As we work to combat the opioid crisis, we cannot allow unscrupulous vendors kratom producers to market or advertise their product as being able to take advantage of consumers by selling products with unsubstantiated claims to treat illness. More importantly, it stifles one major sector of kratom that they can treat opioid addiction or alleviate other medical conditions,” wrote consumers: those trying to beat their opioid addiction. acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless, M.D., in a June 2019 press release. When used in small doses, kratom works as a stimulant – similar Without tight regulations and rigorous testing protocols, consumers can be to drinking an energy drink. In large quantities, kratom can have an putting themselves at risk by consuming kratom. But that doesn’t mean that we analgesic effect as it binds to the body’s natural μ-opioid receptors should throw out the baby with the bathwater. As a 2020 Johns Hopkins led (MOR). Unlike prescribed opioid drugs such as Tramadol and Percocet, survey of 2,798 adult kratom users in the United States revealed, kratom is worth the bond kratom forms to the MOR are weak – reducing the likelihood of the investment of creating stringent regulations. In the survey, 87 percent of those forming an addiction, making it a possible answer to the opioid crisis. consuming kratom to treat opioid dependence reported relief from withdrawal “The difference is significant because kratom doesn’t give you that symptoms. Even more remarkable, 34 percent of addicts were free from opioids reinforcing high, so therefore, it doesn’t have addiction liability. What after a year. happens with traditional opioids is that they go to your respiratory system, “It’s just like the FDA’s response to supplements. The solution was not to ban and that’s what accounts for the them. The solution was to make sure that they were regulated properly. And that’s majority, or the vast majority, of IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN what kratom needs, which is why we advocate at the state level right now for the opioid overdoses. You literally LEARNING MORE ABOUT KRATOM kratom Consumer Protection Act, which essentially says you cannot adulterate it; suffocate. Kratom has no significant AND THE COMPANIES BACKED BY THE you can’t synthesize the alkaloids, you have to manufacture properly and label it impact on your respiratory system,” AMERICAN KRATOM ASSOCIATION, properly,” says Haddow. explains Haddow. VISIT AMERICANKRATOM.ORG.
STORY by O’HARA SHIPE @SHIPESHOTS/LEAF NATION
