5 Things You Need to Know About The Kratom Plant

Kratom Plant

It’s amazing what people can discover from just a plant; so many people around the world use this for many different purposes. Although the plant might be illegal or banned in some countries, it’s still being sought after and used as a remedy for various ailments. Take a look below at what makes the Kratom plant so useful for some but controversial for others.

1- What Is This Plant?

The Kratom plant is the common name for Mitragyna speciosa, a tree that grows in the jungles of southeast Asia. Specifically, it grows in its natural habitat in Malaysia, central and southern Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. It’s known for its hanging clusters of deep yellow flowers, and the trees can reach up to 42 feet in height. It has numerous uses in folk medicine to help relieve pain and it’s considered to be one of the strongest analgesic remedies. Some people have even used kratom for suboxone withdrawal, it’s commonly used to help people that are trying to quit using other drugs too. The psychoactive properties of the leaves can be crushed and smoked, brewed into a tea or put into capsules to be swallowed like a normal pill. People started to know about this plant in the early 2000s and it spread like wildfire across the world.

2- What’s So Special About It?

It’s shocking that one plant can do so much. It can be used as a strong pain reliever, and studies have shown that it can also help with social anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It’s also proven that it can be used to help with different withdrawal symptoms, like opiates for example. Studies have shown a large amount of people with huge success rates in discontinuing opiates, researchers even suggested that its properties could have the therapeutic potential as an opiate substitute.

3- Are There Negative Side Effects?

Like anything in this world, there must be bad outcomes if it’s used too much. It’s reported that the plant can cause people to get high, experiencing euphoria and a sense of well-being which leads to hallucinations. Iit can also cause sweating and dry mouth, so you will need to be constantly hydrated. Some people have reported feeling nausea and itchiness from it. There are a few cases where people have experienced loss of appetite and constipation from using the drug. 

4- Is It Safe?

For the most part, it shows negligible toxicity, even at high doses. There have been no reports of any fatality cases linked to the plant alone so far, but it doesn’t make it 100% safe. It’s reported to have very bad outcomes if it’s used with other drugs, elevated side effects occur and even reports of seizures are evident when there are different drug combinations. There has been numerous addiction reports when it comes to using it, high doses constantly for many years can lead to liver problems as well. So even though it’s used for good reasons, it can be very bad in the long run when used too much.

5- What Are The Legality Issues?

There have been a lot of decisions and laws implemented against this plant in many countries that caused an outcry. Some places have placed bans and others have outright made it illegal to use Kratom all together. Most states in the US, including Tennessee, Indiana, Washington DC, Wisconsin, Alabama, Vermont, and Arkansas have banned it while the rest have legislation decisions pending. It’s also illegal in Australia, The UK, New Zealand and other countries. Although It’s controlled by different measures in a number of countries like Denmark, Sweden, and Poland. So clearly there are mixed opinions all around the world about this drug.

Be Responsible

This plant has made a lot of governments concerned and defensive, and this is why it’s important that before you consider using Kratom, you are well aware if it is banned.  Whether it has good properties and uses or not, if something starts getting banned or criminalized then you must be cautious. Most importantly, it’s always in top priority to be extremely well informed on what kind of effect it can have on you and your well being and it’s advisable to always consult a health care provider to get all the information you need.



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