Ask HN: Thoughts on Kratom?
I've been researching a lot on Kratom recently, both the positives and the negatives. I see a lot on HN about entheogens, curious if anyone has any experience positive or negative with Kratom?
There've been a couple pushes to get Kratom designated as Schedule 1 by the DEA over the past decade, and -- in a rare episode of democratic counter-pressure actually succeeding -- these efforts have, so far, been thwarted [ref: https://www.mintpressnews.com/dea-delays-unprecedented-ban-o...]
Despite having a very minor risk-profile -- as well as having significant public health utility as a means to alleviate the opiate epidemic -- a number of states have criminalized it.
The campaign against Kratom is very clearly distorted by pharmaceutical interests, who view Kratom as a low-cost competitor to their products.
There've been many reports over the years which illustrate this dynamic, but one of the most damning was unearthed recently through FOIA requests, revealing that the FDA was deliberately misrepresenting data on death/injury [Ref: https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/foia-docs-show-fdas-...]
It is worth noting that, while not technically an opiate, it does bind with the opioid receptors in the brain. So there is a risk of physical dependency and if withdrawal is induced with something like Naltrexone the symptoms are severe enough to register on the COWS scale.
Overall Kratom is very benign, and has been used in south asian cultures for thousands of years.
I've taken it at times as a focus-aid, usually paired with coding, and found it generally agreeable. However I wouldn't suggest making a habit of it, without compelling medical reason.
Given it hardly does any serious harm hard to undo and doesn't seem too popular (I seriously doubt it will ever reach anything comparable to e.g. marijuana, let alone alcohol or tobacco in popularity) I stand against scheduling it.
Further information about its safety: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health...
Also check the lab tests for the powders, it’s a lot of weird things in the soil most grows in.
It can stave off withdrawal, cravings, etc. And it can get you high and be it's own addiction. It's still an opiate, and can still be very potent(in high enough doses). The main limiting factor is the pure volume you'd need to ingest to get the potency of a fraction of a gram of other opiates
Got bald and can't grow facial hairs now.
Better to take precipitation meds than self medication for ADHD
I did not find it to be addictive, but reactions to substances like this are highly variable across the population. I'm curious if there have been any controlled studies on its usage and effects.