In the final installment of a two part series on kratom, a plant-based drug, KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot news looks at the growth in its use and the debate over whether it’s helpful or harmful.
Kratom has been banned in Arkansas since Feb. 1, 2016. It is legally available in most states, including Missouri. In Arkansas, kratom is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, defined as having a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use and as not being safe to use even under medical supervision.
This puts kratom in the same classification as heroin and LSD.
Fourteenth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney David Ethredge says the Arkansas legislature took action to ban kratom.
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The federal government has not declared kratom a controlled substance, but the Drug Enforcement Agency has labeled it a “drug of concern.” Washington did attempt to add kratom to the federal list of Schedule I drugs in 2016 but backed off in the face of a public outcry against the action, including a large demonstration in front of the White House.
In addition, more than 142,000 people signed a petition asking federal agencies to reconsider making kratom a controlled substance.
A former DEA official says claiming kratom is harmless “is shortsighted and dangerous.” He says the substance was an opioid with “novel risks because of the variability in how kratom is formulated, sold and used.”
All states have controlled substance regulations, basically mirroring those at the federal level. States are also empowered to impose stricter or additional requirements, which Arkansas officials did with the ban.
Arkansas has seen a number of arrests involving substantial amounts of kratom.
According to media reports, police jailed several people when a home in Bella Vista was raided in 2017, and nearly 8 pounds of kratom were seized. The operators of a day care in Siloam Springs were picked up last year for possessing several drugs, including kratom.
The arrests were made in Northwest Arkansas adjacent to Oklahoma where kratom is legal.
Many people are convinced kratom helps them deal with pain and other health problems. The devotion to the product runs so deep some people have moved out of states such as Arkansas which ban kratom to one where it is legal.
The Huffington Post published several of their stories last year.
One woman reported moving from Arkansas to Mississippi so she could legally obtain kratom, and another person told of taking out a mailbox in another state to receive shipments of the illegal drug purchased online. She says she was always concerned she would get picked up after crossing back into Arkansas.
Has kratom been linked to deaths in the United States? It’s hard to get a firm fix on a number. An official at the Centers for Disease Control found kratom as a cause of death in 91 of the more than 27,000 overdose deaths in 27 states from July 2016 to December 2017.
The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) says most kratom deaths have involved other substances including opioids — making it difficult to pin the blame exclusively on kratom.
The NIDA is conducting two studies to better understand how kratom works. In addition, scientists want to find answers to the question of why it’s been used without substantial harm for hundreds of years in Southeast Asia, while being linked to a variety of harmful effects in western countries?
Ethredge explains what parents should look for if concerned their children might be using kratom.
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So, is kratom a blessing for those who use it to ease pain, control anxiety and depression, and even help alleviate withdrawal symptoms after quitting narcotic pain relievers?
Or, is the plant-based drug a curse — a substance with no valid medical use and the potential for addiction? The question continues to be hotly debated. But, debate or not, kratom is a Schedule I controlled substance in Arkansas, and possessing and using it is a felony.
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