A few months ago, KX News ran a story about a local doctor’s concerns about Kratom.
It’s an herbal medication that’s sold in the US as a supplement. It is often used as a substitute for opioids to relieve pain. The story went virtually viral in the Kratom community, nationwide. For months we received daily email testimonies from users who are terrified the FDA will take it away. Here are the results of poll KX News posted following the November story:
We asked North Dakotans if you think Kratom has benefits. 96 percent said “Yes, it is useful”, and just four percent said, “No, it’s not beneficial”.
The poll received close to 400 comments from Kratom users who say it has been a ‘lifesaver’, and a substitute for opioids to treat their chronic pain.
One user commented he’s replaced 20 years of using Hydrocodone three times a day, with two teaspoons of Kratom in the morning.
We sat down with a North Dakota small business owner, who says, he wouldn’t be able to get up and go to work every day, without it.
Mike Radke suffered a back injury years ago.
He shares, “The medical facilities put me on Oxycodone. I tried that for a day and said, ‘Absolutely not’. I mean I can see how someone would be addicted to that so easily.”
He found out about Kratom about a year and a half ago and hasn’t looked back.
Radke explains, “If you’re willing to use Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, whatever it may be that makes it so you can’t drive, you can’t go to work, order this stuff. And when it comes in, throw the other stuff in the garbage.”
I reached out to a range of medical providers in Bismarck, including hospitals and pain management clinics, for a doctor that could provide some insight.
Every place I called either refused to comment or wouldn’t return my calls.
I spoke with a physician from Portland Oregon, who is very familiar with the supplement. After the initial research, back in the 90s, scientists discovered that gw501516 has plenty of potential uses in medicine. Fat loss, higher endurance, and muscle tissue gain are the most important benefits for bodybuilders. But Cardarine also affects the vascular system, liver and kidney function.
The doctor told me Kratom is an herbal plant from southeast Asia. She calls it a mild opiate, because it stimulates some of your opioid receptors, but not nearly to the degree narcotics would.
Internal Medicine Doctor Ginevra Liptan says, “We don’t see the same kind of respiratory suppression leading to overdose deaths with Kratom as we do opioids, so certainly from that perspective, it’s safer. The challenge is Kratom when combined with other things does have some deadly effects. So there have been some reports of deaths from Kratom combined with benzodiazepines, or Kratom combined with antidepressants, or antihistamines, or even over the counter cough medications.”
She believes Kratom has fewer risks associated with it than opioids, but she says it still has the potential for addiction and withdrawal.
Radke says he’s never felt addicted to Kratom. Instead, he says he often forgets to take it.
He adds, “I would say I probably forget to take it three days a week in the morning.”
Dr. Liptan explains, “You don’t see as much dependence or tolerance, or kind of addiction potential with the substances in Kratom, as you do in opioids. So there is, actually, huge therapeutic potential. Because if it was done well, I think it could be a really useful treatment for pain, for addiction, for keeping people off of opioids.”
Dr. Liptan says pain patients have little to no options if they want to avoid narcotics. But until Kratom is regulated and studies have been done about long term use, she will continue to recommend her patients against it.
She adds, “There’s a lot of kind of fly-by-night, sketchy companies that are producing the Kratom that’s currently available.”
Radke orders his online where he can do the research, and better know what he’s getting. But you can buy it right here, in North Dakota stores.
Ryan Loeb sells Kratom at his store in Bismarck.
The Tokes-R-Us Owner shares, “We actually had a few people recommend it, and now it’s just become a big thing here.”
At Tokes-R-Us, you can buy it as an extract, powder or in capsules. Loeb says he researched distributors before bringing the product into his store.
He adds, “It’s like weed, it’s just a plant. I mean people use it and there are less deaths than opiates. While we talked right now, three people probably died from overdose.”
It’s even at gas stations, which Dr. Liptan says, is nerve-wracking.
We went to several gas stations in the Bismarck-Mandan area, and the Red Carpets were the only stores we found it in.
Management wouldn’t allow us to film in the store, but we purchased Kratom capsules from the Bismarck Red Carpet, no questions asked.”
Dr. Liptan says she read that two-million Americans currently use Kratom.
She adds, “A few years ago the DEA tried to move it up to a Schedule One, meaning no medicinal use. There was a lot of backlash, and a lot of pain and addiction patients said, ‘You can’t take Kratom away from us.’ So the DEA backed off.”
Right now Kratom is only illegal in five states. In New York state, it’s legal for anyone over 18.
Many other states have tried and failed to pass legislation about its legality. New Jersey has pending legislation. In a few states, single cities have banned the supplement.
In North Dakota, it’s one hundred percent legal to buy and sell Kratom.
I mentioned earlier that those who depend on Kratom are terrified it will soon be taken away. Radke says he doesn’t know what he would do if this happens.
Dr. Liptan says she hopes pharmaceutical companies pick it up, so it can be regulated and manufactured safely for those who need it. She’s afraid if not, it will inevitably end up on the list of Schedule One drugs.
———-
You may have heard of Kratom before due to a multi-state Salmonella outbreak linked to the drug last year.
Almost 200 people in 41 states reported getting Salmonella poisoning from using Kratom, including one in North Dakota.
The outbreak started in February of 2018 and was contained by June.
The CDC reports they were unable to trace how the outbreak occurred, but that it’s not uncommon for plants to become contaminated.
There are no FDA-approved uses for Kratom. However, they do encourage more research to better understand it, including the use of kratom, combined with other drugs.
Filed under: General Problems
Oh for heaven’s sake, doesn’t ANYbody understand the difference between addiction & physical dependence? i know the wackjob zealots have been conflating the two, but seriously…
“Radke says he’s never felt addicted to Kratom.”
You don’t fail to notice if you’re an addict. It controls your life, your behavior, everything. If you can’t get your fix, you steal money from a store or a relative or run around selling other peoples’ stuff. Addiction ruins your life & the lives of those around you.
I assume he meant he never felt DEPENDENT upon kratom. Physical dependence is where your body develops a physiological expectation of a substance it gets regularly. I’d say most of the country is physically dependent upon caffeine. They can’t start their day or their brains without it, & when they stop drinking coffee suddenly they get headaches & feel lousy. But very, very rarely do they go out & knock off a bank to get the money for their Starbucks hit –if they do, then they’re addicted.
You develop physical dependency on many, many other things; anti-depressants, for example. If you’ve been taking Prozac for a long time & abruptly stop taking it, you can have withdrawal symptoms from the annoying to the fatal: just some are irritability, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, nightmares, headache, & worse. But you don’t hear nut cases screaming to have Prozac banned from the universe or people on it running out & holding up liquor stores to get more.
Despite the assertions of venal extremist morons like Kolodny & Ballentyne, there is a HUGE difference between addiction & physical dependency. Chronic pain patients in particular must understand this. And every medical professional, news outlet, & any other person who says they’re is no difference is lying at a criminal level or delusional.
As for kratom, tried it extensively. Didn’t do diddly, except (the last time) make me so incredibly sick I literally thought I was dying (I assume it was tainted). I’d be all for someone reliable doing some kind of research & monitoring of it, just for the safety aspect. Though who’s reliable enough, I have no idea…the FDA & CDC sure haven’t impressed me with their ability to hang onto the idea that facts are important. I have met people who say (like CBD) it does help them. I’m glad for them.
You are 100% correct.
I took MS COTIN and 15mg roxies for pain. The last time I needed pain meds for chronic pain was seven years ago. When I was no longer in pain, I weaned off alone with no help. No I couldn’t stop cold turkey but over a period o f 6-8 weeks.
I am on pain meds now but it is for acute pain, I hope. I have no craving when I don’t have the meds. The only thing I have is the return of the pain. I alternate the medicine and kratom with at least a six hour space between doses.
I am also on a drug called lamotrigine for seizures. If I suddenly had to stop taking it, it would have to be done in the hospital. I’m sure not addicted to the stuff but I am dependent on it. It is the same with steroids. It is necessary to wean. I wish more people knew the difference between addiction and dependence.
My only issue with this article was with the guy that talked about people becoming addicted to opiates so easily. Most, 98-99%, of pain patients have no problem with addiction.
People are killing themselves every day when they lose their medicine not because they are addicted but because their pain is so bad.
Kratom is great. I use it frequently for pain but it doesn’t work for everyone.
There are legitimate reasons for opiates.
The addiction problem in this country is from illegal drugs, not prescribed medication for people in pain. It’s a shame that so many buy into the government’s lies.
Margie…100% … It’s literally hard to believe the most innocent and vulnerable people in our country are paying for the crimes and mistakes of others, but it’s sadly true. Healthy people have no idea unless they know someone who’s been the victim of what the government is doing right now to legitimate patients suffering with permanent injuries and painful diseases for which there are no cures. These medications, along with other treatments help these people live halfway normal lives. Now? Doctors are being forced to adhere to an arbitrary mg dosage amount when it comes to pain medications, whether its good medical treatment for them or not. The pharmacies and insurance companies have jumped right on board with this very ill thought out, ill conceived, dangerous and inhumane policy that was supposed to have been a simple recommendation, and still is, but is being treated as if it’s the law by all medical entities. Imagine diabetic patients only getting a tiny amount of insulin, across the board, whether they need more or not to control their glucose levels. Imagine any group of people needing needing medication/s in this country and being held to an arbitrary dosage amount, whether it’s positively therapeutic or not. Seems ludicrous right?? Well, this is exactly what has happened to people needing pain medications since the CDC’s 2016 90 MME “recommendation”. It’s so horrific to think millions of people are suffering needlessly because of something our government has instituted, but again, it’s true. So so sad and infuriating because the powers that be know as well as we do that legitimate pain medication is not the reason for overdose deaths. Doctors and their patients are the easy targets for them to use as the scapegoats though in this “war against drugs”. Pathetic and immoral….