Kratom, a leaf-based drug from Southeast Asia now sold widely in U.S. gas stations and online, is drawing intense scrutiny from addiction specialists and regulators. Once used by laborers as a mild stimulant, it is now marketed for pain, anxiety, and opioid withdrawal—even as evidence of addiction, toxicity, and deaths mounts.
At low doses, kratom can act like a stimulant; at higher doses, it behaves more like an opioid, with risks of dependence and withdrawal. Physicians report patients relapsing into opioid use disorder after turning to kratom as a “natural” aid. Yet some experts argue kratom tea, in traditional leaf form, may have a limited harm-reduction role and could help guide development of safer pain medicines.
Researchers and clinicians increasingly converge on one point: Unregulated, concentrated extracts pose the greatest danger, underscoring calls for tighter labeling and manufacturing standards rather than an outright ban. Read the original analysis at Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/addiction-outlook/202407/what-we-know-about-kratom.
