HISTORY OF KRATOM: WHERE IT CAME FROM & WHERE IT IS GOING
THE RICH HISTORY OF KRATOM
It has been called the miracle healing herb and with good reason. Mitragyna speciosa, the kratom plant, has been used as a folk medicine for hundreds of years in the native regions in which it is grown.
Mitragyna speciosa Korth or Kratom, as it is better known among Western noot nuts, is a tropical evergreen tree from the coffee family. It is indigenous to the tropical climates of places like Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Myanmar, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea.
Kratom grew in popularity in Southeast Asia where peasant workers would chew on the leaves to keep them energized while working hard labor jobs and to relieve the pain associated with long hours of standing and exerting themselves.
On average, it is estimated that 70% of the male population in these regions consume 10 and 60 leaves on a daily basis. The leaves are chewed on but normally not swallowed.
Despite its relative ubiquity and strong reputation in these native countries, it wasn't until recently that the Western world heard much about it. Widespread interest didn't occur until late-2004 and didn't spike until April of 2005.
The first mention of Kratom in English literature occurred in the early 19th century when botanist Pieter Willem Korthals was working at the East India Company.
Another reference was a person named Low who detailed the plant in 1836, discussing how peasant workers used it as an opium alternative when opium was in short supply. This speaks to the effects that kratom can offer the user.
In 1895, E.M. Holmes also compared kratom to opium, writing that it was a viable substitute and cheaper than opium to boot.
A gentleman by the name of I.H. Burkhill studied the psychoactive properties of kratom in the 1930's, noting its potential for treating diarrhea and fever. Burkhill also thought it was a viable ingredient for ointments. This theory was later confirmed by Dr. Sangun Suwanlert in a 1970's study.
Kratom has become the prime alternative to coffee for many people due to its stimulant effects. Unlike coffee which can leave a person feeling jittery, kratom provides a smooth speediness that energizes without the unwanted aftereffect.
But kratom is an enigmatic substance, one that the average person probably hasn't heard of. Unlike cannabis and LSD, kratom does not have a romanticized image. Thanks to growing interest, however, kratom is slowly garnering the reputation it deserves.
BANNED SUBSTANCE
In spite of its rich history and known benefits for pain relief, sleep improvement and more, kratom has come under fire in recent years. It was initially banned in Thailand in 1943 not because of any detrimental effect it might have had on people but, rather, because the government was in the opium trade and kratom's cheap often free nature threatened their industry.
On January 7th of that 1943, a member of Thailand's House of Representatives held a special meeting to address the “scourge” that was kratom. He had this to say: “Taxes for opium are high while kratom is currently not being taxed. With the increase of those taxes, people are starting to use kratom instead and this has had a visible impact on our government’s income.”
In recent years, Thailand reversed this ban and classified kratom as a Schedule 2 drug, a move that caused the rest of the world to take notice. Some countries have started to scrutinize this amazing compound because of the wealth of misinformation online, particularly the falsehood that it is banned in Thailand.
For a time, in the early 2000's, people were hoodwinked into purchasing “fake kratom” because of the Thai Narcotics Act. This fake kratom was derived from Mitragyna speciosa's sister plant, Mitragyna javanica, which contained an alkaloid that had yet to be pharmacologically tested.
In the US, kratom has been banned in several states and legislation is pending in a number of other states. Fortunately for those curious about kratom, if you live in Canada, Australia or the UK, kratom is still legal in most regions.
The laws are changing every day and there's no telling how long it might be before kratom is outlawed in your area so now is the time to take advantage of this incredible substance's wealth of health and wellness benefits.
KRATOM FOR PAIN RELIEF
The analgesic quality of kratom is one of the things people like about it the most, but its efficacy as a pain reliever depends largely upon the varieties and alkaloids present in disparate kratom strains. There is much debate over which strain is the best kratom strain for pain relief.
An expert on Kratom says that starting with the Sunda Islands is the very first step in finding the best Kratom strain for pain management. The areas within the Sunda Islands (in Indonesia) are the best areas for authentic and potent Kratom.
These areas tend to naturally develop the best blend of alkaloids that are proven and effective kratom strains for pain management. However, Kratom strains found in these regions could also become more sedating.
Aside from Indonesian strains, Malaysian Kratom strains are also considered effective pain relievers with few sedative effects.
As we covered in the past, the Borneo, Bali, and Indo strains are considered to be some of the most effective strains for pain management. These strains contain large amounts of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine alkaloids which are ideal for pain relief.
These are strains that are considered more sedating and more suited to pain relief needs. The only drawback to these strains is their lack of stimulating alkaloids, but if you're only using kratom for its analgesic properties then these are the strains for you.
THE FUTURE OF KRATOM
Kratom's fate is largely up in the air at this point. There have been tons of reports calling kratom dangerous and many bureaucrats are calling for it to be outlawed in American states and elsewhere.
The irony of this is clear: As of 2012, there had been 20,000 US deaths from the use of prescription drugs that had been approved by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration). Documented deaths from kratom use, on the other hand, are damn near impossible to find.
Fortunately, there are people fighting to keep kratom legal and readily available to the public. The kratom community have been making concerted efforts to reason with the politicians who seek to outlaw it.
The BEA (Botanical Education Alliance) have presented the DEA with documentation backing up kratom's safety and effectiveness. They have convinced the DEA to seek the help of the FDA in making a determination about kratom.
With the help of organizations like them, an open dialogue about kratom is being fostered. Kratom's legality was even the subject of an article on PBS.org.
Thanks to the Internet, folks who are curious about kratom can find plenty of detailed information about the wealth of benefits it possesses and tons of user experiences that will help you to determine whether kratom use is right for you.
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