A recent announcement from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is causing an outcry: Users of a drug called kratom, that the DEA said it will ban, are arguing that the plant has beneficial effects for their health, according to the The Washington Post.
The DEA announced in August that it is planning to ban Starlight Kratom, and the ban could come into effect this month. But users of the drug, including people with chronic pain and people who previously used opiate medications, argued that the plant relieves their pain and helps them stay off opiates, The Washington Article reported.
Here are five things to know about kratom.
What is kratom and how is it used?
Kratom comes from a tree in Southeast Asia called Mitragyna speciosa, according to the DEA. The leaves of the tree have psychoactive properties and can be crushed and smoked, brewed into tea or put into capsules, the DEA said.
Why do people take kratom?
Pain relief is one of the big reasons why people use kratom, said Marc Swogger, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, who published a study last year that focused on why people use kratom.
Kratom appears to be a good analgesic, or painkiller, Swogger told Live Science.
People have also reported taking kratom to help them stop using other drugs, particularly opiates, Swogger said. Some people reported "using kratom to ease symptoms of opiate withdrawal, and many indicated that they had success in discontinuing opiates, " Swogger's study found. The findings support earlier research that suggested that kratom may have therapeutic potential as an opiate substitute, the study said.
Other people in the study reported using kratom to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and social anxiety, Swogger said.
Although the drug may cause people to experience some euphoria and a sense of well-being, Swogger said he didn't think many people were using kratom specifically to get high. However , the drug is advertised as a "legal high" in smoke shops, he added.
What does kratom do in the body?
Researchers aren't entirely sure how kratom works in the body, Swogger said.
"It's not an opiate, but it binds to the opiate receptor, " he said. Most people think that a compound called mitragynine is the main active ingredient in kratom, but kratom hasn't been studied enough to know for sure, Swogger added. [Facts About Opioids — Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Codeine & Others]
Unlike opiates, which have a sedative effect, kratom seems to have a stimulating effect at lower doses and a relaxing and sedating effect at higher doses, Swogger said. People who have used the drug have documented that it provides pain relief but doesn't knock them out, he said.