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This hot, plant-derived substance is big with partiers, former opioid addicts and, apparently, soccer moms.
“A third of our clientele are looking for a caffeine-free alternative to get them through their day,” licensed kratom business owner Faith Day recently told Wired. “I’m talking soccer moms.”
Kratom is a tropical tree that has been used as a holistic remedy in Southeast Asia for centuries and, in the last 15 or so years, has also been widely adopted as a mostly legal curative in the US and Europe. The drug — possession of which is only criminalized in six states and for members of the US Army and Navy — is used as everything from a caffeine alternative to a chronic pain reliever, a substitute for those quitting opioids or alcohol, and a nootropic (or cognitive “smart drug”) credited with a slew of health benefits.
While the natural substance is often associated with former heroin users and partying, Day says a significant percentage of customers at her Oregon shop, Clean Kratom Portland, are, in fact, mothers who prefer the herb to their daily cup of joe.
That may come as a surprise to those who know about kratom from headlines linking it to serious, sometimes lethal, side effects and overdoses, as well as dealers being busted for illegally peddling it. But Day believes the fatalities are not because of kratom, but because of what black-market sellers are cutting it with.
“I’ve been very vocal that I think kratom should be regulated like marijuana,” said Day, who is among only two Department of Agriculture-licensed kratom businesses in the US. She added that the fact that versions of a Kratom Consumer Protection Act have been passed in three states is proof the substance needs regulation, not to be banned.
“If it was as dangerous as the media says, I don’t think that would be happening,” Day said. “Nobody’s passing a heroin consumer protection bill.”
Some scientists approximate that the US has somewhere in the ballpark of 10 million to 15 million kratom users.
“When millions of people say they’re using kratom, and it’s helping them with conditions that are really difficult to help people with, we have to listen,” University of Rochester therapeutic drug-use researcher Marc Swogger told Wired. “I’m not convinced that a single death has been the result of kratom.”
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