User demographics, use patterns, and implications: kratom
Kratom was primarily taken orally in doses of 1−3 g (49 %), with daily use (59 %) being most common. Kratom was used for pain (91 %), anxiety (67 %), and depression (65 %), with high ratings of effectiveness.
1,144 (41 %) used kratom to stop or reduce prescription or illicit opioid use, citing decreased opioid withdrawal and craving related to kratom use, with 411 reporting >1-year continuous abstinence from opioids attributed to kratom use. Albert Garcia-Romeu, Ph.D., instructor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, stated the new survey findings “suggest that kratom doesn’t belong in the category of a Schedule I drug, because there seems to be relatively low rate of abuse potential, and there may be medical applications to explore, including as a possible treatment for pain and opioid use disorder.” “There has been a bit of fearmongering,” he adds, “because kratom is opioidlike, and because of the toll of our current opioid epidemic.”
Original Article (Science Direct):
Kratom: User demographics, use patterns, and implications for the opioid epidemic
Artwork Fair Use: Thehealingeast
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