Two states push laws to protect the market for kratom, users
With bills headed to their respective governors’ desks for approval, two states—Colorado and Missouri—are poised to become the seventh and eighth states to rein in and protect the largely unregulated market for kratom, a powerful botanical many drug addicts have turned to in their bid to stay clean.
Kratom (pronounced KRAY-tum) is derived from Mitragyna speciosa, a species of plant native to Thailand, Malaysia and southeast Asia. It contains two major psychoactive alkaloids: mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine. Pharmacologically, the alkaloids exhibit biphasic effects—at low dose, stimulant effects are realized, while high doses exhibit sedative effects.
Both alkaloids are reported to activate opioid receptors, which likely explains their use by chronic narcotics users to better manage opioid withdrawal symptoms.
