The ‘herbal heroin’ from Indonesia that has US drug agencies worried
To narcotics agencies, kratom is a mind-altering drug on a par with heroin. But to fans it is a herbal panacea – and to Indonesian villagers, a magic money tree.
To American and Indonesian narcotics agencies, kratom is a mind-altering drug on a par with heroin
But to fans it is a herbal panacea – and to Indonesian villagers, a magic money tree
Kratom , a tropical tree leaf increasingly being used worldwide as a painkiller and substitute to opioids, may be coming under greater scrutiny in the West, but in Tuana Tuha, an inland village in eastern Borneo in Indonesia, it is considered a godsend and a livelihood.
Kratom, or Mitragyna speciosa, is native to Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. Its leaves contain mind-altering compounds which affect the same brain receptors as morphine, making kratom a popular herbal medicine.
Kratom use is currently under examination in the United States, where more than 130 people die every day as a result of opioid overdoses. The US Food and Drug Administration has warned against its consumption, though it has stopped short of declaring it an illegal substance.
In Indonesia, the country’s narcotics agency wants the health ministry to classify kratom as a first-class psychotropic, like heroin and cocaine. A drug offence in this category results in a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.
“We are asking the health ministry to classify it as a first-class [illegal substance]. The danger [of kratom] is tenfold that of cocaine or marijuana,” Yunis Farida Oktoris Triana, deputy of rehabilitation at Indonesia’s National Narcotics Agency [BNN], said recently. “Our discussion is still underway.”
The American Kratom Association estimated that there were 15.6 million kratom users in the US as of June, and the industry is worth over a billion dollars.
But to fans it is a herbal panacea – and to Indonesian villagers, a magic money tree
Kratom , a tropical tree leaf increasingly being used worldwide as a painkiller and substitute to opioids, may be coming under greater scrutiny in the West, but in Tuana Tuha, an inland village in eastern Borneo in Indonesia, it is considered a godsend and a livelihood.
Kratom, or Mitragyna speciosa, is native to Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. Its leaves contain mind-altering compounds which affect the same brain receptors as morphine, making kratom a popular herbal medicine.
Kratom use is currently under examination in the United States, where more than 130 people die every day as a result of opioid overdoses. The US Food and Drug Administration has warned against its consumption, though it has stopped short of declaring it an illegal substance.
In Indonesia, the country’s narcotics agency wants the health ministry to classify kratom as a first-class psychotropic, like heroin and cocaine. A drug offence in this category results in a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.
“We are asking the health ministry to classify it as a first-class [illegal substance]. The danger [of kratom] is tenfold that of cocaine or marijuana,” Yunis Farida Oktoris Triana, deputy of rehabilitation at Indonesia’s National Narcotics Agency [BNN], said recently. “Our discussion is still underway.”
The American Kratom Association estimated that there were 15.6 million kratom users in the US as of June, and the industry is worth over a billion dollars.
