Recovering addicts warn kratom is poorly marketed, dangerous

PHOENIX (InvestigateTV) — Drive around town and shops offering kratom products seem to be as prevalent as McDonald’s these days. Instead of getting a Happy Meal, recovering addicts say people are entering a world that’s hard to escape.

Aaron, a recovering addict, said the popular supplement caught him off guard. “It just grabbed me and I was hooked,” he said.

“It changed from being like this is like some sort of supplement that I am taking, you know what I mean, to OK, this feels like I’m doing drugs now,” said a man who wished to remain anonymous.

Aaron found himself dependent on alcohol and marijuana in his teens.

Aaron and the anonymous man went to rehab and were living a life of sobriety until kratom made its way into their lives.

“I have a problem. Like a huge problem and would probably spend $100 a day on it because it’s like a bottomless pit,” the man said.

“I thought it was just something that I could take once a day if I wanted some energy,” Aaron said.

Natural kratom is nothing new. It stems from a tree in Southeast Asia.

The leaves are often used in teas or chewed on and have been known to help with pain management, anxiety, and depression, which makes it an herbal option for those who may be trying to wean off of opiates.

One of the main components is 7-hydroxymitragynine, commonly known as 7-OH, and can be extremely potent.

Dr. Dan Quan is a medical toxicologist and said there are times when 7-OH can be just as powerful as morphine.

“They’re not equal but being in this concentrated form of 7-hydroxymitrogynine, it is very potent and you can buy it at a convenience store or over the counter,” Dr. Dan Quan said.

Dr. Quan explained that 7-OH has the potency to hit the same brain receptor as opiates, but it’s the marketing that makes it far different. It’s stacked on store shelves and offers quick relief in colorful packaging or bottles that promise a state of relaxation.

“Withdrawal also appears to be just like opioid withdrawal. They have shakes, chills, nausea, vomiting, that sort of thing,” Dr. Quan said.

Sead Hasik has seen those withdrawals firsthand. He works in recovery and has watched more people come in with kratom addictions.

He said the same detox medications used for kratom addictions are the same that are used to treat heroin and fentanyl. In 2016, the DEA pushed to put kratom on a specialized substance lis,t which would make it an illegal product.

It is currently in six states, but the 2016 initiative was met with pushback by the American Kratom Association and more than 50 congressional members. Two of which represented Arizona, Rep. Paul Gosar and Matt Salmon, who said there wasn’t sufficient data to show it was an endangerment.

Fast forward to this past June and the American Kratom Association and the federal government are now working together.

“We have a history of being asleep behind the wheel. For the sake of our nation’s children, let’s not get caught flat-footed again,” Marty Makary, FDA Commissioner, said.

This time, the primary focus is on regulating 7-OH and not kratom as a whole.

Makary agrees with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and is working to make it a controlled substance.

Arizona’s Family contacted the FDA to get an update on the process of putting 7-OH on the controlled substance list. However, the government shutdown is hindering a response.

As for how the substance is easily available for purchase in Arizona, companies have found a grey area to sell it as it is not monitored by the FDA.

Makers of Feel Free disagree with the assessment of 7-OH in their products.

“Our products contain trace amounts of 7-OH that occur naturally during the traditional drying process — levels that are dramatically different from the concentrated synthetic products now under FDA scrutiny,” Cameron Korehbandi, CEO of Botanic Tonics, said in an email to Arizona’s Family. “The difference between natural leaf kratom and synthetic 7-OH concentrates represents a night and day distinction in terms of safety and consumer protection.”

A representative with the American Kratom Association said he is hoping to see 7-OH put on a temporary scheduled list, which would essentially expedite the process of getting it off the store shelves.

As for Aaron and the anonymous user, they are both living a life of sobriety.

Aaron now has a good job and is in school to become a counselor.

His message to others is to learn from his experience and question what you’re buying.

“It is something that caught me off guard and I feel like it can really catch other people off guard as well,” Aaron said.