There is a store in SF dedicated to this vaguely legal drug. So I tried it.

When taken in small doses, people report feeling alert and motivated. In large quantities, kratom can have opioid-like analgesic effects. Due to a lack of approved research, many of the conversations about kratom unfortunately remain anecdotal. But that did not stop it from growing in attractiveness.

Currently, about 10 to 15 million Americans use kratom, and for the purposes of this story, I became one of them and tested a few doses of Green Maeng Da kratom, which claims to have motivating effects (more on that later).

The reputation of the substance as a natural medicine has recently been gaining strength in the US, but goes back centuries in countries such as Thailand and Indonesia. Indonesia supplies kratom leaves and powder exclusively to the USA – a situation that has led to the nebulous legality of the substance. As Thailand continues to actively debate the legalization of kratom exports, the substance is subject to a patchwork of U.S. state laws locally, while being federally classified as a nutritional supplement.

Currently, there are six states that have enacted laws against kratom (Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin), while four others (Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Georgia) have enacted patient protection.

For the remaining 40, including California, kratom remains unregulated at the state level.

This vague legal framework, combined with a murky reputation, has displaced kratom in the ranks of other major stores such as Salvia divinorum and the San Pedro Cactus. In San Francisco, for example, there is only one retail business in the city that focuses exclusively on kratom.

The Bumble Bee Botanicals website (which did not want to comment on this story) is located in the Mission District and sells about 15 different kratom strains. Beyond Bumble Bee, Twistle Thistle Apothecary also sells the fabric. In the US, there are other brick-and-mortar retailers like Bumble Bee in Denver and Portland, but the kratom culture has indeed existed for a long time thanks to smoke shops and informal testimonials traded on trusted drug forums like Erowid.

Is the scarcity of kratom an indication of its questionable safety? Well, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has so far reported more than 90 deaths related to kratom.

Although this number may seem staggering at first, it is important to note that kratom advocates strongly believe that kratom can be lethal. Instead, they argue that other substances or contaminated quantities of product are likely to be the culprit.

According to Marc T. Swogger, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center, all we really know at this point is that we need to know more.

“We know a lot about the experiences of people who use kratom,” Swagger said. ‘Across cultures, they are similar because people report pain relief, mood swings, and that the use of kratom is helpful in facilitating opioid withdrawal symptoms and reducing the intake of classic opioids such as heroin. It is therefore an agent for reducing damage. But we really need clinical trials to show if kratom has more rare and nuanced effects – both therapeutic and adverse effects. “

Suppose Swogger’s words were enough to make me feel a little nervous when I arrived at my front porch one day with a kratom care package.

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Justin Kats, the founder of Kats Botanicals, has not started making plans to be one of the leading kratom suppliers in the US. When his phone buzzed in August 2016 with news that the Drug Enforcement Agency was planning to classify the two main active ingredients kratom as Scheme I-controlled substances, he mostly thought of himself.

‘At the time,’ Kats said in a telephone interview with SFGATE, ‘I was a kratom consumer, and of course I watched it and then I started to panic. So I decided that what I really needed to do was learn how to do it right – because I do not want to stop taking it. ”

His efforts were eventually unnecessary when a petition rejecting the action quickly yielded more than 100,000 signatures. In addition, a protest in front of the White House with hundreds of kratom advocates further urged the DEA to withdraw kratom from planning planning within a few months.

Kats was grateful for the development, but the news leaves him with an interesting new problem: what did he have to do with more than 100 kilos of kratom?

Initially, he tried Kratom forums online and networked with members by offering free samples. Then there was a Facebook group, and before long, Kats Botanicals was born.

Today, the operation, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, offers a number of different kratom powder blends, in addition to other products such as shilajit – a black resin that forms under rocks in the Himalayan mountains that have known healing properties. There are also plans to sell herbs such as moringa and willow bark, but for now Kats Botanicals’ main business remains kratom.

In conversation with Kats, who provided the kratom I would soon be trying for the first time, he expressed empathy when I admitted that I was confused: how does a Maeng Da kratom differ from a Green Vein kratom, except for the color ?

“All these tribes and names you will see actually come from the same tree,” Kats explained. ‘It’s mostly the same kratom. The differences are the drying methods. ”

To get red kratom powder – known for its soothing properties – dry your kratom leaves indoors and in a bag. Do the same, but skip the bag, then you get a greenish powder that may or may not cause motivation. Or if you dry your kratom leaves indoors, but then take them outside for the last part of the process, you get a white powder, which according to Kats can work wonders for a ‘morning recovery’.

For my own initiation, I mixed Kats’ recommended dose of one teaspoon of Green Maeng Da kratom in a cup of warm water.

Warning about a possible foul odor, I feel relieved that the concoction has not tasted worse than any other natural supplement I have not used in the past. The taste of soil mixed with matcha, also showed a bitter aftertaste suitable for a substance derived from a tree in the coffee family.

It did not take long – perhaps ten minutes – to feel a slight euphoria in body and mind. It was certainly subtle, but unmistakable.

Similar to an espresso shot or a few minutes in the sun, my initial experience with kratom was that I had a good mood and a light energy for about an hour. After the time passed, I was glad that I did not discover any ‘crash’ or ‘comedown’, but rather a return to my condition before kratom.

If I tried once, would I try again? There are certainly arguments in his favor.

Apart from the pleasant experience and the highlighted properties of each unique cratom formula, the product is also impressively affordable.

Kats Botanicals sells the majority of their kratom powders at $ 5.99 for 20 grams and $ 34.99 for 250 grams. With a teaspoon equal to about 4 grams of crate powder, a single packet can seemingly last a whole while, unless one were to make a habit.

One of the issues that is central to the ongoing debate about Kratom’s place in society is the risk of becoming dependent on the substance. To be completely accurate, the debate is not really whether kratom can be habit-forming. So much was accepted. Justin Kats, for example, has no problem describing his own cratom usage as a ‘habit’. On the contrary, the question he feels should be asked whether a kratom habit is in itself a problem.

“I mean, it’s a habit for me,” Kats reasoned, “but you have to look at it: what’s better for you? There are millions of people who are in a certain place in their lives, and if they were to imagine kratom, their lives would get better. However, there are people who introduce kratom into their lives and do not experience it. In those cases, their habit does not improve their life. ”

Professor Swogger admits that there is abundant information in abundance regarding kratom, and he was quickly warned to opt for easy conclusions.

‘There are misconceptions,’ he said, ‘including that kratom is causally linked to psychosis and death. Studies have not shown this. But until better scientific evidence is available, people should not assume that kratom is completely safe. ‘

“It’s important,” Swogger continued, “kratom can cause cravings and, upon termination, withdrawal symptoms. The withdrawal associated with kratom is not as severe as classical opioids, and the majority of respondents experience no dependence. Nevertheless, that some people experience dependence is undisputed and a clear risk that should determine in choosing someone to take kratom or not. ”

Since the jury is still definitely not available, it has so far largely fallen to the individual to decide if kratom is suitable for them.

Can kratom improve my life? Maybe so! When I think about it, it’s not that hard to imagine me relying on kratom – not daily, but occasionally – both as a mood lighter and as a source for an energy outburst in the afternoon.

That said, the ghost of becoming addicted to kratom is definitely something I can not ignore. If you accept this, however, you can also point to a number of similar bargains that are already going on in our everyday lives. From coffee and kombucha to alcohol and tobacco, we are always in an internal war to define the line between “enough” and “too much”. Although such a limit may also exist for Kratom (and almost certainly), it does not mean that the baby should be watered with the funky tea.

Be careful? Absolutely. Skepticism? Understandable. But there are many things I have tried that I will definitely never do again. As of today, kratom is not one of them.

Zack Ruskin is a freelance writer in San Francisco. Email: [email protected] | Twitter: @zackruskin