Kratom root: What we should know (Updated 2023)
Perhaps you are here because Kratom is quite new to you and you want to know about Kratom root. Before thoroughly discovering its effects and usage, we will give you a brief history of this unique plant, kratom.
Kratom root
Mitragyna Speciosa (Kratom), is a native tree of Southeast Asia. It is commonly grown in Thailand and Indonesia. The tree grows naturally and can be more than 9 meters high. Kratom trees prefer a hot and humid environment, with rich nutrients in the soil, in areas where winters are not too cold.
Dutch botanist Peter Willem Korthals is the one who identified and classified this plant. His article ‘Observations de Nauclais Indicis’ is the first official document about the species Mitragyna Speciosa.
Then a British surgeon, George Darby Haviland confirmed Peter Willem’s documents on kratom. However, of course, those are only official discoveries in Western. Eastern people have known kratom for hundreds of years.
The first purpose of using Kratom
The unique quintessence in Kratom leaves is a variety of alkaloids that is medically useful.
Kratom’s original home is in Thailand. Many workers in the field have used it for hundreds of years. It is like the way modern white collars enjoy coffee and tea every morning. Farmers who had to wake up early in the morning discovered that Kratom can keep them awake during the long 12-16 hours of work.
Furthermore, it grows naturally throughout Southeast Asia, so it is plentiful, inexpensive, and efficient. Kratom tea quickly became one of the most popular beverages across the working class of Southeast Asia. For a long time, it was a part of workers’ cultures and deeply embedded in their traditions and customs.
You may want to learn more about 7 common questions about Kratom
A little about Kratom’s history
In the early 1900s, opium use in Asia, especially in China, was shaken. Addiction was rampant and had become a cash crop for the local government, filling their coffers with taxes on opium sales. The late 1930s was a tumultuous time for Siam (now Thailand). It’s when the black market has begun to reopen under the oppressive military government.
The Thai government yearns for more money to fight both domestic revolutionaries and international wars. At that time, opium sales were declining as local people found a way to quit opium addiction with Kratom.
Seeing a decline in tax revenue, a resolution was taken to make Kratom illegal just because Kratom is not taxed and it competes directly with the opium market, which is lucrative. Thus, in 1943, they released the “Kratom Act”, which in effect made Kratom illegal and has lasted until today. However, at present, the law is under consideration in Thailand to legalize the use of Kratom in the near future.
Research on Kratom
Modern research on Kratom has not been developed due to a lack of popularity in the West. However, in recent years as more people discover Kratom, research has been opened. Currently, more than 25 alkaloids have been identified in Kratom. This allows researchers to find new compounds in Kratom to fight diseases. The most distinctive indole alkaloids are mitragynine and its analogs, speciogynine, paynantheine, and speciociliatine.
While the governments fear that Kratom was too similar to opium and would lead to addiction, the users consider it as a natural remedy that can replace the need for opium addiction without side effects.
Several countries have banned Kratom outright, including Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Australia, and Malaysia. However, it is legal in most countries as tea, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, and China.
Currently, it is becoming popular in the United States as a tool in the fight against an opioid crisis that is as dangerous as the epidemic in America.
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