France bans the purchase and possession of kratom, an Asian psychotropic drug

It is now prohibited in France to buy or possess kratom, a psychotropic plant native to Southeast Asia, “taking into account the serious health risks” linked to its consumption, announced the Medicines Agency ( ANSM).

Substitute for opiates

This plant and its compounds “were added to the list of psychotropic substances” by a decree published on January 1. “As a result, their possession and purchase are now prohibited,” said the National Medicines Safety Agency.

Consumed in infusion or powder, the leaves of this tree are the subject of an increasing consumption in the United States and in Canada, where its promoters assure that they constitute a good substitute for opiates and a remedy for anxiety. According to the American Kratom Association, which represents users, about five million Americans consume extracts from these leaves.

Increased poisoning

If the phenomenon is more marginal in France, an addictovigilance survey over the period 2007-2018 reported “an increase in the number of intoxications in recent years (14 cases since 2016)” and “a death” in a context “of polyconsumption of drugs and medicines “, underlines the National agency for the safety of medicines.

The investigation has shown that the consumption of kratom can be “causing dependence, withdrawal syndrome, anorexia, weight loss, psychotic decompensation and toxic hepatitis”, details the drug gendarme.

100 deaths in the United States

The psychoactive effects of this plant, whose scientific name is Mitragyna speciosa, “are due to the many alkaloids it contains, in particular mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, active on the opioid receptors (morphine receptors)” present in organization, explains the ANSM.

In the United States, where kratom is legal in 43 states, the health authorities recorded in April nearly 100 deaths related to its consumption between July 2016 and December 2017. The health agency FDA published an alert concerning its importation in 2012, which means that deliveries arriving in the United States can be confiscated, and issued a health warning in 2017.

Most customers get their supplies from websites, social networks like Facebook and Instagram or from the Chinese marketplace Alibaba. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has detected the substance in 31 countries.