Is Kratom a Heroin Like Drug?

8 years ago
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Data in the above chart is from the CDC. Click on the above graphic to be taken to the CDC website
Now, contrast that with what is known about kratom and respiratory depression.

Direct kratom overdoses from the life threatening respiratory depression that usually occurs with opioid overdoses have not been reported. – Oliver Grundmann, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry University of Florida via Vice’s article by Maia Svalavitz

Maia Svalavitz recently wrote an engaging piece about kratom last month just after New York, Florida and Georgia introduced legislation that proposed to ban kratom and make it a controlled substance. This would deny thousands of people access to a botanical that has been used for hundreds of years in Thailand without any fatalities from kratom toxicity. The only known cases where kratom has been alleged to be a the cause of death, other substances were found in the system of the person – usually an already controlled substance.

So, if all these controlled substances are causing 44 people a day to die in the United States, why are legislators trying to turn kratom into one? Banning another substance will not solve the addiction problem for those who struggle with Substance Use Disorders.

It seems as if America has fallen into an “Addiction Treatment Trap” according to Dr. Stanton Peele, whose work in the field of addiction challenges the mainstream theories of that are currently the accepted norm.

Peele recently stated in an article on The Fix that:

“Opioid deaths, along with the heroin epidemic—begin with painkillers. Not only are most deaths related to painkillers, but the standard heroin addiction narrative is that a person became addicted to a painkiller, like OxyContin, and then moved on to heroin because it was cheaper and easier to obtain, given restrictions placed on painkillers. Of course, given that opioid painkillers have been around for a century (oxycodone was synthesized in 1916), why do we have our current epidemic? Is it because we don’t have enough addiction treatment programs?

WHY ARE CHILDREN BEING PRESCRIBED A DRUG THAT IS NEARLY IDENTICAL TO CRYSTAL METH?

Let’s step back for a moment and evaluate what is happening here in America. The politicians in Alabama claim that they are worried about our children becoming addicted to kratom. Statistically speaking, only 5% of the world’s population have an addiction problem. Since the population in Alabama is estimated to be around 4,843,307 and the world’s population is estimated to be 7.125 billion, Alabama only accounts for 0.0006797624% of the World’s Population. As you can see from these numbers, the chances of anyone becoming addicted to anything is very, very low. The War on Drugs is based on this idea that there are many, many more people with addictions than there really are. I AM NOT attempting to downplay the problem of addiction for those who struggle with it. I am simply pointing out that the War on Drugs is a miserable failure and now public policy makers are attempting to do the same thing to kratom that they did with marijuana. The War on Drugs that has been waged for nearly a century has not solved the problem of addiction. And yet every year congress bans another substance.

adderall basically crystal meth
Source: True Activist
The government has been denying that marijuana has any medicinal since the days of Harry Anslinger in the 30’s. And now they are doing the same thing to kratom. The FDA and DEA will boldly say things that have no basis in reality. From the food we eat to the medicines we are prescribed, we are systematically being controlled through media bias and flat out lies.

For example, out of one side of their mouth, the government tells us meth is bad for you (which it is) but then the FDA goes on to approve drugs like Adderall, which is basically just Crystal Meth, only slightly different in molecular structure.

carl-hart-needle-park
Kratom 

Is Kratom a Heroin Like Drug?

  Heather Culpepper  2 Comments , , , 

One of the problems with taking opioid medication for chronic pain is the possibility of overdose. According to the CDC there are 44 deaths every single day that are a result of prescription opioid overdose.

opioid overdose
Data in the above chart is from the CDC. Click on the above graphic to be taken to the CDC website

Now, contrast that with what is known about kratom and respiratory depression.

Direct kratom overdoses from the life threatening respiratory depression that usually occurs with opioid overdoses have not been reported. – Oliver Grundmann, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry University of Florida via Vice’s article by Maia Svalavitz

Maia Svalavitz recently wrote an engaging piece about kratom last month just after New York, Florida and Georgia introduced legislation that proposed to ban kratom and make it a controlled substance. This would deny thousands of people access to a botanical that has been used for hundreds of years in Thailand without any fatalities from kratom toxicity. The only known cases where kratom has been alleged to be a the cause of death, other substances were found in the system of the person – usually an already controlled substance.

So, if all these controlled substances are causing 44 people a day to die in the United States, why are legislators trying to turn kratom into one? Banning another substance will not solve the addiction problem for those who struggle with Substance Use Disorders.

It seems as if America has fallen into an “Addiction Treatment Trap” according to Dr. Stanton Peele, whose work in the field of addiction challenges the mainstream theories of that are currently the accepted norm.

Peele recently stated in an article on The Fix that:

“Opioid deaths, along with the heroin epidemic—begin with painkillers. Not only are most deaths related to painkillers, but the standard heroin addiction narrative is that a person became addicted to a painkiller, like OxyContin, and then moved on to heroin because it was cheaper and easier to obtain, given restrictions placed on painkillers. Of course, given that opioid painkillers have been around for a century (oxycodone was synthesized in 1916), why do we have our current epidemic? Is it because we don’t have enough addiction treatment programs?

WHY ARE CHILDREN BEING PRESCRIBED A DRUG THAT IS NEARLY IDENTICAL TO CRYSTAL METH?

Let’s step back for a moment and evaluate what is happening here in America. The politicians in Alabama claim that they are worried about our children becoming addicted to kratom. Statistically speaking, only 5% of the world’s population have an addiction problem. Since the population in Alabama is estimated to be around 4,843,307 and the world’s population is estimated to be 7.125 billion, Alabama only accounts for 0.0006797624% of the World’s Population. As you can see from these numbers, the chances of anyone becoming addicted to anything is very, very low. The War on Drugs is based on this idea that there are many, many more people with addictions than there really are. I AM NOT attempting to downplay the problem of addiction for those who struggle with it. I am simply pointing out that the War on Drugs is a miserable failure and now public policy makers are attempting to do the same thing to kratom that they did with marijuana. The War on Drugs that has been waged for nearly a century has not solved the problem of addiction. And yet every year congress bans another substance.

adderall basically crystal meth
Source: True Activist

The government has been denying that marijuana has any medicinal since the days of Harry Anslinger in the 30’s. And now they are doing the same thing to kratom. The FDA and DEA will boldly say things that have no basis in reality. From the food we eat to the medicines we are prescribed, we are systematically being controlled through media bias and flat out lies.

For example, out of one side of their mouth, the government tells us meth is bad for you (which it is) but then the FDA goes on to approve drugs like Adderall, which is basically just Crystal Meth, only slightly different in molecular structure.

 

meth-adderall

Big Pharma’s Adderall Is Basically Crystal Meth, Says Dr. Carl Hart

According to a recent story on True Activist, “Dr. Carl Hart went on All In with Chris Hayes to discuss crystal meth and made a statement that would surprise many of the mainstream viewers who were tuned into the show, that it is basically the same thing as Adderall, something that is entirely legal and is prescribed to millions. When Hayes replied back that this couldn’t have been true, Hart mentioned a number of studies where the drugs were actually compared and found to be nearly identical.”

 As you can clearly see in the above photo, the chemical structures are nearly identical. Now compare that to what politicians are saying in Alabama. They are claiming that kratom is “a heroin like drug.” I ask you to look at the chemical structures of both Mitrgynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine and compare them to Morphine and Heroin. Do they look the same to you? I didn’t think so.
kratom versus heroin

Now, compare the chemical structures found in kratom in the picture above to the chemical structure of heroin, morphine and oxycodone. See how all three opiates below are nearly identical?
heroin morphine oxycodone

So, here you have an example of how two prescription drugs are nearly identical to heroin. Yet the molecular structure of the two most important and abundant alkaloids in kratom is vastly different from all three.

Now, if our lawmakers can’t understand these differences, why are they in charge of Drug Policy to begin with?

There is one person who is attempting to help us understand why criminalizing drugs doesn’t work. His name is Dr. Carl Hart and if you’ve never heard of him, please take a moment to visit his website at Dr. Carl Hart to learn more about what you can do to educate policy makers.

carl-hart-needle-park

The photo above is from Dr. Hart’s website and is from a previous talk he gave on the effects of Criminalizing Drug Use.

SEE THE TALK HERE: Criminalizing Drug Use

Every year this very important event brings together nearly a thousand participants from Brazil and abroad, with the aim of spreading interdisciplinary knowledge in criminal matters, providing discussion of relevant topics to an audience composed of lawyers, public defenders, prosecutors, judges, delegates from police, sociologists, psychologists, social workers, students and other professionals of law and related areas.

Source: Dr. Carl Hart

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