What’s labeled as “FDA Approved” should really read “Big Pharma’ Bought and Paid For”!

“Probably the most important difference between kratom and other opioids, however, is the risk of overdose. While a record-high 28,647 Americans died of opioid-involved (typically multi-drug) overdose in 2014, according to the CDC, even on their own, opioids can kill. In contrast, the few reported kratom-linked deaths have all involved multiple drugs.

Moreover, even the kratom mixture deaths don’t kill via cessation of breathing, which is a hallmark of opioid overdose. “Direct kratom overdoses from the life-threatening respiratory depression that usually occurs with opioid overdoses have not been reported,” says Oliver Grundmann, clinical associate professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Florida, who recently reviewed the research on kratom for the International Journal of Legal Medicine.

That’s probably because kratom tea and powders are both bulky and frequently nausea-inducing, particularly in high doses—so it would be physically difficult for most people to actually keep enough down to be dangerous. And given its lengthy history of medicinal use in Asian countries, if there was a significant risk from acute overdose, it should have been reported by now.”