Sunday, November 10, 2013

Kratom for thought (George W, Bush digs it)

It may be a little old to be considered news, but we uncovered this photograph of George W. Bush planting a kratom tree with the Incumbent Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel. The image appears to have been taken in 2008, but little public record exists of the trip.

What is known is that Merkel’s government has been slowly squeezing off imports of kratom into Germany, often holding, destroying, or seizing packages belonging to citizens with serious pain conditions.

Bush visited Merkel in Germany at least two times while he was president. It is impossible to say, based on the scant information available in English, if he and Merkel knew it was kratom specifically that they were planting, or if they were just planting a tree for a photo op.

The image appears to be taken in an open field or park space. It could be a groundbreaking for botanical gardens

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Kratom Truth...A Breath of Fresh Air

Last year an article was published on Forbes.com titled "Is Kratom the New "Bath Salts" or Just an Organic Pain Reliever with Euphoric Effects?". The article was written by contributing author David DiSalvo, who generally writes articles on science, technology and culture. The article was written after the long Bath Salts controversy, which we may all remember. His article did a good job at describing Kratom but the article had numerous factual errors such as the tried and true media myth that Kratom causes hallucinations and delusions. As we all know, this is totally false, but it has been reported in the media constantly and still is today. The article had numerous other factual errors, which is not surprising considering  Mr. DiSalvo was not familiar with kratom when he wrote this articleand he seemed to have done little research into the true effects.

The article was good id that it mentioned the Kratom Association and actually mentioned the fight to protect Kratom as well. This is unique because most news articles only quote the D.E.A. or addiction specialists who want to make everyone believe that Kratom is addictive just so they can get new patients.

Earlier this year Mr. DiSalvo wrote a follow up article titled "The Kratom Experiment" where he recgonized the massive amount of reponses that he received in the aftermath of his initial article and, like a good reporter, actually decided to find out what Kratom is truly about and how Kratom truly works. His initial article received nearly 50,000 views and over 80 comments and, in response to this outpouring of response, he wanted to nget to the bottom Kratom. Initially,  Mr. DiSalvo purchached a bottle of "Lucky Kratom" brand kratom capsules which, to say the least, got a huge amount of opposition due to Lucky Kratom's reputation among Kratom fans. Lucky Kratom is, in fact, blacklisted by the Kratom Association and numerous kratom supporters voiced their opposition to DiSalvo's use of this brand.

In the beginning of April, DiSalvo wrote a 3rd and follow up article which detailed his experience with Kratom. He decided to use Kratom and the article written described his experience with using Kratom and the effects he experienced. He published the article on his own perosnal website because he was approached by three different Kratom companies (Mayan Kratom, Nutmeg Kratom and Online Kratom) who all offered him free samples for his experiement. He felt that his accepting of these samples may have been a conflict of interest because Forbes pays him for articles. In any case, he used these samples and described his experience. He choose to drink the Kratom powder with orange juice in the morning and stuck to Bali, Maeng Da and Green Thai.

DiSalvo described his effects as overall positive, similar to coffee but without the jitters or the crash. He also described a mild calming effect that he experienced from Kratom and he experienced that the effects of Kratom where much more level and longer-lasting than coffee.
Now, for the side effects? Considering that, as the media wants us to believe; Kratom is more addictive than Heroin, causes hallucinations like L.S.D., works just like Cocaine and has more side effects than all of them combined...What side effects did Mr. DiSalvo experience?
Essentially none! (He did note that he had red eyes after using a specific extract fusion but in general he noted that there were no effects worth nothing.) Really? No side effects worth nothing? How could this be? How is this possible? Hmmm. Maybe the news media are not being as honest as they claim to be.

In any case, DiSalvo noted that Kratom is a lot like good coffee, but with a longer lasting and even effect with a pleasent finish opposed to the crash one would get from coffee. He also noted that, after stopping kratom, the withdrawl was actually less severe than his withdrawl experiences from Coffee. The effects of stopping kratom were mild sluggishness which wore off in a day, opposed to stopping Kratom where he experienced "excruciating headaches" for days. Kratom "withdrawl", he says, is essentially non existant.

In conclusion, DiSalvo's article is a breath of fresh air amid the pure propaganda that we see on a weekly basis which bashes Kratom and lies about Kratom non-stop. DiSalvo concluded that he saw no reason why Kratom should be banned and also noted that if large amounts of coffee are legal to buy, which is stronger in effects than any Kratom, then why should Kratom be banned?

Indeed Mr. DiSalvo...Indeed!

The five biggest misconceptions about kratom in the media

When kratom appears in the media, it is often described in a negative way and associated with other substances that it has nothing to do with. Clearly, kratom is still relatively unknown in the western world and this seems to contribute to some general misunderstandings. But by comparing the herb to opiates, as some journalists do, or talking about abuse and addiction as though this is somehow related to kratom, the users of this gentle herb are being negatively stigmatized as well. So below we show the most frequently occurring misconceptions about kratom, that appeared in the media the last few months.  

Misconception 1: kratom is a substance of abuse.
Kratom usage rarely, if ever, leads to the situation where usage results in negative effects for the user or for his friends and family. Kratom has never been responsible for a police call, poison control center call, traffic accident, death or any other form of societal disruption. Kratom does not cause crimes. It does not cause aggressive behavior. It doesn't cause people to become impaired and lose their inhibitions. It poses precisely zero threat to society.
Kratom is also not a "street drug alternative," despite the fact that a few ignorant vendors try to market it as such. Those who do use kratom as a "legal high" or drug substitute are invariably disappointed, and likely move on to something else (although it should be noted that it poses no risk even to those who would try to use it for such purposes). But kratom users are, in fact, mainly middle-aged and well-educated folks who mostly use it as an alternative to deal with depression, anxiety, pain, addiction or other ailments.

Misconception 2: kratom is not safe.
In case the thousands of years of safe usage are not sufficient to prove its safety, one can check the scientific reports of its toxicity as well. Compared to stimulants and prescription medication, kratom is relatively much safer. Besides this, kratom also contains a wide range of beneficial compounds, including immuno-stimulants, anti-hypertensives, antileukemics, antioxidants, vasodilators, analgesics, antitussives and more. Again, considering the number of people that have used kratom, how many incidents have been reported? Yes, zero to none.

Misconception 3: kratom is addictive
Kratom can be habit-forming for some. That should be acknowledged freely. But the distinction that must be made, and often fails to be reflected in media reports, is that there are profoundly varying degrees of habit-forming potential. Kratom's habit forming potential is in the same league as that of coffee. People drink coffee, at least in part, because they enjoy the subtle caffeine boost. They enjoy it, so they continue to drink it often. After they have become accustomed to drinking it for some period of time, it's natural that it may be difficult at first should they decide to give it up. This is much the same with kratom.

Misconception 4: kratom has no medical value.Since the media often report negative assumptions, the real reasons why people use kratom are completely being ignored or even denied. But one look at our kratom testimonials, will show that there are many great benefits to its usage. For example, Kratom is an excellent pain reliever. It isn't hepatotoxic in the way that acetaminophen and other pain relievers are, and it doesn't have the serious risk of addiction and the mentally and emotionally numbing effects of opiate-based pain relievers. For many people, it's the best pain reliever that they've found and it allows them to regain the life that chronic pain took away.
Kratom is a general stimulant and an effective anxiolytic. While it's not a long-term treatment for depression or anxiety, it does help with both in the short term, and it doesn't have the various risks and side effects that antidepressants and anxiety medications have.
Kratom is an exceptional aid for overcoming addiction. For many people, it still is the only thing that has ever truly worked. From alcohol to prescription drugs or heroin, countless people have used kratom to rid themselves of their addictions and regain control of their lives. It contains for example the compound rhynchophylline, also found in cat's claw that possesses NMDA antagonistic qualities, which are proven to disrupt addiction and habituation.

Misconception 5: kratom even had to be banned in Thailand, where it came from.
This is often is used in media as some kind of reference: if it isn't legal there, why should it be here?  Traditional usage in Thailand dates back to early mankind. One of its tradtional applications was as an alternative among those battling with opium addiction, and controversially this lead to the kratom ban in Thialand in 1943 as we have explained here. The ban had a lot to do with corruption, and very little with concerns about public health. Today there is a growing number of people who plea for a decriminaliziation of kratom. Like , Pennapa Sapcharoen, director of the National Institute of Thai Traditional Medicine in Bangkok who said that kratom "could be prescribed both for opiate dependence and to patients suffering from depression"  And a recent report from the Transnational Institute and Thai Narcotic control Board, who concluded that "Kratom is an integral part of southern Thai culture" and furthermore "Criminalisation of kratom is unnecessary and counter-productive given decades of non-problematic use". And who have recommended that in the absence of health and social harms, kratom usage should be  decriminalized

Considering these last recommendations, it is suprising that the western media does not have a more open mind towards kratom, especially considering the growing amount of users who clearly benefit from it, as can be seen in the hundreds of comments here for example.