Who Discovered Kratom Plant?
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Kratom Plant has long been used in some Southeast Asian Countries as a traditional medicine. Much has been said about its potency as an herbal remedy that could help with sedation, pain relief, gastro intestinal problems, and boosting energy.
And while this was being used for a long time in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia it is relatively a new herbal product in the Western World. WikiPedia has explained that it was discovered in the scientific world in the 19th century.
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“M. speciosa is indigenous to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea. Mitragyna speciosa was first formally described by the Dutch colonial botanist Pieter Korthals in 1839, who named it as such; it was renamed and reclassified several times before George Darby Haviland provided the final name and classification in 1859.”
Read the rest of the WikiPedia entry here.
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The website dedicated to Kratom information, Third Wave Co has also shared some more historical account of the plant, and the studies that have been done about its components. In their entry, they also mentioned how the government is trying to regulate its use.
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“Amid growing enthusiasm for kratom’s medical potential, the active constituent mitragynine was isolated in 1921 and tested on humans in 1932. It was likened to cocaine for its stimulant effects on the central nervous system. By the early 1940s, the government of Thailand was seeing a massive decline in opium tax revenue. Evidently, addicts were turning to kratom—an unregulated drug—to manage their withdrawal symptoms. The Kratom Act was passed in August 1943, forbidding anyone from cultivating the plant and ordering all existing specimens destroyed. Elsewhere, scientific interest prevailed. More than 20 alkaloids were isolated during the 1960s and, in 1994, the second of kratom’s primary active compounds was identified: 7-hydroxymitragynine. The following year saw the first synthesis of mitragynine.”
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The continuation can be found here.
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Debate on Kratom
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The Renegade Pharmacist meanwhile shared information about the current state of Kratom used in the western world. In its blog post it mentioned about the current debate on whether to classify the plant as a dangerous drug substance. Botanical Education Alliance
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“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has labeled kratom a potentially dangerous drug, and has debated whether or not to categorize it as a schedule 1 substance like cocaine and heroin. In response to the FDA’s actions, kratom users have been actively campaigning against the illegalization of the herb which has been a godsend for so many of them.”
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Take a look at the rest of the text here.
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Other members of the research industry have been clamoring for a non-ban of Kratom use so that the research on the potential of this substance can still push through. They say it can be a promising alternative to medications that have harmful side effects.