> As most of you know, there has been increased media attention recently in national news sources. Some of this has been selective at best, and disingenuous at worst. > > There have been solicitations for those who may have had potentially adverse effects to sue parties by attorneys, along with increased anti-kratom activity from the FDA which may be directly or indirectly driving media coverage. > > Several of these items are being posted multiple times. The NPR article from 07/08 was posted yesterday 7 times. These kinds of things may be removed if there are duplicates in too soon of a time period. This is only for the sake of avoiding too many duplicates. > > You may want to search the subreddit before posting news articles, especially if they are several days old. > > The preference is that archive links (instructions using one of the more common providers) be used to these items for the purposes of paywalls and denying them the clicks and ad-revenue from alarmist reporting. This does nothing to obscure the content or discourage/encourage interaction with the news outlet--which is ultimately up to your personal judgement. > > If you do contact the media or public officials, remember that professionalism and your personal experience about how kratom has helped you, or why it is important to you is meaningful. Insulting or threatening the author, publication, or officials even if they have engaged in poor journalistic practices or exhibit bias is not likely to be helpful. It only makes it easier for consumers to be disregarded. Attacking the families or their motivations in claiming adverse effects, even if there is little or no scientific evidence to support their claims, is also not likely to be productive. > > Links of Complied Reporting occurring in July and the near future \[NOTE: UPDATED 2023-03-31] > > - WTSP (July 31): > - The Guardian (UK, July 30): > - The Hill (by Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI), July 28): > - Miami Herald (July 28): > - New York Times: (July 26): > - NPR (July 7): > > You may wish to sign up for the American Kratom Association newsletter or check ProtectKratom.org for information about ongoing advocacy efforts and what you can do. > > The AKA has posted a response to these articles at that you may wish to view.

Natural Herb Kratom May Have Therapeutic Effects And Relatively Low Potential For Abuse Or Harm, According To A User Survey 02/03/2020

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Researchers say findings underscore need for research and regulation, but not an outright ban on sales 2-3-20 Natural Herb Kratom May Have Therapeutic Effects And Relatively Low Potential For Abuse O.jpg

Credit: Johns Hopkins Medicine

Using results of a survey of more than 2,700 self-reported users of the herbal supplement kratom, sold online and in smoke shops around the U.S., Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers conclude that the psychoactive compound somewhat similar to opioids likely has a lower rate of harm than prescription opioids for treating pain, anxiety, depression and addiction.

In a report on the findings, published in the Feb. 3 issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the researchers caution that while self-reporting surveys aren’t always entirely reliable, they confirmed that kratom is not regulated or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and that scientific studies have not been done to formally establish safety and benefits. They say that U.S. drug agencies should seek to study and regulate rather than ban kratom sales outright because of its seemingly safe therapeutic potential, and as a possible alternative to opioid use.

> How much Kratom do you usually have? > > Since Kratom is relatively cheap and its regulatory future is uncertain, I’m trying to stock up. Currently, I’m sitting at 4 Kg, but would like to increase that to \~10 Kg. > > Such stock would last me a couple of years. I can keep consuming the oldest packages while replenishing the stock. > > Buying in bulk, I’m trying to find both good price and quality, but that’s not easy …

original: https://lemmy.world/post/3672406

Hello and welcome to a new community on sopuli.xyz which is all about kratom!

This is a sibling community to [email protected]

This is intended to be a living document so please post comments.

Purpose of this community

The purpose of [email protected] is to provide a welcoming and level-headed place to discuss kratom (Mitragyna speciosa).

Some examples of the kinds of things that would be on topic here:

• Community and peer support between kratom users
• News related to kratom
• Scientific research regarding kratom
• Safe and effective use of kratom
• Problems related to kratom use
• History of kratom
• Future of kratom
• Legal statuses of kratom
• How to use kratom
• Kratom production at industrial/commercial scale
• Trade news
• Kratom gardening
• Organizations which have positions on kratom
• Kratom use around the world
• Ethnobotany of kratom
• Chemistry of kratom
• Other forums where kratom is discussed
• Community creation of resources
• Media coverage of kratom
• Upcoming events, online or in real life
• Attitudes of health care workers towards kratom
• Traveling with kratom
• Stopping use of kratom

This community has a bias

This is intended to be a broadly "pro kratom" community. Since nothing is perfect, not even kratom, it is also OK to discuss problems.

However it is not necessarily an "advocacy" community. Community standards are not primarily set on the basis of how they will make kratom "look" to outsiders.

Rules

Rule #1: Do not spread misinformation

Do not spread misinformation. Post in good-faith. Speak honestly but do not incite fear or panic, particularly when speaking of safety or legality.

If you believe a participant is intentionally spreading misinformation, please report it.

Rule #2: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

Self-reports that make extreme claims of catastrophic harm or beneficial results beyond what is identified in scientific research literature may be removed and held for review.

The moderators may request additional information from participants before approving these items.

Rule #3: Non commercial only

The purpose of this rule is not to avoid "illegal activity". I am simply not interested in running a marketplace.

This rule extends beyond kratom or its derivatives. It includes sales of books, t shirts, patreons, classes, professional services or anything else.

Lots of communities on topics which are totally not stigmatized, legal the world round and uncontroversial have similar rules. It could be laptops or puppies or knitting. The intention is similar here.

No transacting

This community is intended to be non-commercial and non-transactional.

Examples of commercial or transactional activity:

• vendor ads, linking to vendors
• posts which heavily imply someone is a vendor in order to get people to PM you
• requests for vendor information, referrals, experiences
• vendor reviews
• posts selling your personal kratom
• discount codes, promotions, sales
• advertisements for businesses or anything for sale
• affiliate links or codes
• give-aways, vendor or otherwise
• links to products for sale
• photos of packaging
• swaps

If the likely, immediate result of a post or comment is someone making money or otherwise gaining materially, then it is prohibited.

Obviously, obtaining kratom is important to a lot of us, myself included. I am not opposed to linking to other reputable communities where transactions are approved.

No sourcing

To be extremely clear: No sourcing.

Includes plants and seeds. No vendor participation. No discussion of vendors/brands. This rule also applies to recommending American Kratom Association (AKA) approved vendors. No requesting/offering vendor recommendations - directly or via PM. PMs are your own private business but mentioning them on the community makes them public community business. Violations may result in a ban from the community.

Do not discuss payments

Discussing payments for goods in any capacity is strictly forbidden. This includes CC processors, online processors and apps (PayPal, Amazon Pay, CirclePay, Venmo, Square, Zelle etc.), and services like Coinbase. Legality notwithstanding, kratom is against their terms of service and they have been aggressively enforcing this. Consequently, vendors have difficulty maintaining payment processors.

Rule #4: No bigotry

This community is intended to be welcoming to a diverse range of people.

Shit talking will be especially frowned upon when it has its basis in:

• diagnosis, illness, health issues
• body size, personal appearance
• other substances, drugs, or medication used
• visible or invisible disability
• gender identity and expression, sexual identity and orientation
• education, socio-economic status
• nationality, immigration status
• race, caste, color, ethnicity
• level of experience
• incarceration
• religion
• age

Examples of unacceptable behavior include:

• The use of sexualized language or imagery, and sexual attention or advances of any kind
• Trolling, insulting or derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks
• Public or private harassment
• Publishing others' private information, such as a physical or email address, without their explicit permission
• Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting

Guidelines

A guideline is more flexible than a rule.

Be nice

Treat each other with respect. Do not be hostile or rude. Do not call people names. Insults will not be tolerated and may result in a ban from the community.

Everyone has their own individual experience. Share your own and do not judge that of others. Do not generalize your experiences to suggest that what happened to you will happen to everyone.

Avoid stigmatizing substances

It doesn't help kratom or kratom users to knock down people who use, or have used other substances.

People use illicit substances, prescription medications, research chemicals and other chemical tools for all kinds of reasons. They might want to start or stop using these at different times in their lives.

It is not "more legitimate" to use kratom for one reason than for another.

Debates about chemistry, effects, are fine. Sharing your history and what led you to be the person you are today is fine.

Not everyone shares your context

When talking about laws, attitudes, conventions etc, don't assume everyone is in a similar place to you. If you are requesting or sharing information that is highly context-specific, you will need to mention that.

We are learning and growing together

Everyone in the community should give each other the benefit of the doubt that they are acting in good faith.

Kratom brings together people from all around the world. We all have our own histories and baggage.

Nuts and bolts of [email protected]

Where [email protected] lives

This community lives on the "fediverse". It is a network of websites looking to replace monopolistic social media with a more dispersed model. It is a pretty new way of doing things, so expect changes in how it works. We are making the road by walking it.

It is possible to view and interact with the community from a variety of different "instances" or websites.

This community was established on the lemmy instance sopuli.xyz. The most accurate and complete view of it is to visit through this URL: https://sopuli.xyz/c/kratom

Who moderates?

This community was created by @[email protected] (aka @[email protected]) who is currently the sole moderator.

If you are viewing the community in the "fediverse" (from a website other than kbin.social) it may list another person as the moderator. Usually whoever runs the website. That person likely has no actual interest or involvement here.

Moderation guidelines

Mods are responsible for clarifying and enforcing our standards of acceptable behavior and will take appropriate and fair corrective action in response to any behavior that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.

Mods have the right and responsibility to remove, restrict comments, posts and other contributions that are not aligned with the community purpose, rules and guidelines, and will communicate reasons for moderation decisions when appropriate.

Moderator responsibilities:

• Abide by all of the above rules as would be expected of anyone else
• Solicit feedback
• Integrate feedback into moderation practices
• Explain decisions when required or requested
• Enforce rules evenhandedly
• Admit to mistakes

That being said, one forum isn't going to be all things to all people. As the community evolves we might find that there are fundamental differences of opinions and goals. Cross that bridge if we get to it.

Moderation log

The lemmy software that runs the forum records all mod actions. There are publicly available in the Moderation log.

Last Revised

• July 23, 2023
• August 25, 2023: Made edits to the original [email protected] document to apply to [email protected]

Inspiration and sources

To create this, I borrowed from existing work done by others:

• reddit.com/r/kratom rules which can be viewed on reddit or on the wayback machine
• Creative Commons Open Source Code of Conduct

Recent media reports about kratom-related deaths are leaving out basic information about these tragic events. Preexisting conditions and possible drug interactions are sparsely mentioned or left out of reports entirely. Media is also using the term “kratom” to describe all products, from fresh leaf to extract to kratom products mixed with other substances (such as phenibut, tianeptine, and kava).

For example, in a recent New York Post article, Jeanette Settembre wrote of Krystal Talavera, “her partner found her collapse beside a cup of hot coffee and an open bag of ‘Space Dust,’ one of the names under which kratom is marketed.” The only companies we have found selling a product called “Space Dust” is Kratom Distro, who sold this as an extremely strong extract to Ms. Talavera, and another company who was selling regular leaf powder, not an extract, under the same name.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/1519474

> hey all, any kanadaian kratom users here? been using to help a lil with my adhd off and on for years, leaning on it more lately after dropping my adhd meds 4ish months ago. > > using CKE, if anyone has better sources in canada plz lmk ❤️

Same set up but on lemmy instead of kbin. More coming soon.

The alkaloid speciogynine may be a starting point for low-risk treatment

Self-reports of kratom use as an alcohol substitute exist online, though they have not been as well documented in the scientific literature as other motivations for kratom use, such as substitution for opiates (Smith et al, 2023). In one survey of US residents, 18% of current users and 11.5% of past users reported they used kratom “To cut down or quit using alcohol” (Coe et al, 2019).

This motivation has also been documented among Southeast Asian users who are more likely to engage in the centuries-old traditional practice of chewing fresh kratom leaf or preparing it as a tea (vs. eating dried powder and using extracts, more common in the West). A qualitative study of 34 Thai kratom users found:

> Almost all regular krathom users did not drink alcohol although some used to drink it before being krathom chewers. Krathom was believed to be an aid to those who wanted to stop drinking. An ex-drinker explained: > > “After I use krathom, I can’t stand the alcohol strong smell. If I drink even a bit, I would have an extreme headache and vomit, get sick and have a hangover. I cannot work and have to take a rest.”

The study also explained that kratom use in this region of Thailand was more socially acceptable than the use of alcohol, tobacco, or cannabis, in part because of better social functioning of people who use kratom over other drugs (Saingham et al, 2013). This implies a social motivation for someone to choose kratom over alcohol.