Global Kratom Coalition pushes for regulation of the mood-alerting herb

Share
Matthew Lowe
Matthew Lowe, executive director, Global Kratom Coalition

The use of Kratom, an herb grown in Southeast Asia for centuries for its mood-altering effects, has exploded in popularity in the United States in the past fews years, particularly in Florida.

Kratom enthusiasts say it helps ease anxiety and depression and even helps with opioid addiction. But critics say it can be habit-forming and even addictive, and medical examiners say it was a contributing cause in hundreds of deaths in the past decade. But it is not regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration, and while the Drug Enforcement Administration has listed kratom as a Drug and Chemical of Concern it has not exercised its authority to schedule kratom or its active compounds.

The Kratom market in the U.S. is like the wild, wild west and that needs to change, said Matthew Lowe, executive director of the Global Kratom Coalition, during an interview on WMNF WaveMakers with Janet and Tom.

“There is a lot of misinformation going around about Kratom, and that is on both the negative side and the positive side of things,” Lowe said. His group formed about six months ago. “We saw the need from a global perspective…to expand access and education.” That’s particularly true in the U.S., where the market is expanding rapidly without robust public education.

The coalition wants to ensure that manufacturers are producing safe products that are labeled accurately so consumers know what they are buying, and that consumers know how much Kratom is safe to use, Lowe said. That will take government regulation, he said, either on the federal or state level. About 10 states, including Florida, have laws regulating some aspect of the herb, he said.

Hear the entire conversation by clicking the link below, going to the WaveMakers archives or by searching for WMNF WaveMakers wherever you listen to podcasts.

Tags

One Response to “Global Kratom Coalition pushes for regulation of the mood-alerting herb”

  1. Venus (Kratom Butterfly)

    I found kratom in 2016 and was able to get off of a long list of meds. Nothing pharma helped my interstitial cystitis, abdominal adhesions, fibro and kidney stone pain until I found this tea. Drs labeled me an addict that wasn’t in pain but just wanted to get high. I was weeks from giving up when I found it, and just like that my life started again. My family got me back.
    My drs are thrilled, tests come back perfect. Plain, TESTED, crushed leaf kratom is completely safe for us to consume. The only thing in danger from kratom is pharma and those specialists that we support with our illnesses.
    Thank you for helping us get the truth out, The Kratom Gals would love to talk to you further.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

student meal
Next school year Hillsborough public schools are offering free meals

Hillsborough Public Schools are offering students free meals for the...

Correspondence Through Poetry. A Mind-Numbing Week.

Father Verses Sons: A Correspondence in Poems by Herbert Gold...

The sound of change: Music’s influence on anti-war and human rights movements

Throughout history, music has served as a powerful catalyst for...

a man in a tye dye shirt talking on a radio microphone
Recreational pot for Florida is on the ballot this fall—let’s talk about it

In four months, Florida voters have the opportunity to vote...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Follow us on Instagram

The Big Gay Radio Show
Player position: