What is kratom and what are its effects?

“It’s different to other drugs, to be honest with you,” Lewis*, who first experimented with kratom during his second year at university, tells woo. “When you look at the plant, especially if it’s just been ground up and shoved into a bag, you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for weed, but the effects aren’t the same. At small doses, at least, it’s a light and mellow high. I can’t speak for larger doses, personally, but I know that it can become quite the sedative.”

Lewis was introduced to the drug by a friend who claimed it would alleviate his back pain. Soon after, he started using it daily in small doses, ingesting capsules of ground kratom, to improve his mood and focus, “the same way you’d take any other nootropic,” he says. Despite quitting after a few weeks due to concerns about dependency, he wonders why it's not more widely recognised. “I’d mention it to my friends and the majority didn’t have a clue what it was. It’s wild, considering that most university students are aware of pretty much every drug under the sun. Kratom, however, seems to have slipped under the radar.”

That said, while the plant might not be known to the general public, if you’re ever dipped into the world of alternative medicine or supplements, chances are you’ve encountered kratom. Derived from the leaves of the Mitragyna speciosa tree, this psychoactive plant has a rich history in Southeast Asia. For centuries, kratom has been an integral part of traditional medicine and cultural practices in countries including Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Sounds perfect, right? Well, there’s a catch. Kratom isn’t without its dangers, and has, on very rare occasions, led to death. The first reported death in the UK from kratom started back in 2008 – the decade where “kratom first emerged in popularity across the UK,” Corkery notes. More recent deaths have occurred in the US too.

Although these instances represent the most extreme cases, they are still noteworthy. And it’s not just fatalities that kratom users should be wary of. Corkery notes that a colleague of his, who is also a practising psychiatrist, encountered several clients who had “problems” with Kratom, including dependency and other complications.

The majority of these problems, however, stem from mixing kratom with other types of drugs. “The issues I’ve known associated with kratom have come from mixing with substances: opioids, methadone, buprenorphine, but also other central nervous system depressants, like benzodiazepines,” he adds. It’s a view echoed by Katya Kowalski, from the drugs policy think-tank Volteface. “As with every harm reduction advice, you don’t want to combine it with other drugs. The key is also to start low and go slow,” she tells woo.

Yet, despite these dangers, there’s been a notable rise in the commercialisation of kratom in recent years. This is particularly true in North America, where in certain areas, kratom is sold everywhere from gas stations to corner shops. Even in the six states where kratom is banned, it remains widely available online and in vape shops, despite warnings from federal authorities.

Kratom has even managed to trickle its way into the wellness drinks market, too. Enter New Brew: a new drink that contains small amounts of kratom and kava (another psychoactive plant indigenous to Asia), it’s branded as “the first non-alcoholic beverage with effects you can feel.” While this is not the first time kratom has taken shape in drinkable form – some young Muslims in Thailand have, for a while now, been consuming a drink called ‘4X100’, a concoction of a kratom, caffeine or codeine-containing cough syrup – New Brew is one of the first to hit the US drinks market, advertised through a ‘wellness’ lens.

The sleek green website, presumably there to promote feelings of wellness, boasts that the drink can increase focus and relaxation, enhance your mood, and more. It also notes that these plants "have been misrepresented and misunderstood through sensationalist headlines" too. Which, to be fair to them, they have – which is why approaching this drink with some balance and pragmatism is key.

While there are certainly more dangerous substances in drinkable form out there, such as the majority of alcoholic drinks, for instance, it still doesn’t mean that kratom and kava are risk-free. Alongside kratom, kava has its risks too. Responsibly, the website also warns that New Brew shouldn't be consumed every day, that first-timers should drink it slowly, and that the drink is strictly for adults only. Although the active ingredients in each can are fairly low, it’s up for debate whether customers would heed these warnings.

Experiences of kratom online are a mixed bag, too. Taking a look on TikTok, the search term “krat0m” (the correctly spelled name has been banned from the platform) brings up thousands of videos. Some promote the positive effects of kratom on their mood and provide how-to videos on how to take the plant responsibly, while others share their warnings about the plant and their experiences of addiction.