Kratom

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is a tropical plant from Southeast Asia. The main psychoactive substances responsible for effects are thought to be mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine that are thought to work on opioid receptors and may also have stimulant effects, but nobody is really sure. It has been used as a recreational drug and widely claimed to be used as a medicine notably in withdrawal from opiates in the form of a tea. It is currently pushed in the U.S as a health supplement but there have been numerous reports of toxic effects and several UK deaths reported to involve kratom. Kratom is covered by the Psychoactive Substances Act.

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