Kratom Science is very grateful to bring you this interview with Pascal Tanguay. For 20 years, Pascal has been working on harm reduction policies in Southeast Asia and in Thailand where he lives. Pascal is a bottomless well of knowledge on the history of drug policy and kratom. He’s worked with the International Drug Policy …
66. Pascal Tanguay, Drug Policy Expert Talks About Kratom in Thailand Read More »
The government of Thailand announced May 26th in the Thai Royal Government Gazette that kratom will be taken off the list of banned narcotics. This is expected to go in effect on August 24th. Growing kratom remains restricted until regulations are set in place with what could eventually become a new kratom industry. A new …
Kratom Legality in Thailand will go into effect August 24, 2021 Read More »
A new study from Thailand (La-up, 2021) found traditional users of kratom had elevated levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or “good” cholesterol) and low levels of triglycerides, or “fats from the food we eat that are carried in the blood” (Cleveland Clinic 2019). High HDL, low levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad” cholesterol), and …
Correlation Found Between Thai Kratom Users and “Good” Cholesterol Levels Read More »
This time Dr. Jonathan Cachat and I look at a study where a team from University of Florida cultivated 68 kratom trees in a greenhouse, gave them varying levels of fertilizer, and measured for biomass, chlorophyll, and alkaloid content. Dr. Jon talks about similar studies he did with cannabis, and we go into what that …
Mitragynine is the most abundant alkaloid in kratom. Kratom contains about 40 alkaloids that we know of. All of the alkaloids combined make up only 0.5-1.5% of the total leaf material. Estimates of percentage of mitragynine in alkaloids range from 12% in Malaysian kratom to 66% in Thai kratom. If alkaloids make up only 1% …
Last week, Thailand’s Justice Minister Somsak Thapsutin announced that his ministry no longer considers kratom a narcotic, and plans to legalize the plant where it’s been traditionally used for centuries. Thapsutin was quoted in The Nation/Asia News Network: “To consider plants or chemicals as narcotics, the government referred to World Health Organisation (WHO)’s drug regulatory …
Thailand is on the path to legalize kratom after a 76 year ban Read More »
I’ve been researching traditional and contemporary kratom use in Southeast Asia. Social attitudes toward the plant there are not very remarkable. They are about as remarkable as social attitudes in the West toward coffee, tea, or household medicine cabinet staples like aspirin, Benadryl, or Pepto Bismol. Even in regions of Malaysia and Thailand, where kratom …
In Southeast Asia, Attitudes Toward Kratom Resemble Western Attitudes Toward Coffee Read More »
