Kratom is a plant that when ingested hits the opiate centres and calms the withdrawal effects or the cravings but is not itself an opiate. Kratom is safe, cheap, legal, and not addictive in the opiate sense. Kratom will not get your family member home, but it may very well KEEP them home. Because of its help in alleviating paws from withdrawals it can also help someone CHOOSE to go through the otherwise difficult process. Kratom is probably most useful as a maintenance better than suboxone or methadone etc. Kratom is a powered mixed into to water and taken as a simple drink..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitragyna_speciosa
Kratom behaves as a μ-opioid receptor agonist like morphine[5] and is used in the management of chronic pain, as well as recreationally.[6] Kratom use is not detected by typical drug screening tests, but its metabolites can be detected by more specialized testing.[7][8]
Kratom behaves as a μ-opioid receptor agonist, similar to opiates like morphine, although its effects differ significantly from those of opiates.[5] Kratom does not appear to have significant adverse effects, and in particular appears not to cause the hypoventilation typical of other opioids.[5]
http://www.sagewisdom.org/kratomguide.html
One of the traditional uses of kratom in Thailand is as a treatment opiate addiction.
http://www.howtoquitheroin.com/How_to_Quit_Heroin_with_Kratom.html
How Kratom works
Kratom contains over 25 alkaloids (a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds) including 7-hydroxymitragynine, 9-Hydroxycorynantheidine and Mitragynine which is believed to be responsible for most of kratoms’ effects. Mitragynine is an opioid agonist, which means that it has an attraction towards the opioid receptors in the brain. And these opioid receptors are able to influence your mood, pain levels and anxiety levels as well.
Mitragynine binds to these receptors and helps to improve your mood while also giving the user a pleasant feeling of euphoria just like heroin does, although kratom will not give you the same high as heroin. The difference between kratom and opiates is that kratom prefers delta opioid receptors first while heroin and other opiate drugs bind to mu opioid receptors.
At higher doses however, kratom increasingly stimulates mu opioid receptors in the brain. And this is most likely why kratom has a stimulating effect at lower doses and a narcotic effect at higher doses. This may also be the reason why kratom is not as addictive as heroin and other opiate drugs are, although kratom can become mildly addictive as well after continual daily usage.
When a person stops using heroin and is using the kratom to come off of the heroin, the withdrawals from the heroin are minimized and moderated by the binding of Mitragynine to the delta opioid receptors, thus making withdrawals from the heroin much easier to deal with. Not only can Kratom help people to come off of heroin, but it can also help users to come off of suboxone, methadone, and oxycontin as well.
http://www.politiquessociales.net/kratom-opiate-withdrawal/
Kratom as an Effective Withdrawal Facilitator
Measurable Quantities and Potency
The point here about measurability is that heroine from the streets and other drugs constantly have different cuts with different purities. Since the difference between levels of high is so slight, it is difficult to taper off such drugs. Furthermore the tolerance to heroine builds to fast it is seemingly difficult not to exponentially increase ones doses (from the users view). Kratom allows for a more measured approach.
Kratom For Maintenance and Sobriety
Many past addicts swear by Kratom as a maintenance tool or a crutch vs cravings. For some this might seem like only a crutch and something that is switching one drug for another, however for others this is a life saving tool and can only be seen by them as such. Kratom could some what be taken regularly (although there is something withdraw with habitual use) or only when need (ie cravings). There are many key points here. Kratom is cheap, kratom can be social (not like needles! (or smoking). Kratom is safe and its legal (here). And its not addictive in the important way that an opiate addict is having troubles with. Its easy to dose and it doesn’t have to set an addict back to day one (guilt free).
thewealthofchips 