Its consumption can lead to "serious health risks". It is now prohibited in France to buy or own kratom. This plant originating in Southeast Asia as well as its compounds "were entered on the list of psychotropic substances" by a decree published on January 1. "As a result, their possession and purchase are now prohibited," said the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) on Tuesday in a statement.
Consumed in infusion or powder, the leaves of this tree are the subject of increasing use in the United States and Canada, where its promoters assure that they constitute a good substitute for opiates and a remedy for anxiety.
⚠️ Kratom and its compounds are now on the list of #psychotropics following the identification of cases of poisoning and death between 2007 and 2018
👉 Purchase, possession and use prohibited
➕ information: https://t.co/HNr4M49n3S pic.twitter.com/oWnpPhEML0
Increase in poisoning according to a survey
If the phenomenon is more marginal in France, an addictovigilance survey over the period 2007-2018 reported "an increase in the number of intoxications in recent years (14 cases since 2016)". But also “a death” in a context of “polyconsumption of drugs and medicines”, underlines the ANSM.
The investigation highlighted that the consumption of kratom can be "at the origin of dependence, withdrawal syndrome, anorexia, weight loss, psychotic decompensation and toxic hepatitis", details the drug gendarme.
Nearly 100 deaths in the United States
In the United States, where kratom is legal in 43 states, the health authorities recorded in April nearly 100 deaths related to its consumption between July 2016 and December 2017. The health agency FDA published an alert concerning its importation in 2012 , which means that deliveries arriving in the United States can be confiscated, and issued a health warning in 2017.
In total, according to the American kratom association, which represents users, about five million Americans consume extracts from these leaves. Most customers get their supplies from websites, social networks like Facebook and Instagram or from the Chinese marketplace Alibaba.
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