Prevalence of Kratom Use in the United States, and What It Says About the Future

Over the years, kratom has been portrayed as a potential harm reduction agent because of it's properties containing the mu opioid receptor and many other compounds. Kratom is widely available and has been used as a home remedy for opioid use disorder. However the extent of kratom use in the United States has remained unclear until a recent study published by the Society for the Study of Addiction (SSA).

In the study, containing over 59k respondents, 490 respondents indicated having used kratom in their lifetime. In relation to the entire US population, it's estimated that the life-time prevalence of kratom is 1.3% which would account for roughly 3.3 million adults. The report presents data derived from the NMURx 2018 third quarter and 2019 first quarter representing adjacent survey periods and 1 year of data. The estimated prevalence of kratom use in this 12 month window amounted to 0.8% (2,031,803 adults) which outweighed methamphetamine (0.6%) and heroin (0.4%) respectfully.

It goes on to say, that most respondents used kratom several times each day and one of the main reasons for use included pain (91.3%). Kratom has been shown to have addiction potential, and most users disproportionately have serious substance abuse profiles compared with non-users.

It will be important to continue exploring the potential health risks moving forward. Increasing efforts for screening and continuing education about kratom could be a few valuable solutions as we move forward.

To read the full cross-sectional study follow the link below.

Prevalence and description of kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) use in the United States: a cross-sectional study

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