According to ABC News, the bodies of an 18-year-old and a 20-year-old Ole Miss students were found on Monday in Oxford, Mississippi (MS). Kratom was found in the investigations into the deaths, and now, police are investigating whether the highly addictive substance was involved at all.
Fox News reports on the unease around campus following the deaths and the precautions that have been taken by fraternities and sororities and local bars.
So far, law enforcement hasn’t confirmed whether kratom contributed to the student’s deaths and are treating the investigations as separate. Both of the student's were males, and one body was found in his dorm and the other in an off-campus home.
AFN reported previously on the plant from Southeast Asia, its conversion into concentrated products and the effort of some states to regulate the substance.
The supplements are sold in certain Mississippi counties, and Dr. Neil Wanee, based in Smithville, MS, says he sees a steady flow of kratom addicts in his practice.
“We find that it's highly addictive, and it depends on the form. Some of the more highly concentrated forms that are in, especially the liquid, seem to be very powerful,” Wanee states.
Most people don’t know what they’re getting into when they purchase kratom. Francis Dean founded End Kratom Addiction because his son unknowingly got addicted to the product in college, believing it only to be a plant-based supplement to improve focus and energy.
“Kratom, when it is actually metabolizing inside of the body, is converting into an opioid that the FDA says is stronger than morphine,” Dean informed.
Furthermore, he said that is easily accessible in America in smoke shops, convenience stores and online.
Wanee says the treatment is fairly simple.
“We generally use forms of buprenorphine, which is an opiate agonist and antagonist. People don't develop tolerance to it like they do other opiates,” Wanee explains.
A course of buprenorphine breaks the addiction, but if the supplement were to be suddenly banned, Wanee says hundreds of secret addicts would be forced out into the open.
“Definitely going to put people in withdrawal for sure, and they're going to be trying to get it anywhere they can get it, but if it would be done nationally, it would create a huge need for addiction treatment,” Wanee says.
He says any medical provider can prescribe buprenorphine for kratom addiction. Furthermore, he agrees that the substance should be banned and that forcing addicts into treatment is a small price to pay to get such a dangerous drug off the market.
