Depending on who you ask, the answer to the question ‘is kratom dangerous’ could be vastly different. 

According to advocates, kratom is beneficial and natural, providing relief for pain, stress, sleeping problems, and more. Rather than dangerous, kratom is safe. It’s advocates sing about the overall safety of the plant, saying that it’s able to accomplish a lot of the things prescription drugs can, but with less risk.

According to those who think that kratom isn’t safe, they believe the plant’s ability to act similarly to a prescription drug isn’t a good thing and means it could easily be abused. Those against the use of kratom will also point to a CDC report of 91 drug overdose deaths in which kratom was detected from July 2016-December 2017. 

While this may sound alarming, several things should be noted that put this figure into perspective. The CDC looked into 27,000 drug overdose cases that happened over a year and a half and found 91 cases of drug overdose deaths where kratom was involved. 91 out of 27,000. Even though this posed the question ‘is kratom dangerous?’. It should be noted that in comparison, opioids caused roughly 48,000 deaths in 2017, according to federal data. 

On top of that, this same report states that in “almost all” of the 91 deaths, kratom was not the only substance present in the system- fentanyl, heroin, benzodiazepines, and cocaine were also found in 84 out of the 91 kratom-related deaths. 

More research is needed to determine the true safety profile of kratom and determine if kratom is safe or not. However, it may be hasty to label kratom ‘dangerous’ or ‘deadly’. Especially when most of the evidence against it could have been caused by something else and lead people to question kratom’s safety.

Side Effects 

Kratom is a relative of the coffee plant and like coffee, daily use will eventually cause cravings. However, usage must be heavy and frequent in order for cravings to arise. 

If an extremely large amount of kratom is ingested at once, the user might experience side effects. In our experience of determining kratom’s safety and when speaking to customers, the most common side effects are sweating, nausea or vomiting, drowsiness, and rapid heart rate. 

In order to keep kratom a safe part of your life, always stay hydrated when taking it. Like coffee, kratom tends to be dehydrating- if you want the best results when taking kratom, staying hydrated will be hugely beneficial to you. 

Find out info on whether or not you can overdose on kratom in our blog here!

No Regulation

Kratom manufacturing and kratom products are not regulated, meaning there is no set standard for making and selling these products. The lack of regulation makes it extremely important to buy your kratom from a reputable source. Unscrupulous businesses have sold tainted kratom products in the past, spiked with other substances to cheaply strengthen the effects while compromising the kratom’s safety.

Kratom is safe if purchased from a company that can be trusted, like Grassroots Harvest. We source our kratom directly from farms in Southeast Asia and have it shipped straight to our lab in Austin, Texas where we craft our products with care in small batches. 

We regularly test our products to ensure kratom safety and prioritize that the material has not been adulterated or tampered with in any way.

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Jasmin Weber

Jasmin Weber has been working in the kratom & CBD industry for 3 years with Grassroots Harvest and GRH Kratom. She regularly writes content for both the cannabis and kratom websites of these stores & can also be found featured on related sites around the web.