Even although millions of people have found a life-saver in kratom, there are also many others claiming that kratom is dangerous and has no healthy properties. Sadly, these voices against kratom often include mainstream media, authorities or public representatives. That’s why there is a general concern about kratom and way too many people are scared of kratom. Fortunately, there are also many other people who are committed to debunking all the lies and misinformation that surround kratom. These people are kratom advocates. In this post, you’ll learn what a kratom advocate is and how you can help protect kratom yourself.
What Is Kratom? Effects and Uses of Kratom
Kratom is an evergreen tree in the Rubiaceae family indigenous to Southeastern Asia that grows in Thailand, Indonesia or Malaysia. For many centuries, the native population of this region has used kratom as part of their traditional medicine or as an element in ceremonies. Thanks to its energizing effects, workers from Southeast Asia consumed kratom to fight fatigue and endure physical labor. But kratom has many other effects.
The scientific name of kratom, Mitragyna speciosa, refers to mitragynine, the most common alkaloid of the kratom leaves. Mitragynine and other kratom’s alkaloids, such as 7-hydroxymitragynin (7-OHM), produce different effects in your body (analgesic, sedative, energizing or euphoric). Thanks to these effects, you can use kratom for several issues and conditions:
- Pain relief
- Fight fatigue
- Cope with anxiety and depression
- Relieve insomnia
- Relaxation
Many individuals also take kratom to cope with the symptoms of opiate withdrawal. Furthermore, kratom can also enhance your focus and concentration.
Kratom Support Groups
In America, kratom has always been in a kind of legal limbo. Vendors cannot market it as a health supplement nor make any claims about its properties. Moreover, kratom is always under scrutiny and there are places (states or cities) where kratom is banned.
That’s why there are kratom support groups fighting to protect kratom and prevent bans. The American Kratom Association (AKA) is arguably the most popular kratom support group. Established in 2014, the American Kratom Association is a non-profit organization committed to protecting the right of Americans to use kratom. The mission of the AKA is to:
- Become a voice that represents kratom consumers in America
- Educate people about kratom and its benefits
- Support kratom consumers
- Protect kratom and other natural resources
The American Kratom Association is a very important group that supports and promotes different actions to protect kratom, such as meetings with political representatives or sharing scientific knowledge and facts about kratom. Since it is a non-profit organization, you can get tax deductions if you donate any amount of money to them. But even if you cannot donate anything, you still can follow the AKA to learn all the news surrounding kratom and how to effectively protect it.
Another kratom support group is the Kratom Trade Association. However, this organization is focused on the kratom industry and vendors. While its mission also involves the protection of kratom and freedom of choice of users, the Kratom Trade Association is more focused on vendors. The Kratom Trade Association goal is to create quality standards that can help both vendors and consumers. But they also want to educate politicians and people in general about kratom.
Kratom Advocates
Other than kratom support groups, there are also individuals that fight to protect kratom. These people are kratom advocates and their goal is to keep kratom legal and available for everybody.
You can find kratom advocates in social networks and forums. The kratom community is very active and popular on Twitter. If you want to find and follow kratom advocates, just look for the hashtags #KeepKratomLegal, #KratomSavesLives, #IAmKratom or #FollowTheScience on Twitter. Thus, you will find plenty of kratom users ready to protect this herb. By following these users, you’ll be able to see what is going on with kratom and actions that can help support its use. Furthermore, there are also groups and threads on reddit fully dedicated to kratom.
One of the main goals of kratom advocates is to debunk all the lies about kratom. In order to do that, they share scientific information and facts about kratom that rebate the misinformation and false myths about kratom.
How Can I Become a Kratom Advocate?
Becoming a kratom advocate is very simple. You don’t need to do anything special. You can start by talking to your family and friends about kratom, letting them know how kratom is helping you. There is a lot of unawareness and misinformation. And one of the best ways to fight this is by sharing your kratom story with the people around you. You can show them actual scientific facts about kratom (available at The Kratom Association) or tell them to watch A Leaf of Faith, a documentary about kratom by filmmaker Chris Bell that is available on Netflix and other platforms. This film shows kratom users sharing their experience, scientific facts about kratom, but also arguments of people who are against its use.
Another way of protecting kratom is by contacting your representatives and providing them with reliable information about kratom. This kind of information includes scientific evidence but also how kratom has helped you. At the American Kratom Association, you can find tips on how to address public representatives or even on how to reply misinformation spread by FDA or other organizations or sources.
Becoming a kratom advocate is very important if you want to help protect this natural remedy. It will not require much of your time and can help you and many other kratom users.
