ReviewPsychopharmacology2018
The abuse potential of kratom according the 8 factors of the controlled substances act: implications for regulation and research.
Review in Psychopharmacology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Reported associations between kratom and seizures: a systematic review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review of (pre)clinical studies on the therapeutic potential and safety profile of kratom in humans.Human psychopharmacology · 2022Pooled it
- Kratom and Pain Tolerance: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Study.The Yale journal of biology and medicine · 2020Trial
- A design of experiments approach to production of medicinal bioactives inPharmaceutical biology · 2026Article
- Kratom Use and Associations With Mental Health in the United States.Journal of addiction medicine · 2026Article
- Kratom (Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Exploratory evaluation of encapsulated kratom using multimodal quantitative sensory testing in dogs.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Associations Between Opioid and Kratom Use in the USA: Differences by Race/Ethnicity and Sexual Orientation.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2025Article
- Evaluating the drug interactions in kratom usage: clinical application.Expert opinion on drug metabolism & toxicology · 2025Review
- Article
- Effects of Itraconazole on Pharmacokinetics of Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine in Healthy Volunteers.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2024Article
- Kratom safety and toxicology in the public health context: research needs to better inform regulation.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Review
- Endogenous Opioid Activity as the Mechanism of Action for Mitragyna speciosa (Kratom): The Current State of the Evidence.Advances in neurobiology · 2024Review
- Knowledge of Kratom among Alabama Pharmacists.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Article
- Targeting Opioid Receptors in Addiction and Drug Withdrawal: Where Are We Going?International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Social, psychological, and substance use characteristics of U.S. adults who use kratom: Initial findings from an online, crowdsourced study.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2022Article
- Respiratory effects of oral mitragynine and oxycodone in a rodent model.Psychopharmacology · 2022Article
- Kratom use as more than a "self-treatment".The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2022Article
- Current and emerging pharmacotherapies for opioid dependence treatments in adults: a comprehensive update.Expert opinion on pharmacotherapy · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
rationaleConsideration by the US Drug Enforcement Administration and Food and Drug Administration of placing kratom into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) requires its evaluation of abuse potential in the context of public health.
objectiveThe objective of the study is to provide a review of kratom abuse potential and its evaluation according to the 8 factors of the CSA.
resultsKratom leaves and extracts have been used for centuries in Southeast Asia and elsewhere to manage pain and other disorders and, by mid-twentieth century, to manage opioid withdrawal. Kratom has some opioid effects but low respiratory depression and abuse potential compared to opioids of abuse. This appears due to its non-opioid-derived and resembling molecular structure recently referred to as biased agonists. By the early 2000s, kratom was increasingly used in the US as a natural remedy to improve mood and quality of life and as substitutes for prescription and illicit opioids for managing pain and opioid withdrawal by people seeking abstinence from opioids. There has been no documented threat to public health that would appear to warrant emergency scheduling of the products and placement in Schedule I of the CSA carries risks of creating serious public health problems.
conclusionsAlthough kratom appears to have pharmacological properties that support some level of scheduling, if it was an approved drug, placing it into Schedule I, thus banning it, risks creating public health problems that do not presently exist. Furthermore, appropriate regulation by FDA is vital to ensure appropriate and safe use.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.