The Use of Benzodiazepines among Kratom (Mitragyna Speciosa Korth.) Users

ABSTRACT

The leaves from Mitragyna speciosa (Korth.) trees, also known as kratom, are traditionally used in Southeast Asia as a mild psychotropic agent. We investigated the demographic characteristics of persons who used both kratom cocktail and benzodiazepines (BZO) in a sample drawn from a rural area in Penang, Malaysia, and the reasons for BZO use. Seventy-seven participants who currently use a kratom cocktail along with BZO were recruited through snowball sampling for this cross-sectional study. The participants were male, and the majority were Malays (99%, n = 76/77), single (57%, n = 44/77) and employed (91%, n = 70/77). BZO was used with kratom cocktail 1) to increase euphoria; 2) to reduce dependence on methamphetamine; 3) to promote sleep; 4) to ease methamphetamine-associated psychological symptoms and 5) to decrease the craving for kratom. There were no significant differences in the intake of kratom use (p = .751), BZO use duration (p = .259), frequency (p = .188) and quantity (p = .888) of BZO use in the last 7 days, and quantity of BZO use in the last 30 days (p = .337) between kratom users and kratom poly-drug users. An awareness of the health consequences of the co-use of kratom with BZO is needed to prevent untoward health incidents.

KEYWORDS:

• Mitragyna speciosa
• kratom
• benzodiazepine
• mitragynine
• Malaysia

Acknowledgments

We would thank Universiti Sains Malaysia for providing the Research University grant (101/CDADAH/816306), as well as Higher Institution’s Centre of Excellence (HICoE) (311CDADAH4401009) for their financial assistance. We also thank Azlan Abdul Rahim, Mohamad Hafifi Jamri and Muhammad Eshal Dzulkapli for their kind assistance in the data collection process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the RESEARCH UNIVERSITI GRANT [(101/CDADAH/816306)];  HIGHER INSTITUTION'S CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE (HICoE) grant (311CDADAH4401009) and we also thank Azlan Abdul Rahim, Mohamad Hafifi Jamri and Muhammad Eshal Dzulkapli for their kind assistance in the data collection process.