Krathom: drug or medicine?
After amphetamine and heroin, 4×100 is the most commonly used drug in the country. By cutting down krathom trees, the government is trying to combat its use. But the number of users has only increased in recent years.
Traditionally, especially in Asian countries, people chew the krathom leaf to stay awake or use it as a pain reliever. In that low dose, Mitragyna speciosa, as the Latin name is, can hardly do any harm, but as a 4×100 cocktail, krathom has the same effect as opiates, with the same side effects and withdrawal symptoms when used frequently.
The name derives from the drink's four ingredients: boiled krathom leaves, cola, cough syrup, and tranquilizers, such as alprazolam and iazepam, or even mosquito coil. Coffee and yoghurt are also sometimes added. According to foreign media, the autopsy of the two Canadian sisters, who died on the island of Phi Phi in June, found large amounts of DEET, an ingredient that is also sometimes added to the cocktail to enhance its effect.
Planting the krathom tree has been banned since 1943
There is no shortage of krathom trees Thailand: especially in the southern provinces of Phatthalung, Satun, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Surat Thani. Their natural habitat is the rainforest, but many southerners also plant the tree for medicinal use in their gardens or orchards.
They thus violate the Krathom Act of 1943, which prohibits the planting of the tree and was intended to end its use. In 1979, krathom was added to Article 5 of the Narcotics Act and given the same status as cannabis and psychotropic mushrooms.
In recent years, 20.000 krathom trees have been felled in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, but all these measures have not had much effect. People continue to chew the leaf and young people have a cheap alternative to other expensive drugs. The number of heavy users seeking treatment has therefore increased in recent years.
The felling of krathom trees is a controversial measure
Whether cutting down trees is the solution is doubtful because it is in conflict with the policy to preserve forests. Many of those trees grow naturally. Many southern residents are also unenthusiastic because the use of krathom has always been part of their lives and has a medicinal use. Local authorities say the logging has only led to the smuggling of krathom from Malaysia.
Earlier this year, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board and other concerned agencies discussed legalizing krathom as a traditional medicine. The ONCB has since recommended legalization. But one employee acknowledges that it will not be easy to prevent abuse. A Senate committee also supported legalization in a report in 2003. The senators were particularly interested in scientific research because the leaf contains unique alkaloids. But the report is gathering dust and the Ministry of Health even suggested increasing the fines for possession of krathom.
(Source: Bangkok Post, Spectrum, September 16, 2012)