When did Kratom Come to the US?

Kratom has been used for at least hundreds of years in Southeast Asia, but it's appearance in the West has been more recent.

A Thailand-based researcher discovered a 17th century pharmacopeia of ancient herbs listing kratom. This is likely the earliest documented use of the plant, though kratom was likely consumed for hundreds of years prior to this.

Historically, kratom leaves were often chewed by manual laborers to increase energy and productivity, similar to the use of coca leaves in South America. Kratom was deeply ingrained in Thai culture and was often used in social and religious ceremonies.

However, in the early 20th century, concerns about the potential negative effects of kratom use on tax revenue from legal opium began to arise. Thais began to use kratom freely plucked from wild trees in place of opium. In 1943, the Thai government passed the Kratom Act, which aimed to control and regulate the cultivation, possession, and sale of kratom.

Under the Kratom Act, kratom was classified as a controlled substance, and its possession and use were heavily restricted. However, despite the legal restrictions, kratom continued to be used in Thailand, albeit clandestinely.

It is thought that kratom first came to the United States during the War in Vietnam, when American soldiers brought it home from the battle front. However probably, these claims have no been substantiated by evidence.

Kratom only became popularized during the 2000s, as internet forums increased interest in legal psychoactive plants like salvia divinorum, mimosa hostilis, and morning glory seeds. As in Thailand in the early 1940s, kratom's popularity increased in the US in the 2010s, after a period of widespread opioid use.

Evidence of the sale of kratom within the US prior to 1994 is of particular interest. The Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act passed in 1994. It codifies dietary supplements as products intended to supplement the diet, containing one or more dietary ingredients (vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, etc.). Dietary ingredients are divided into two categories: Old Dietary Ingredients (ODI), sold in the US prior to October 15, 1994, and New Dietary Ingredients (NDI), not sold until after that date.

ODIs are not subject to the same marketing regulations that NDIs are, and therefore can be sold as a dietary supplement without going through rigorous regulatory steps. Therefore, if there is evidence that kratom had been sold in the US prior to October 15, 1994, it would legally have to be considered a dietary supplement.