LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) — It’s a plant rising in popularity, but its market faces a major overhaul at any moment.

Kratom is a southeast Asia native plant capable of producing a variety of effects, from pain relief to a mild stimulant. 

Researchers say native communities primarily take the plant’s leaves and brew it as a tea, but the plant’s various compounds have inspired a robust and rapidly evolving product market, everything from powder to liquid shots to tablets.

“It’s essentially an unregulated Wild West,” said Dr. Ryan Fuchs, the associate medical director of the Minnesota Regional Poison Center. 

In the last year, poison centers nationwide saw a 67 percent increase in kratom-related calls.

“The majority of calls—just under half are around the age group from 21 to 39,” Fuchs said.

But two kratom exposure calls could be talking about two very different products. 

“If someone shows up in an emergency room or someone talks to their physician and says I take kratom, the physician doesn’t know even to ask is it leaf, is it extract, is a liquid shot?” said Dr. Christopher McCurdy, the leading researcher on kratom at the University of Florida. 

There’s a compound within kratom that’s causing a stir: 7-OH, an opioid-like compound found in trace amounts in leaf kratom but concentrated in some newer products.

“These can be highly abused. They can be very quickly habit-forming,” McCurdy said.

In July the DEA moved to reclassify 7-OH a Schedule 1 drug–which would ban any products with more than one milligram of 7-OH. That move is not yet official. Some convenience stores in Minnesota aren’t waiting and have already pulled 7-OH products off their shelves. 

Kratom products are age-restricted in Minnesota and banned in Wisconsin. Fuchs says if kratom products are in the home, to keep them from children.

“They should keep them up and away, in a cabinet or even better a locked cabinet or lockbox,” he said.

Even if 7-OH products stay off the shelves, health experts say there’s still potential for other kratom products to lead to dependence.

“We need longer-term studies for people to really understand — how can it be used on a daily basis in a safe way and in a way that can give whatever benefit that that somebody is really looking for? The only way you can do that is through controlled clinical trials,” McCurdy said.

While the research catches up to the market, the advice from experts to parents: know what’s in the home and seek help if kratom use becomes a concern.

News 8 Now asked La Crescent Police if they’ve undergone training on recognizing kratom products given their rise in popularity. The chief said all officers have been briefed on its effects and what to look for when they encounter it.

America’s poison centers are available 24/7 at (800)-222-1222. Emplify Health by Gundersen offers local addiction clinics, which can be reached at (608)-775-2287.

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