Rachel Carlson

I asked Ed Boyer that.

He's a medical toxicologist at The Ohio State University, and that means his job is dealing with things like poisonings and overdoses in humans.

Is there any data about this?

There's not a lot, but there's some.

One study surveyed around 2,000 people who used kratom in the natural leaf form or concentrates or extracts, and a little over a quarter met criteria for kratom use disorder.

David Epstein told me those symptoms typically include withdrawal, increased tolerance, and cravings.

I have seen anecdotal reports on addiction.

There are Reddit channels devoted to people quitting Kratom and 7-OH products.

Of course, there are also ones where people say they've benefited.

But when it comes to the research, there's even less data on that.

Some animal studies and early data suggest 7-OH could be more addictive, especially because there are some products that are manufactured specifically to have a stronger impact on the body.

There have been deaths related to kratom and 7-OH, but the numbers of how many deaths are tricky.

A lot of them involve other substances like drugs or medications.

And then, of course, there's the fact that kratom and 7-OH aren't regulated by the FDA in the same way that prescription medications are.

And that's created some health scares.

Over the years, the FDA has recalled Kratom products for salmonella contamination and for unsafe levels of heavy metals like lead and nickel.

And then there's the fact that the products may not be labeled well to begin with.

Yeah, you might not.

Here's what Albert Garcia-Romeo told me.

He's an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.