Kratom Science Podcast

Brian Gallagher will be moving on from Kratom Science after this final episode. I started as a writer and social media manager at Kratom Science in 2018, and developed the podcast in 2019. I have had the privilege of interviewing world renowned kratom experts, pharmacologists, psychologists, social scientists, chemists, addiction psychiatrists, veteran journalists, activists, and regular people wh...

Town officials linked to law enforcement interests want to criminalize kratom consumers in Zachary Louisiana. A hearing may be anywhere form September 5 - 12. Please contact ambre.devirgilio@cityofzachary.org and dmcdavid@cityofzachary.org and please ask them to allow you to roam free with kratom tea in that part of OUR country. The kratom law in Louisiana passed this summer still allowed for muni...

Jakub Zientala is co-founder and Government Relations Manager of the European Kratom Alliance. He has appeared on KSP episodes #82 and #96. In this episode we have an update about regulation of kratom as a "psychomodular" substance in Czech Republic. We also talk about the legal status of kratom in the Netherlands and other European countries. Stick around for the whole episode, as Jakub unveils s...

Call in 412-353-9770 and leave a message with your kratom questions, testimonies, experiences, news, and anything else kratom related. We don't give medical advice, we just direct you toward the latest science. We love you, Kratom Science

My guests this week are Adam Peak and Leann Pierson from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They co-own Bella Sunrise Smokeshop in Baton Rouge. Recently Adam and Leann gave emotional and informative testimony before Louisiana's Senate and House, as well as in Livingston Parish, to oppose the prohibition of kratom, and in support of regulation bills. Will their help, both proposed kratom ban bills were defeat...

Brian covers his trip to Athens, Ohio in April for a visit to the Cannabis Museum. The museum, founded and curated by Don Wirtshafter with the help of many including Kratom Science Journal Club co-host Dr. Jon Cachat, displayed its first exhibit "Hemp, Hackles, and History". While Brian was there, the museum parking lot was grounds for "Community Hemp Fair" featuring hemp farmers, vendors, music,...

Dr. Peter Grinspoon is an instructor at Harvard Medical School, primary care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a 25-year cannabis specialist. His new book, released on 4/20/23 is called Seeing Through the Smoke: A Cannabis Specialist Untangles the Truth About Marijuana . We speak about how the science of cannabis, as well as kratom, is often skewed by the War on Drugs on one side th...

Brian looks at a news report from Bedford, Texas where a diabetic man ended up in the ICU after long term, heavy kratom use including 8-10 "bottles" per day (presumably extract shots) as well as vaping kratom. Yes kratom vaping is actually a thing, and it apparently damaged his lungs. In comparison to the majority of kratom consumers who use plain leaf kratom, cases like this illustrate the toxico...

Brian talks about his new article "Kratom and Hallucinations: Examining the Evidence Behind the Claims". It boils down to one case report of a man who hadn't slept for a week, 45 poison control center calls, and 6 mild symptoms unrelated to kratom use out of a 150 user sample. Yet with such sparse evidence, 5.7 million Google search results and even a handful of peer-reviewed papers claim kratom c...

Bethany Hallam is Councilperson-at-Large for Allegheny County. At age 29 she defeated a long-term incumbent after running openly as a formerly incarcerated person in Allegheny County Jail in recovery from opioid use disorder. She now sits on the jail's oversight board. We talk about harm reduction, drug decriminalization, the exploitation of incarcerated people, and why inmates are dying in county...

Check out Brad's podcast, Chronically Human https://www.youtube.com/@chronicallyhuman1582 Brad Miller recently testified for his right to consume kratom at a judiciary hearing at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta. In his testimony Brad emphasized the sovereignty of the individual and the right to choose his own treatment for his chronic conditions. "This fallacy that the FDA and the medical est...

"Are you a #kratom user? Consider participating in this ~3 min long anonymous survey and help us better understand kratom: https://survey.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5dWBqO4QpQ7cTmC?fbclid=IwAR0Rot4KzS93TBeiTSbw45AwrmT-SRFEz6uC04-awTIyJEntgGpD8zA3ALA " - Tweet from Dr. Stanciu Dr. Cornel Stanciu is an addiction psychiatrist and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Dartmouth Geisel School of Medi...

Paul Schexnaydre fought in Afghanistan and after coming home says he "lost ten years of my life" to the alcohol, opioids, and methamphetamine he used to self-treat PTSD. He later discovered kratom, quit other substances, and now runs a business called Sacred Rivers Tea Company with his wife, Fallon, who joins him on the podcast today. Paul recently testified on two occasions to the Livingston Pari...

Livingston Parish, Louisiana council is voting on a kratom ban ordinance tonight jard@lpcgov.com, gtalbert@lpcgov.com, mkeen@lpcgov.com, jwascom@lpcgov.com, esandefur@lpcgov.com, gmcmorris@lpcgov.com, tgirlinghouse@lpcgov.com, rdelatte@lpcgov.com, smack@lpcgov.com We hit 100 episodes! We're in the middle of legislation season, so there's no time to celebrate. Brian goes through the January 31st or...

Bridget Williams tells us she was "disabled from birth". She was born with uniplegic cerebral palsy to a mother in active alcoholism. She was sexually assaulted as a teenager at a boarding school that she subsequently ran away from prior to graduating. At 16 she was kicked out of her home, lived on the streets of the Lower Eastside of Manhattan, and started to use heroin. After cleaning up through...

GoFundMe - Donate to the Family of Marshall Price https://www.gofundme.com/f/marshall-price-justice-fund ***The family of Marshall Price is holding a peaceful demonstration this weekend*** SATURDAY JANUARY 21, 11AM-5PM (The same time frame Marshall suffered in his cell without medical attention) at Greene County Jail 1809 N Rockingchair Rd, Paragould, AR 72450 Posted to Justice for Marshall Price...

!!! Supporters of the right to consume kratom are encouraged to attend !!! The Livingston Parish Ordinance Committee meeting Thursday January 12, 2023 at 5:00 pm at the Governmental Building 20355 Government Blvd Livingston LA 70754 in the Livingston Parish Council Chambers. On the Agenda: Discussion of Kratom prohibition ordinance Sources brought to the attention of Kratom Science that Sheriff Ja...

Jakub Zientala calls in from the Netherlands to talk about the pending kratom legislation in the Czech Republic. His organization, the European Kratom Alliance (EKA) along with the Czecho-Slovak Kratom Association (ČSAK), and the progressive Pirate Party is pushing for regulation that would fall outside food and drug laws of the European Union. Kratom, along with cannabis, psilocybin, and some oth...

Jon Griggs was involved in a high profile whistleblower case after he was attacked for exposing a heroin ring in a prison. He's now challenging the events around the Marshall Price case. Marshall Price died in prison from injuries that are consistent with him being beaten to death. A man with no history of violent crimes, Price overcame a heroin addiction with the help of kratom. Griggs put in an...

GoFundMe fundraiser for Marshall Price's family https://www.gofundme.com/f/marshall-price-justice-fund?qid=b822a1c4a9f7b7be0c44c34d8931bc77 Demonstration: Friday December 16, 5pm at Greene County Jail 1809 N Rockingchair Rd Paragould, AR 72450 "Bring signs/posters that say things like: #JusticeforMarshall , Kratom Saved His Life" Tweetstorm: Friday December 16, 6pm CST #JusticeForMarshall #Justice...

UPDATE: There is a GoFundMe for Marshall's family to pay for funeral expenses. Please share this on your social media with the hashtags #JusticeForMarshallPrice #JusticeForMarshall https://www.gofundme.com/f/marshall-price-justice-fund?fbclid=IwAR2_lkkG80LQBNCYcQTmOFy5ghoJxqDjDl76HgFdP0ePkpZ0lAHthAn_GUg Marshall Price, an Arkansas man sentenced on November 16 to 10 years in prison for carrying 7 o...

Brian flies solo for the December edition of Kratom News, where he reads and rants about the case of the Arkansas man sentenced to 10 years in prison for carrying kratom, another family sues a kratom vendor for wrongful death, police in Louisiana continue to lobby so they can arrest kratom consumers, a wealthy New Jersey beach town gets bored and outlaws kratom and Delta-8, and we have an update f...

Brian and Kailee talk about the results of the state marijuana and psychedelics referendums from Tuesday's election, a wrongful death lawsuit against kratom companies and the American Kratom Association in Georgia, a death in Transylvania County, North Carolina attributed to suboxone mixed with vaped kratom, a drug company is undergoing human clinical trials for a mitragynine based drug, and anoth...

Drew Turner is a U.S. Navy combat veteran who appeared in the documentary A Leaf of Faith . We talk about an experimental extract he tried, recreational cannabis in his home of Michigan, Biden's federal cannabis possession pardons, the present and future of kratom and cannabis regulation could look like, rare cases of severe kratom toxicity and why they occur, lead and mining in the kratom growing...

Kailee joins Brian to cover kratom and cannabis news for the past month. This month: Biden pardons thousands convicted of simple possession of weed, Michigan has a bill regulating kratom, a Welsh man can't believe kratom importation is illegal in the UK, lab testing will be required for kratom exports from Thailand, and Kratom Science asks whether a 7-hydroxymitragynine-based drug is a good idea....