Kratom Science Podcast

Joanna Bernstein is a writer originally from Pittsburgh who now resides in Oregon. In 2014 Joanna had a painful bacterial infection that started her on opiates. She eventually developed an addiction and wrote about her experience with recovery in a "3/4 house" in Pittsburgh's Carrick neighborhood. Later she would nearly relapse after being denied pain medication for Stage 4 endometriosis. That's w...

Kailee joins Brian to look at the latest kratom news. This month we look at an investigative report asking questions about academic freedom at University of Florida that directly affected kratom scientists, past podcast guest Oliver Grundmann and Christopher McCurdy. Kratom regulations preventing sales to minors pass Pennsylvania House. A kratom consumer protection act is vetoed by the Missouri go...

Kailee joins Brian for this month's kratom news. Florida Drug Policy Council considers a kratom ban in the state. A Florida car accident involving a passed out man with a needle in his pocket is blamed on kratom. Big cannabis news: Bill for federal decriminalization of cannabis introduced. WNBA athlete Brittney Griner sentenced to 9 years in Russia for 0.7 grams of vape oil. Study finds associatio...

Walt Prozialeck returns to discuss his new article published in the journal Toxics , “Public Health Implications and Possible Sources of Lead (Pb) as a Contaminant of Poorly Regulated Kratom Products in the United States” . We talk about the dangers of high levels of Pb exposure, how even moderate doses in some products can cause toxicity over time, how Pb can compound in levels commonly found in...

Kailee joins Brian to discuss the latest in kratom legal, international, and science news for July 2022. Articles discussed in this episode: PA House passes bill banning sale of Kratom to minors https://www.wkbn.com/news/pennsylvania/pa-house-passes-bill-banning-sale-of-kratom-to-minors/ Online kratom sales okayed by [Thailand’s] House https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2337463/online-kr...

Stacey Lloyd is a microbiologist and GMP complaince specialist. She founded the Kratom Vendors Association to help kratom vendors comply with Good Manufacturing Practices. In an unregulated kratom world, the need for quality control for a psychoactive substance is essential for the future of a legal, regulated, and legitimate kratom market. We talk about what vendors can expect with a membership i...

Jennifer Bruce has "20+ years of industry experience in establishing and implementing quality systems for drugs, OTCs, biologics, dietary supplements and cosmetics from early phase development through commercialization" (from her LinkedIn). She became disillusioned with the pharmaceutical industry, and in 2019 discovered the need for quality assurance in the kratom industry. We talk about why it's...

Jakub Zientala, originally from Poland and residing in the Netherlands, calls himself a European at heart and soul. He holds degrees in European and International Law and public policy, and he curently serves as EU and Government relations manager for the newly formed European Kratom Alliance. Kratom is already banned in many major European countries such as the United Kingdom, France, and Italy....

Dr. Kirsten Smith of National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) joins us once again to talk about an upcoming comprehensive study that will include a detailed nationwide survey, testing of kratom samples, and testing select individual kratom consumers. We also cover several papers that Dr. Smith led or co-authored that have been published since her last appearance in summer of 2021 ( Episode 55 ), ad...

Jamie is the host of Everything Kratom Podcast that started in the fall of 2021. The podcast features shorter episodes about different strains of kratom and Jamie's thoughts on kratom related issues, but also longer episodes with conversations with guests. We talk about why he started the podcast, why there should be more podcasts with our own unique formats, kratom deaths and mourning parents, hi...

Morgan Godvin was a heroin user for five years before being convicted and sentenced to five years in prison on federal "delivery resulting in death" charges after a close friend died of an overdose. Morgan began writing in prison and published her first piece while still behind bars. Upon being released to a halfway house in 2018, she enrolled in university, and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2021....

Anthony Roberts is a journalist, author of two books on steroids, and and an expert in the field of performance enhancing drugs, dietary supplements, and physical training. He researched interview subjects for the 2018 Chris Bell documentary A Leaf of Faith . We talk about making the movie, grieving parents who target drugs for banning, what he found on former kratom opponent Daniel Fabricant whil...

UPDATE: INTRO ADDED.we wanted to clarify that we support the AKA's lobbying efforts. In Part 2 (see Episode 76 for Part 1), discuss Susan Ash's exit from the AKA, the motivations behind it, and her response to the allegations against her. We'll also get into the importance of a media campaign in expanding kratom knowledge, what happened to the other kratom organizations, what Indonesian kratom far...

Susan Ash discovered kratom in 2010 after suffering from the effects of Lyme Disease, which she believes she contracted spending years in the forest as part of her education in environmental and forest preservation work. A few years later, it was apparent kratom consumers needed an advocacy organization as some states had banned the plant based on its association with new synthetic drugs. Along wi...

"NO JUDGEMENT, NO SHAMING, NO PREACHING, JUST LOVE! (800) 484-3731 If you are going to use by yourself, call us! You will be asked for your first name, location, and the number you are calling from. An operator will stay on the line with you while you use. If you stop responding after using, the operator will notify emergency services of an \"unresponsive person\" at your location." - From neverus...

Please refer to this post on the latest information (as of 2/15/2022 on all the state kratom bills. https://www.kratomscience.com/2022/02/07/february-2022-update-on-state-kratom-bills-whos-regulating-whos-banning/ Please contact your state representatives using this link https://myreps.datamade.us/ Updates on state bills in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississipp...

Baylen Greever grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. His family moved to Belgium during his high school years. He later got involved with the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policy (ENCOD) and introduced kratom to its founder, the late Joep Ooman. Baylen worked in particular with Friends of the Coca Leaf, to provide education and advocate for policy about coca in plant for (vs. the extract...

Brandon Belgard is a plumber from California who began to have back problems after sports injuries and car accidents as a young man. Later he was diagnosed with a degenerative spinal disease called spondylosis. After using prescription opioids for a period of time he discovered kratom which he's been using for the past five years. We also talk about other medicinal herbs that Brandon employs in hi...

Marcelle Morfin got a back injury while serving in the Army in 2006, and that was the beginning of her chronic pain journey. She was later diagnosed with degenerative disk disease, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, IBS, and cervical stenosis with myelopathy. She had been prescribed opioid pain medication, but had an aversion to taking pills. In 2017, after contemplating suicide, she discovered kratom...

My guest from Denver Colorado was diagnosed with degenerative disk disease and lives with severe chronic pain. Unable to receive adequate pain management, she found kratom, uses it in moderate amounts, and it works for her. This Shawn Wenzel and this is her kratom story. Disclaimer: None of the content in this or any episode of the Kratom Science Podcast, Kratom Science Journal Club, nor on any pa...

Dr. Chris McCurdy is a medicinal chemist who has done groundbreaking research on kratom since 2004, starting at the University of Mississippi. In 2017 Dr. McCurdy moved to the University of Florida College of Pharmacy where he continues his research today with an expert team of pharmacologists, unlocking the function of kratom's many alkaloids and how they interact with our metabolism and brains....

Dirk Netter from Germany is the author of one of the only German language books on kratom called Kratom: Ethnobotany, Application, and Culture . As a student at Phillips University in Marburg, Germany he formed the Student Association for Interdisciplinary Psychedelic Research. Dirk Netter has active in the formation of a European kratom alliance to advocate for legality and sensible policy in Eur...

Dru Clay, named after legendary comic Andrew "Dice" Clay, grew up in a rough area of Modesto, California. That necessitated a need for self protection, that Dru ound in martial arts. Dru competed in tournaments growing up, studied sports medicine and psychology, and became a boxing trainer. Because of the constant physical pain endured by athletes, Dru saw the prevalence of drug use, especially in...

Kratom Science is very grateful to bring you this interview with Pascal Tanguay. For 20 years, Pascal has been working on harm reduction policies in Southeast Asia and in Thailand where he lives. Pascal is a bottomless well of knowledge on the history of drug policy and kratom. He's worked with the International Drug Policy Consortium and Asian Harm Reduction Network and as a private consultant. W...

Hulu's final episode of Dopesick aired yesterday. "I cancelled my Hulu account," says my guest, Claudia Merandi. "I called it Dopesickening. Hollywood had to profit off the pain community... I refuse to watch." Claudia Merandi has suffered from Chrohn's disease since she was a child, as documented in her book Crohn's: The Other 'C' Word: Crohn's Disease, Court Reporting, and Custody Battles and he...