Kratom in South Florida kava bars: How it differs from FDA crackdown
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Kratom capsules are openly sold in Miami. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
When federal health regulators last week announced plans to control a compound found in the kratom plant, they made one big distinction:
- "We're not targeting the kratom leaf or ground up kratom," Food and Drug Administration commissioner Marty Makary told reporters. "We are targeting the concentrated synthetic byproduct that is an opioid."
Why it matters: That's an important detail for South Florida, which is home to multiple kratom and kava tea bars.
- One of the country's first kava bars opened in Boca Raton in 2002, per the Tampa Bay Times.
The big picture: Search for "kava kratom bars" on Google Maps, and over a dozen establishments pop up in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
- Unlike smoke shops or gas stations advertising kratom-derived concentrates, these coffee shop-style retailers serve drinks often in the form of tea brewed from the kratom plant. (Kava is a separate plant also typically sold as a beverage.)
- In its native Southeast Asia, the kratom plant has long been used as a remedy for pain and opioid withdrawal symptoms as well as for its euphoric and energizing effects.
What they're saying: "Kratom tea is the closest form of kratom to the traditional use of kratom in Southeast Asia," said Chris McCurdy, a University of Florida medicinal chemistry professor who's studied kratom for more than 20 years.
- "The ingredients are usually only kratom leaf powder that are sold in kratom/kava bars," McCurdy told Axios.
Friction point: What regulators are targeting is a compound derived from the plant called 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, that researchers have dubbed "legal morphine."
- It shows up in trace amounts in the plant, but the potency in 7-OH products like tablets, shots and gummies varies widely.
- Kratom leaf products are like a "light beer," McCurdy said. Extracting and concentrating 7-OH makes the potency closer to the grain alcohol Everclear.
What's next: The FDA's Makary declined to weigh in on whether regulators intend to target natural kratom down the line, saying the priority for now is 7-OH products.
The bottom line: When comparing the two, "we think it's night and day in terms of the public health risk," he said.