On Tuesday, Aug. 12, Ventura County Behavioral Health briefed the Board of Supervisors on an emerging public health threat: kratom, an unregulated substance increasingly linked to overdoses and deaths in the county.
The update was led by Dr. Tipu Khan of the Ventura County Medical Center’s Addiction Medicine program, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Christopher Young, Ventura County Behavioral Health’s Substance Use Services Medical Director Dr. Joseph Vlaskovits, and Public Health Officer Dr. Uldine Castel.
Kratom, made from the leaves of the Mitragyna speciosa tree found in Asia, acts as a stimulant in low doses and as a sedative in higher doses. In the United States, it is rarely consumed in its natural form. Instead, kratom is typically processed, refined, and often mixed with other additives. These alterations, especially when combined with other drugs, can increase the risk of serious or fatal side effects of mitragynine, the psychoactive compound found in kratom…