Kratom is an herbal medicine with many health benefits. Most companies test for drugs before you they offer you employment, and if you are already employed, they may run surprise drug tests too. One may wonder if there’s a drug test for kratom, and how positive results for this herbal medicine may affect them. Herbal medicines that do not cause CNS effect may not necessarily be conducted by anti-drug campaigns. There is a lot of information on kratom drug testing you ought to know. A little research online can help you find out more.
Here are 5 things you should know about drug testing for kratom:
1. Standard test results for kratom
Since Kratom is an alkaloid, in case of a standard drug test, it will not show up. Kratom is a safer herbal medicine protected by law. A few countries may have restrictions on its use, but for some countries like Thailand, it’s basically because of the competition it poses on opiates. In any drug test, there is a chemical structure that illicit drugs have. The test shows that and for Kratom, it does not apply.
2. Half life of Kratom:
Not many research has been conducted to determine the half life of kratom that is how long does it take for 50% of the alkaloid to get eliminated from the body. This is an important aspect for drug testing for kratom. According to a recent research, the fastest half-life of kratom could be just more than 7 hours spreading the total elimination in 1.6 days.
Considering the slower end of half-life of kratom, it could take around 9 days for the drug to be completely eliminated from the body. Several evidence points to the fact, users taking kratom less frequently can eliminate it faster than the habitual users. Age, body fat content, genetics, and food and water intake can determine how long kratom would likely stay in your system.
3. Kratom and false positive results for opiate
You should understand right from the start that Kratom is not an opiate. That is why it can be used as an anti-opiate to manage withdrawal symptoms for people who are on opiate dense drugs after they quit. In some rare cases, a positive opiate drug test result may occur for kratom users. In this case, you may request for a GC=MC exam which will clear you from an accusation of illicit drug use.
4. Legal status of kratom
One may wonder why there should be any issues relating to Kratom test when it is legal in most countries. The fact is, Kratom is a natural herbal medicine. Though it is banned in Thailand, Burma, and Australia, Kratom has no legal controls in all other countries. In some countries, it may be under control but it’s not banned. Most drug tests will not detect herbal medicines. You should not be worried about testing positive for Kratom.
5. Drug interactions
Use of kratom is safe and has no known major side effects. When using Kratom, one should, however, avoid caffeinated drinks, codeine-based drugs, and other mind-altering drugs. It is a good idea to consider various effective strains as well. During drug test, they rarely test positive.
6. The period within which Kratom may show up in drug tests
In urine:
Though it is advisable not to take Kratom shortly before taking the drug test, the common urine test for a drug may not reveal Kratom use. There is no specific test for Kratom yet. Traces of kratom can be found in the urine over a week. Those who are not frequent users, kratom can be detected in their urine after a week.
In blood:
For habitual users, the chances are high that some amount of metabolites can be detected in blood tests after few days of ingestion.
In saliva:
There exists a possibility of detecting kratom metabolites in saliva tests.
If you are on any form of depressants drugs or stimulants, you should avoid taking them before the test. They may generate false positive results that may get you into trouble.
Kratom has major health benefits. It can be used for pain relief, to restore energy, depression management, and general relaxation effects. There is no specific test for this drug and in most countries, it is not illegal.
Article Submitted By Community Writer