Mitra Info – Herblux Botanicals

info

Introduction

Mitragyna speciosa or “mitra” is a tropical evergreen tree in the coffee family. This tree is native to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea, where it has been used medicinally for hundreds, if not thousands of years. There are reports that it can be used to help with pain, opioid/alcohol addiction, depression, anxiety, diarrhea, weight loss, energy, focus, and more. When consumed orally, mitra is said to serve as a natural stimulant in low doses and a natural sedative in high doses, as well as produce a mildly euphoric effect that resembles that of an opioid. It is most commonly distributed in raw powder form, which is essentially dried and ground mitra leaves.

The Science

For starters, just to be clear, an opiate is a drug naturally derived from the flowering opium poppy plant. On the other hand, the term opioid is a broader term that includes opiates and refers to any substance, natural or synthetic, that binds to the brain’s opioid receptors.

It is important to note that although mitra triggers the opioid receptors in the brain, most users will claim that it is technically not an opioid. The main distinction is that opioids characteristically induce respiratory depression, while mitra does not (unless nearly 1,000 times the suggested dose is ingested). Nevertheless, respiratory depression is largely what makes opioid abusers
subject to overdose.

Despite the cultural use of mitra passed down through countless generations in Southeast Asia, not much clinical research has been done and most of the information that is available today has only been available since 2012. That said, mitra is made up of hundreds of alkaloids, however, there are two main alkaloids that are responsible for producing the opioid-like effects. These alkaloids are mitragynine (pronounced mih-TRAH-jih-neen) and 7-hydroxymitragynine (also written 7-HMG). These two psychoactive alkaloids are shown to have anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties that bind as agonists to the opioid receptors.

According to a paper published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology in 2018, a team of researchers have discovered the lethal dose of mitragynine (in mice). They found that mice will die when they ingest 547mg (or 0.547g) of mitragynine per kgbw (kilograms of body weight). (Inverse.com, 2018)

Mitra powder typically contains anywhere from 1.2 to 2.1% mitragynine, meaning that one gram of mitra powder would contain about 0.012 to 0.021g (or 12 to 21mg) of this alkaloid.

To put things into perspective, take an individual who weighs 150lb or 68kg.

This 68kg individual would theoretically need to consume 37.196g of pure mitragynine in order to overdose. If there is 0.021g of mitragynine in every gram of mitra powder, that same individual would need to consume 1,771g (or 1.771kg) of mitra powder in order to overdose (which equates to about 2.6% of that person’s bodyweight). Even for someone who has never seen the raw powder before, it is easy to come to the conclusion that consuming a dose that large would be impossible to manage.

As for the other psychoactive alkaloid in mitra, 7-hydroxymitragynine, “none of the mice died from oral doses of 7-hydroxymitragynine, but the mice given very large oral doses experienced seizures and depressed breathing.” (Inverse.com, 2018)

Legality

Mitra is currently undergoing quite a few legal challenges all around the world. Thailand has banned the plant, regardless of its traditional backing by the people of Thailand. Many claim that the Thai legislator’s ban on mitra is an attempt to maintain their pharmaceutical opium sales figures. In 1836, mitra was reported to have been used as an opium substitute in Malaysia. Mitra was also used as an opium substitute in Thailand in the nineteenth century. This could be the motivation behind Thailand’s ban on mitra. Right now, any and all mitra business dealings in Thailand are illegally handled and controlled exclusively by Thai drug cartels. This is why it seems that 99% of mitra vendors in the U.S. source their mitra from Indonesia.

There are similar suspicions regarding big pharma’s role in influencing the current legal landscape of mitra in the United States. Doctors in Alabama (one of the states where mitra is banned) prescribe 142.9 opioid pain relievers per 100 persons, compared to the national rate of 82.5 per 100 persons. In case you didn’t read that correctly, yes, that’s more opioids prescribed than there are people in Alabama. (Joint Economic Committee, 2015).

In August of 2016, The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) proposed an emergency scheduling of mitra, classifying it as a Schedule I drug due to the proposed notion that the “drug” has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” This caused a major backlash from the mitra community. Mitra advocates publicly protested, signed petitions, and called on politicians in order to overrule this decision. The DEA withdrew its notice of intent to institute mitra’s active ingredients as a Schedule I drug and decided to solicit more information. The reversal was an unprecedented event for the DEA which came about mostly from the 23,000 comments received from the public supporting mitra, a number that was said to have “overwhelmed” the DEA. (Speciosa.org, 2018)

Mitra always seems to be pending legislation in several states within the U.S. at all times. As of January, 2020, mitra is completely legal and unregulated in the vast majority of states, however, there are currently six (6) U.S. states where mitra is outright banned. It is important to note the following information about each state:

Alabama – Mitra is a Schedule I controlled substance as of May 10, 2016.
Arkansas – Mitra is a controlled substance as of February 2016.
California – Legal except in San Diego where a local ordinance was passed.
Florida – Legal in Florida with the exception of Sarasota County.
Illinois – The sale of mitra is banned to minors under the age of 21. It is banned in Jerseyville, but is legal in the state.
Indiana – Mitra is classified as a synthetic drug (regardless of the fact that it is 100% (natural) and is banned.
New Hampshire – Legal if you are 18 and over.
Rhode Island – Banned in this state.
Tennessee – Mitra has just been made legal in this state.
Vermont – Banned in the state of Vermont.
Wisconsin – The alkaloids in mitra were classified as Schedule 1 in 2014 and therefore, it was banned

The Industry

Nearly all of the U.S. Mitra is grown, harvested, and supplied by manual laborers in Indonesia, where the product is legal and the industry is thriving. There are plenty of risks associated with importing Mitra from Indonesia, as the FDA frequently places import bans on the product that are tough to keep up with. This means that any shipment of Mitra coming from anywhere outside of the country could be subject to seizure by customs and/or the FDA. This is simply due to the fact that U.S. authorities need to know exactly what is coming into the country, and since Mitra is not federally regulated, there are no requirements for testing the product to make sure that it is safe.

When it comes to making sure the product is safe, many U.S. Mitra manufacturers, packagers, and vendors have taken it upon themselves to have their product tested for adulterants, bacterium, mold, and heavy metals by third party testing labs, Herblux Botanicals included.

All Mitra should be tested for any adulterants, yeast/mold, Coliforms/E.coli, E.coli 0157, Salmonella, Listeria, Staphylococcus Aureus, Pseudomonas, Arsenic, Cadmium, Copper, Lead, and Mercury. All U.S. Mitra vendors should be able to provide a certificate of analysis to whomever requests it. If you would like to see our certificate of analysis (test results), please do not hesitate to reach out via the contact page on our website.

Payment processing is a major nuisance for Mitra vendors in the United States. That is because not many payment processing companies or banks will back the sale of Mitra. This is due to the fact that Mitra has been deemed a “high risk” product. A product is considered “high risk” once it has been classified as a product that carries a high potential for contamination or foodborne illness. Don’t let this discourage you from purchasing Mitra though. We can assure you that our product is completely safe due to our (seemingly obvious) decision to have our Mitra tested; not just once, but twice! It is only deemed a high risk product because Mitra is not an FDA approved product (yet), and therefore, it is largely unregulated within the U.S. In other words, as alluded to previously within this document, it is not required for Mitra vendors in the U.S. to test their Mitra. Given the fact that reasonable payment processing services are difficult to acquire for Mitra vendors, we try our best to allow for credit and debit card payments on our website, but we do not promise that this feature will always be made available to our customers. We also accept checks for large wholesale orders, as well as cryptocurrency.

The Truth About Mitra

One major issue with the Mitra industry is dishonesty in marketing, and Herblux Botanicals is one of the only, if not, the only Mitra company out there whose intention is to be as transparent as possible with our customers. We have 3 flagship strains; the best of each color. They are White Maeng Da, Green Maeng Da, and Red Maeng Da. Our White Vein is most commonly used to help boost your energy and lift your mood. Our Green Vein is most commonly used to help with focus and assist in providing a euphoric effect. Lastly, our Red Vein is typically used to help with pain management.

Although it is difficult to find accurate information about Mitra and each of the different strains online, we highly encourage all of our customers to research the origin of each strain in depth. As previously stated, there are several misconceptions in the industry about most of the Mitra strains.

For example, many believe that each strain of Mitra comes from different types of Mitra trees. Many vendors and users believe that Maeng Da, the most popular Mitra strain, comes from a specific “Maeng Da” Mitra tree. In actuality, “Maeng Da” is a Thai phrase that translates to “pimp grade”, meaning that it is simply the best Mitra that each individual vendor has to offer. Another example is the “Elephant” strain, which actually just means that the powder is made out of the largest leaves from any given tree.

Contrary to popular belief, there is little to no difference between each of the various Mitra strains. There is, however, a significant difference between the three colors of strains (in terms of effects). Unfortunately, many irresponsible vendors and distributors (both Indonesian and American alike) have misled the majority of the industry to believe otherwise for marketing purposes. We believe that it is our duty to help educate consumers and set the record straight about these common
misconceptions (even though every other vendor seems to just roll with it).