For some, this plant is a life saver and for others it's simple another addiction. I will admit that it comes with some responsibility. If you are a daily user and then decide to stop, you will have withdrawals similar to opioid withdrawal. With that being said, in my experience, kratom is the safer alternative to pharmaceutical pain meds. A lot of kratom enthusiasts will down play the withdrawal but that's just because they don't want to "demonize" the plant. Anyone who says the withdrawl is no worse than coffee is either ignorant or lying. It really depends on how much the person takes and how consistently they take it. I know dozens of people who have been tremendously helped by this plant and a lot of them got completely off alcohol using it. Alcohol in my opinion and backed up by science is a lot worse for the human body than kratom will ever be. Kratom is a wonderful plant by like I said, it needs to be used responsibly and if someone uses it a few times a week, there shouldn't be any problems withdrawal wise or dependency wise. This documentary explores the media conception of it and dives into personal experiences with it along with scientific studies on it. Definitely a great beginners guide for someone who's interested in learning more about what it is. I discovered kratom back in 2009 when it was virtually unheard of in the US and the only place you could buy it was online. Now it's sold in every headshop across America and some gas stations as business owners are starting to see the market it has. My overall opinion on kratom is that it CAN be a lifesaver for specific people and others it can be another monkey on their back. For me? I used to use it a lot to curb my opioid addiction and urge to use. I do not use it as much anymore because of the dependent factor. I have experienced withdrawals coming off of it and they weren't fun. Still not nearly as bad as pill withdrawal but each person is different. I wouldn't say it produces a "high".. I would describe it more as a slight euphoria and sometimes intense depending on the quality or if it's an extract or what not (I would stay away from taking extracts too much as they knock your tolerance way up and make it harder to come off of it)
All n all, it's a pretty quality documentary on the plant. Give it a watch if you are curious.