Pubdate: Mon, 04 Apr 2005
Source: Star, The (Malaysia)
Copyright: 2005 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd.
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com.my
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/922
Author: S.S. Yoga
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Malaysia

DRUG IN DEMAND

S.S. Yoga Finds Out Why an Exotic Tree Has Been in the News for The Wrong 
Reasons.

A CERTAIN tree is getting scientists excited because of its medicinal and 
drug-related properties. The authorities, on the other hand, are rather 
displeased about the effects this tree or more accurately its leaves have 
on people. What is the fuss about?

The tree, locally known as ketum or biak or scientifically, Mitragyna 
speciosa, is found mainly in Perlis and Kedah and the East Coast of 
Peninsular Malaysia. Ketum also grows in Thailand (where it is called 
kratom) and the Philippines, while other Mitragyna species are found in 
India and Africa.

Ketum has been in the news for the past few years mainly because some 
people have been using its leaves as a drug that can give them a high akin 
to some banned narcotics.

Scientists and academicians are upset that the police have spearheaded 
operations to chop down ketum trees in a bid to stop it from being used as 
an alternative to ganja It has been reported that many stalls sell drinks 
made from ketum leaves and since it is cheap (RM1 a packet), many youths 
are using it as an alternative to other drugs especially ganja (cannabis).

Assoc Prof Dr Mustafa Ali Mohd of Universiti Malaya, Faculty of Medicine, 
Pharmacology Department, at a recent seminar to examine the use and abuse 
of ketum, says that so far only one study has been done on its addictive 
propensity.

Dr Sangun Suwanlert's study examined users of the plant in Thailand in 1975 
and concluded that there were indeed addictive effects. In Thailand, the 
plant has been banned since 1943.

Since August last year, anyone in Malaysia who is in possession of ketum 
leaves or involved in processing and selling it can be charged under 
Section 30 (3) of the Poisons Act 1952 and fined up to RM10,000 and/or 
jailed for four years.

Scientists and academicians have no problem with that but are upset that 
police have spearheaded some operations to chop down the "innocent" trees. 
Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Noh Omar was reported to have said 
that unless they can find people to guard every ketum tree (to prevent 
youth from using the leaves to get high), the police should be allowed to 
chop them down.

ACP Nooryah Md Anwar of the Royal Malaysian Police's Narcotic Department at 
Bukit Aman clarifies that planting the tree is not an offence (under the 
Poisons Act) and the police don't have the authority to fell the trees.

"If it is a drug, it is a drug. We would like to have it listed under the 
Dangerous Drugs Act as that gives us more power and governs even the 
planting of the tree. We have observed that the dosage and frequency of use 
have gone up," explains ACP Nooryah.

She provides some statistics to back her claim. In July last year there 
were two seizures and in January this year there were 45. Slightly more 
than 1,000 kg of the leaves and under 236,000 litres of the drink have been 
seized. There have been 99 cases since it became an offence to handle ketum 
and 29 have been charged, but no one has been jailed.

Enforcement officers of the Health Ministry's Pharmacy Division are 
authorised to conduct operations but they can only seize and issue summons 
and not make arrests, says Azman Yahya, an official of the division.

He says as a result of the crackdown, 1kg of ketum leaves which used to 
cost RM10 has gone up in price to RM16. The bitter drink, which looks 
similar to sugar cane drink, now sells at RM2 a packet.

Azman adds that he has seen ketum users with withdrawal symptoms.

ACP Nooryah says that the symptoms include hostility, aggression, mucus 
formation, inability to work, aching in muscles and joints and jerky 
movements of the limbs.

Researchers like Mustafa say that it is a mild drug which can be used to 
wean hard-core addicts the way methadone has been used. ACP Nooryah is 
having none of that and says it is just substituting one form of addiction 
with another. Mustafa counters that it is giving lower dosages of something 
that is not as addictive to slowly help addicts kick their habit.

What Mustafa and scientists like consultant chemist Prof Datuk Ikram Said 
of Univeristi Kebangsaan Malaysia are also saying is that there are many 
potential pharmaceutical properties in ketum. Prof Ikram is one of the 
foremost experts on ketum having started research on it in 1984. He agrees 
that there is abuse, but there is also "use" and pleads that the trees not 
be destroyed.

"There is an alkaloid (nitrogenous substance found naturally in plants) 
called mitragynine that is not found in other Mitragyna species. In 
Malaysian ketum it makes up 12% of all the alkaloid content while in the 
Thai species it accounts for 66%. It could prove to be a promising drug 
which is stronger than morphine," says Prof Ikram.

He adds that many of these alkaloids exist naturally and cannot be synthesised.

Scientists feel there are many more properties of the ketum that need 
further research.

They include its potential as an analgesic (painkiller like morphine), as 
cough medication like codeine, and as an anti-inflammatory agent. These are 
closely aligned to the traditional use of ketum as a cure for fever and 
coughs and as treatment for diarrhoea.

To date they have not detected any toxic effects of the plant.

They say if these potential properties are researched and commercialised, 
ketum could save the country millions of ringgit in imported drugs.

They maintain that action should be taken against those who abuse the plant 
but the plant itself should be preserved.

A national committee on ketum has been formed and perhaps it would be the 
best body to resolve this issue. 
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