Bloom & Oil Interview: Could Kratom Become the Next CBD?
Kratom CBD News
In case you missed it, last week we were featured in the leading cannabis news outlet “Bloom and Oil” in an article titled: “Could Kratom Become the Next CBD?” Questions like this arise often as more and more people are turning to natural products for their everyday life. And of course we must not forget the similar trajectories these two plants with a long tradition of use share. As we turn to natural solutions to our everyday problems, comparisons between cannabis products such as CBD and kratom will continue to be made.
Check out the full article here! Zack Ruskin did a great job covering a wide ranging conversation with co-founder Sam Weber.
Laying the Cards on the Table
The article begins with the standard question of how Top Tree began? There are many different answers to this question. They range from our passion for kratom and the benefits it provides to millions each and every day all the way to our disdain for legislation which unfairly targets those who practice their right to the pursuit of happiness through plant and chemical based means. Of course, all of these factors play into our passion that drives us day to day. Given these points, the factor which ultimately pushed us to start Top Tree Herbs as a business was the kratom tea niche.
Sam states: “We looked at the largest kratom survey ever done, which covered 10,000 people in the United States. In that survey, about a quarter of them said that they brew tea, which was surprising to me.
I’d bought kratom for years and years but I’d only ever seen it as a powder. We looked at a list of the traditional uses of kratom and learned that it has been used for hundreds years as a tea. Basically, the whole powder movement is a fundamentally American change. It’s largely based in economic reasons: shipping tea materials takes up a lot of room but they ship three times as much product if its processed into micronized powder. There are millions of people brewing kratom tea and it’s been taken that way for hundreds of years.” (Bloom and OIl, 2021)
Two Worlds Combine
The political and economic context constrains how we follow our passion for empowering people with traditional plant practices. In the US, we had to go into business. Cannabis was, and still is, turning a new page. Cannabis owes its widespread adoption to both advocates as well as businesses. Without the advocates there would be no business interest, without business interest there would be no legalization.
We’ve taken these lessons from history and applied them to kratom. We must act like the passionate advocates that we are, while also following the pragmatic rules of the business world. In short, we will do what it takes to normalize kratom.
What We’ve got Going On
As we progress through the article Zack, the author of the Bloom and Oil piece, asks Sam what we have going on now. Of course if you are familiar with Top Tree, you know that we’re currently working with longtime kratom researcher Dr. Oliver Grundmann to distribute his latest survey on kratom consumption in the United States. Dr. Grundmann approached us because he was impressed with our product, and recognized that it solved some problems that he had run into in his previous studies. First, partnering with Top Tree allowed Dr. Grundmann to limit the variables surrounding serving size.
The tea bags allow a measure of consistency in serving that allows Dr. Grundmann to better extrapolate what effects people are feeling from different use patterns.
This survey culminates in our latest podcast with Hamilton Morris and Dr. Grundmann, who discuss the pharmacology of kratom as well as the survey objectives.
Why you should read the Bloom and Oil Article
This is the first of a series of articles written by Zack Ruskin for Bloom and Oil about kratom. Following our article, Zack released an interview between him and Mac Haddow, head of the American Kratom Association. We recommend that you all read both articles as they offer a detailed perspective into the chaotic, ever evolving world of kratom.
