Lange (pictured with her grandson) says kratom works better than pain pills.
By WHITNEY ELFSTROM
USFSP Student Reporter
GULFPORT – It’s a slow Monday afternoon. People are scattered throughout the bar, some smoking outside on the patio, others catching up with friends or doing work at the high tops inside.
But this is no ordinary watering hole.
The Low Tide Kava Bar specializes in drinks made from the leaves and roots of Southeast Asian plants, and its customers include a giggling 3-year-old named Augustus, who sits at the bar in the lap of his grandmother Kris Lange, 47.
Chattering away, the blond, blue-eyed toddler eats yogurt-covered raisins and plays games on his grandmother’s phone while Lange talks with the bartenders and nurses three drinks – a diet Mountain Dew, a cappuccino and a glass of kratom.
For most of her life, Lange said, she has had health issues that leave her with chronic pain. She once lived off pain pills, which she took every day. At one point she was taking more than 120 pills per month, she said, and when she stopped taking them, she was “in pain on a daily basis.”
That was until four years ago, when she discovered kratom.
Lange said she drinks two glasses per day – one in the afternoon and one right before bed. The drink helps alleviate her back pain and makes her comfortable enough to fall asleep at night. She said kratom doesn’t fully take away her pains – but neither did the narcotics.
“It helps me so much more than any kind of narcotic or anything that I’ve tried in the past,” she said.
Kratom comes from the leaves of a plant native to Southeast Asia called the Mitragyna speciosa, a tropical evergreen in the coffee family. You can brew it as a tea, take it as a powder in capsules, or chew and swallow it.
Kratom receives mixed views, however. Some tout it as the miracle product that helps with everything from anxiety to back pain, while others fear that it will be the next big addictive drug to take over the streets.
In November 2017, the Food and Drug Administration issued a public statement advising against kratom and warning users of the potential risks.
In a press release, the FDA said research has shown evidence “that kratom has similar effects to narcotics like opioids, and carries similar risks of abuse, addiction and in some cases, death.”
The herbal supplement has some opioid-like effects, leading the Drug Enforcement Administration to characterize it as an opioid. Because of this, some people use kratom to wean off an opioid addiction – something the FDA finds “very troubling.”
In August 2016, the DEA proposed a plan to label kratom as a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act, but there was such an outcry that the agency withdrew the plan and asked the FDA to speed up its study of the supplement, according the Washington Post.
Schedule 1 or Class 1 drugs – like heroin, cocaine and LSD – are illegal because of their high abuse potential. They have no medical use and serious safety concerns. Marijuana is also labeled as a Schedule 1 drug although it is legal in some states, including Florida, for recreational and medical use.
As of late 2017, the FDA reported 44 deaths caused by kratom, whereas in 2016, 42,249 people died from opioid overdose, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
For Lange, the DEA’s attempt to label kratom as a Schedule 1 drug is “very upsetting.”
“There’s a product here that helps people dramatically and does not have the side effects that most prescription drugs have,” she said. “I think they’re trying to do that because they’re not able to make money off of (kratom) right now.”
Lange said she also drinks kava, a tea that comes from the roots of the plant Piper methysticum and hails from the South Pacific.
The tea is said to have sedative-like properties. In some cultures, kava has been used for centuries in religious and cultural traditions, including weddings, political events, funerals and royal events.
Kava is less controversial than kratom in the U.S. But the FDA has warned that it might cause liver problems, and it is banned in the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
The kava bar in Gulfport offers three varieties of kava and four strains of kratom: White Maeng-Da, Green Malay, Red Maeng-Da and Green Borneo.
The first two strains of kratom energize the drinker, while the others aid in relaxation. The malay and borneo also bring feelings of euphoria. Lange said she prefers the Green Borneo with a shot of simple syrup.
The drinks range in price from $6 for a single (8-ounce) glass and $11 for a double (16-ounce) glass.
Unflavored kratom is comparable to a strong, thick black tea. The bitter taste leaves your mouth dry and lingers for a few minutes after your first sip.
Many drinkers prefer to flavor their kratom. According to John Clark, 28, who has been working at Low Tide since it opened in 2014, the most popular flavors are blood orange and passion fruit.
The kava bar, at 2902-A Beach Boulevard S, celebrated its four-year anniversary in February, and Clark said guests came all the way from California.
The slow-paced bar is open daily from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. and upholds the city’s motto, “Keep Gulfport Weird.”
On the outside, the building is a mustard yellow with a dark purple trim. The inside is painted light blue, and the back wall has a mural that reflects owner Sean Simpson’s love of Star Wars.
Indie music echoes throughout the bar, and the TV comedy “The Office” plays on a loop behind the bar. Brightly colored paintings from local artist Robert Tillberg hang on one wall, and a video game station is set up beside the couch in the back of the bar.
Above the bathroom doors is a sign that welcomes males, females and aliens.
According to Clark, Low Tide was the second kava/kratom bar to open in Pinellas County. He said that after it opened, kava bars started to pop up across the country.
“I’m not saying we started that, but after we opened up we started hearing about places in Manhattan, California, Portland and North Carolina opening up,” he said. “We just heard about all of these places and kinda just this huge network of kava bars. We’re kinda the young kids making a name for ourselves.”
Other local kava bars include Grassroots Kava House at 957 Central Ave., Bula Kafe at 2500 Fifth Ave. N and Mad Hatters Ethnobotanical Tea Bar at 4685 28th St. N.
Lange said that while she does venture occasionally to other kava bars she always comes back to Low Tide because it’s her “home base.” She stops by every day – sometimes twice.
She said she wishes that more people knew about kratom, and that those who do weren’t so reluctant to try it.
Clark echoes Lange’s feelings, saying that he doesn’t like the negative buzz about the herbal supplement.
“I understand that it’s one of those things where you don’t know what it is and then you have more of a tendency to fear it,” he said.
Information from the Washington Post, WebMD and the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology was used in this report.