President Jokowi Asks For More Research On The Benefits Of Kratom Plants

Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko delivered a press statement at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Thursday (20/6/2024). (ANTARA/Yashinta Difa)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health, the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), and the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) are instructed to examine any content of the Kratom plant. "The President emphasized that what needs to be optimized is the principle of the benefits of the crafts," said Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko after attending a limited meeting chaired by President Jokowi regarding the legalization of the crotoms at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Antara, Thursday, June 20. In the meeting, said Moeldoko, it was discussed by the Ministry of Health's findings that the cronatoms were not categorized as dangerous narcotics and could be used, among others, for pain relievers. However, the government is still waiting for the results of further research from BRIN which is targeted to be completed in August. The government discussed the management and trading system of the krotom plant in response to complaints from the public, especially the 18 thousand families in West Kalimantan who had difficulty exporting the krotom, because there was no regulation regarding the standardization of their products. Moeldoko said that so far the krotom has been widely consumed traditionally by the people of Kalimantan as an energy source, like coffee. He also claims that the effect of addiction from the consumption of krotoms tends to be low. “So, there needs to be governance, trading system, and legality, so that there are no more circumatoms that contain unhealthy elements (such as bacteria) salmonella, ecoli, and heavy metals. Now (krotom export) is decreasing, because we don't have standards yet, so there are products that are rejected and the price goes down,” he said. Based on data from the Ministry of Trade in the January-May 2023 period, the main country for the export destination of Indonesian crotoms is the United States with a value of 4.86 million US dollars and the proportion covers 66.3 percent of total exports. Another export destination, namely Germany with 0.61 million US dollars, followed by India with 0.44 million US dollars, and the Czech Republic with 0.39 million US dollars. Krotom leaves are known to have active ingredients, namely alkaloids of Mitrine and 7-hydroxymitaragynine. These two active ingredients have an effect as an analgesic drugs or pain relievers. This active partnergynine compound contained in the krotom has the potential to cause addiction like consuming narcotics. The effects felt from the consumption of krotoms are the feeling of relaxation and comfort, as well as excessive euphoria if the krotom is used at high doses. Growing a lot in the Kalimantan region, krotom leaves are usually used for tea or processed into supplements, which are useful for helping reduce pain, improving skin health, and increasing libido. However, the side effects of using krotoms are quite dangerous if they are not in accordance with the dose.

The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) stated that cronatoms have not been regulated in the Narcotics Law, so local government regulations have not been able to limit the use of circumstellar matter.