Kratom has been a popular alternative to such powerful opioids as heroin and can lead to its own form of addiction

Not quite a Shirley Temple | Opinion

Collier Coalition for Healthy Minds released a guest commentary in response to an article in Naples Daily News about Kratom.

Last month, this paper ran an article entitled, “5 Local Kratom and Kava Bars to Try during Dry January 2025.” For those of us who work in the behavioral health field, the use of terms like “sober” and “mocktail” was jarring in the context of an invitation to consume substances that are psychoactive in nature.

While we take no issue with the establishments highlighted in the article, the author’s intimation that kratom and kava could be the equivalent of the old Shirley Temple, Roy Rogers, or virgin piña colada, is misleading. Depending on the strain and dosage, kratom has been a popular alternative to such powerful opioids as heroin and can lead to its own form of addiction and painful withdrawal.

Read the full guest commentary on Naples Daily News here.