Does Kratom Show Up on a Drug Test?

The short answer is no (probably). But lest you get lulled into a false sense of security, let’s cover some disclaimers.

What is Kratom?

Kratom is a relatively new drug on the scene, at least in the West. It derives from a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia, and is known for its stimulant and opioid-like effects. For more about kratom, you can check out this introductory article.

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Kratom Drug Test Considerations

To fully understand the likelihood that kratom will be detected in your system, we need to address the following:

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1.       Legal status of kratom

2.       How drug tests work

3.       How kratom is processed in the body

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Is Kratom Legal?

First of all, kratom is still a legal drug in most US states. This is important because it means that it is less likely to be targeted in standard drug tests. It’s also experiencing a relatively recent surge in popularity, another reason why it hasn’t shown up on standard drug tests yet.

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That said, there are some US states and localities that have outlawed or placed restrictions on kratom use. For more information on the legal status of kratom, you can also check out our in-depth article: Is Kratom legal?

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How do Drug Tests Work?                                                 

If you’ve been researching drug testing, you’ve probably heard the terms “5-panel” and “10-panel” bandied about. These are two standard drug tests that might be ordered as a pre-employment background check (for example).

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What is a 5-Panel Drug Test?

As the name suggests, a 5-panel drug test looks for five substances.  These are:

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1.       Opiates

2.       Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)

3.       Phencyclidine (PCP)

4.       Amphetamines (e.g. methamphetamine, Speed, Adderall)

5.       Cocaine

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The less common 10-panel drug test looks for these, plus an additional five. The additional substances on the 10-panel test are:

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6.       Barbiturates

7.       Benzodiazepines (e.g. Valium, Xanax)

8.       Methadone

9.       Methaqualone

10.   Propoxyphene

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Notice that some of these listings are individual drugs, whereas other listings constitute a group of drugs. This has to do with the way drugs are metabolized in the body. Some drugs are unique in this respect, so they get their own panel. Drugs are often grouped together if they share similar markers on tests.

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How Does a Standard Drug Test Work?

The first step of a standard drug test is to perform an immunoassay on a urine sample. Test strips embedded with antibodies are used to rapidly detect metabolites in the sample.

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This is a rapid technique, but can be prone to false positives. Therefore, if a positive result is obtained, the sample is subjected to additional testing using a more reliable and specific method.

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Usually, the secondary method involves an analytical technique called chromatography – mass spectrometry. Although more time-consuming, this is the gold-standard of analytical chemistry. It is used to confirm the results of the immunoassay.

Is Kratom an Opioid?

You may have heard that kratom has effects similar to opioids. Does that mean that kratom could be detected as an opioid on the 5-panel drug test?

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It’s true that kratom is an agonist of opioid receptors. In fact, research has shown that kratom has 13 times greater potency compared to morphine.

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However, kratom has enough structural differences from opioids that it is not technically classified in the same chemical group as opioids. Therefore, it won’t cause a positive test on a standard 5-panel or 10-panel drug test.

Does Kratom Show Up on a Drug Test?

Just because kratom doesn’t show up on a standard 5- or 10-panel drug test doesn’t mean that it can’t show up on any drug test. If an analytical chemist or drug testing company had a reason to look for kratom specifically, they could certainly find it on a drug test.

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Remember how we said that a positive result from an immunoassay will be validated using a more powerful technique called chromatography – mass spectrometry? We can also use this method to detect kratom from the outset.

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What Does Kratom Show Up as on a Drug Test?

Once a drug enters your body, it starts to get processed and broken down. The broken-down forms of the original chemicals are known as metabolites. A drug test ideally looks for metabolites of a drug, rather than the original bioactive compounds.

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Kratom contains more than 25 alkaloids which could all have biological activity. There are two alkaloids that are considered to be the most important and the best researched. These are called mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine. Analytical chemists can look specifically for mitragynine and its related compounds in a biological sample.

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There are a couple of issues with this. First of all, we said earlier that we would ideally look for metabolites of the active compound, rather than the unaltered alkaloid itself. The problem with kratom is that, because it is enjoying a newfound popularity in the West, we still have relatively limited research on its pharmacology. That means that we don’t yet understand the metabolism of kratom’s active compounds as well as we eventually will. In the meantime, most analytical methods testing for kratom will still look for unaltered forms of mitragynine.

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The second issue is that mitragynine actually shares a chemical formula with three other important alkaloids found in kratom. This group of four alkaloids are almost identical, except for slightly different spatial arrangements. The technical chemistry-name for this is “diastereomers.”

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Why does this matter? Chemicals with the same exact molecular weight can be difficult to differentiate in chemical analysis unless you’re specifically watching out for them. If the appropriate analytical method is developed, all four can be differentiated and individually quantified.

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This has a couple of important biological and legal implications.

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First of all, the presence of all four diastereomers in a biological sample indicates that the compounds derived from a plant source. That is, kratom itself was likely the source of the drug. In other cases, it is more likely that there was a synthetic source of the individual compounds.

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It is also important from a legal stand point because in some places, mitragynine is considered an illicit substance, while the other three diastereomers are not. If all four diastereomers are quantified as mitragynine, then it can falsely inflate the concentration of mitragynine found in the subject’s system.

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How Long Does Kratom Show Up on a Drug Test?

The half-life of mitragynine is thought to be about one day. That means that every 24 hours or so, the amount of mitragynine left in your system will be reduced by half. We don’t have enough data to say exactly what this means in terms of drug testing, but it is generally thought that mitragynine will be detectable in your system for up to a week after consumption.

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As with other substances, there are several factors that determine how long kratom will remain detectable in your system. These include:

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• Dosage: A higher dose is likely to be detected longer
• Age: For example, older individuals generally have slower metabolisms and drugs may remain in their systems longer
• Frequency of use: Chronic users will require more time to purge their system of kratom
• Type of testing: The sensitivity of the analytical method that is being used, as discussed above
• Body weight and composition: Body fat percentage could play a role in the metabolism of kratom in the body.

Contact Us For a Free Consultation

If you have any additional questions regarding kratom or any of our other products, please don’t hesitate to contact us for a free consultation.