The Health Ministry Found That Ketum Extracts Could Help With Cancer & Are Safe for Short Term Use

By Karissa Lund  •  07 Dec 2021 in News

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Studies by the Health Ministry (MOH) have shown that ketum extracts have anti-malarial and anti-mutagenic effects, which prevent cells from undergoing changes that could cause cancer.

According to NST, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali also explained that six studies have been done by the Institute for Medical Research and all of them have shown that the extracts are safe for short term use.

However, research still needs to be done to study ketum’s safety for long term use.

Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said the studies on ketum were still at the pre-clinical stage and covered research on identifying the levels of chemical compounds within it, its safety as well as gauging ketum’s effectiveness.

“A number of safety studies for long-term use has to be carried out, but our pre-clinical data is insufficient in helping us progress to the clinical stage.

“The main problem is getting a consistent supply of raw material from producers, who provide a stable crop to obtain extracts that will meet standards. The ingredients are the same for all preclinical studies done.

“Having this continuity in supply for the pre-clinical and clinical studies is crucial to ensure the production of high-quality ketum products,” he told Dewan Rakyat while debating the ministry’s budget allocation at the committee level.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Azmi also said the Health Ministry has studies done on medical marijuana and its effectiveness so far. However, he said a scoping review on hemp was also done and a journal was published on it.

“As we know these two things have been hotly debated (ketum, marijuana/cannabis) for years and we don’t mean to restrict people, but there are insufficient studies. It needs further research.

“If this is beneficial we surely would want to allow it so people can use it for additional income and so on. At this point, we are tied to the law and it states that you can’t use or store it, but in the future, we will look into it,” he said.