Ketum (kratom) addiction treatment in Malaysia
Ketum addiction treatment is for people who drink air ketum every day and find that stopping is harder than they expected. Salus offers it as a 90-day residential stay in Cyberjaya, Selangor, with medical oversight, therapy and family sessions. Kratom addiction in Malaysia is easy to overlook because ketum is drunk openly, but a university study in the north found more than half of the users it surveyed severely dependent.
Signs that ketum use has become dependence
Ketum is often treated as harmless, so the signs are easy to explain away. Look for the pattern.
- The number of glasses a day keeps creeping up, and the day feels incomplete without them.
- Poor sleep and nervousness, two of the withdrawal symptoms users reported most in the Universiti Sains Malaysia study.
- Muscle aches, a low fever or a general unwell feeling when a drink is late or the person tries to cut down.
- Carrying on after ketum has caused trouble at work, with money or in the family.
- Several attempts to stop alone, each one ending when the symptoms return.
- Mixing it with cough syrup, fizzy drinks or other substances for a stronger effect, or moving on to other drugs.
How ketum addiction treatment works at Salus
Every guest is seen by a psychiatrist on arrival, and the medical team manages withdrawal before therapy begins. Many people who depend on ketum also carry anxiety, poor sleep or older pain, so these are treated in the same plan. The diagnosis decides the therapy, and then the work turns practical: how to have energy, sleep and a working day without the drink.
01
Assessment on arrival
A medical review and a psychiatric assessment establish how much ketum the person drinks, what else they use, and which medicines they take, including cough syrup or opioids.
02
Withdrawal managed
The medical team manages withdrawal safely and comfortably. A third of ketum users in the Universiti Sains Malaysia study reported severe withdrawal symptoms, so we do not leave this to willpower.
03
Therapy matched to diagnosis
Cognitive behavioural therapy and motivational interviewing work on the patterns behind the habit. Trauma-focused work is added for people who began using ketum to cope with older emotional pain.
04
Energy without the drink
For people who started ketum to get through physical work, the plan rebuilds sleep, food, movement and daily routine. A Salus Clinician works alongside medical care on this.
05
A plan for going home
Family sessions explain what the person went through. A written aftercare plan covers work and money pressures, and support continues once the person is home.
Ninety days, residential, in Cyberjaya.
A private room, all meals, 24-hour care with medical oversight, individual and group therapy, family sessions and a written plan for going home. One price, with nothing added later.
90 days
Four phases: Restore, Connect, Participate, Integrate
RM7,000 per month
All-inclusive
Is ketum really addictive?
For many regular users, yes. Researchers at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) surveyed 293 ketum users in Penang, Kedah and Perlis. Fifty-five per cent had severe dependence and a third had severe withdrawal symptoms. Sleeping difficulties and nervousness were among the most common. All were men, 85 per cent were employed and 46 per cent were aged 18 to 25.
Quantity matters. People who drank four or more glasses a day were much more likely to be severely dependent or to have severe withdrawal than lighter users. The same study found that most users kept up ordinary social functioning, which is part of why families miss it: a person can hold down a job, seem fine and still be unable to stop.
What is ketum withdrawal like, and does it need a doctor?
Users describe poor sleep, nervousness, muscle aches, a low fever and a strong urge to drink again. We treat this as a medical question. Studies in the north found that many ketum users had used heroin before and drank ketum to ease opioid withdrawal, and a hospital study in Taiping found that nearly half of the patients in a methadone programme also used it. So the medical team asks about everything the person takes.
Some people drink ketum mixed with cough syrup that contains codeine, an opioid, in a drink often called koktel or chakoroi. Stopping that mix is a different medical question from stopping ketum alone, which is why assessment comes first. If the assessment shows hospital care is needed before a residential stay, we will tell you.
Is ketum legal in Malaysia?
Ketum is still controlled. Mitragynine, its active ingredient, is listed as a controlled psychotropic poison under the Poisons Act 1952, and processing leaves into ketum water for sale is an offence, according to a USM researcher quoted by The Malaysian Insight in 2022. The rules have been changing, so check the current position if it matters to you.
A newer law points towards treatment. Amendments to the drug dependants law, Act 283, came into force on 22 August 2025. According to the Director General of the National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK), they extend the agency's powers from drug addicts to people who misuse drugs and substances, with an emphasis on treatment and rehabilitation. Whatever the legal position, a drink sold openly can still produce dependence.
How long does ketum rehab take, and what does it cost?
NIDA's review of treatment research finds that most people need at least three months to cut down or stop, with the best results from longer stays. Salus is a 90-day stay, through four phases, Restore, Connect, Participate and Integrate, that move on when the person is ready. For a man who has worked on ketum for years, much of the time goes on learning how an ordinary working day feels without it.
Ketum rehab at Salus is RM7,000 per month, all-inclusive, about RM21,000 over 90 days, covering the room, meals, 24-hour medical oversight, therapy, family sessions and aftercare. If the person is the family's earner, tell us and we will talk through payment plans openly.
Questions families ask.
Is kratom the same as ketum?
Yes. Ketum is the Malaysian name for the leaf of Mitragyna speciosa, and kratom is the name used in most other countries. Its active ingredient is mitragynine. In Malaysia the leaf is usually boiled into air ketum and drunk through the day, or chewed fresh. The dependence and treatment described on this page apply under either name.
He says ketum is no worse than coffee. How do I answer that?
Coffee does not usually cause severe withdrawal, and in the USM study a third of ketum users had it. Arguing about the word rarely helps. A better question is what happens on a day he has none: poor sleep, aches, restlessness and a strong urge to drink again are signs of dependence, whatever the drink is called.
He started ketum to get off heroin. Should he carry on?
Research in the northern states found that many ketum users had used heroin and drank ketum to ease opioid withdrawal, because it is cheap and easy to find. It can leave a person with a second dependence. Tell the medical team about both, and nobody should stop a prescribed medicine on their own. The team will plan around the whole picture.
How do I talk to a man who says he must drink it to work?
Start with his energy and his health, not with the drink. Say what you have noticed and ask how he finds getting through the day. Offer a specific next step, such as a call to Salus that you make together. You can also phone us first, without him knowing, for advice on how to approach him.
Will anyone know he is at Salus?
Only the people you choose to tell. The care team alone holds clinical information, and to the rest of the hotel he is simply a guest. If you are worried about word getting back to the community or the workplace, say so on the first call, which is confidential and carries no obligation.
The clinical team behind Solace Asia.
Salus is part of Solace Wellbeing Group, which opened Solace Asia in 2014. It shares Solace's clinical leadership, methods and advisory board of senior Malaysian psychiatrists and clinicians, in a residential setting designed to cost less.
2014
Solace Asia founded
5,000+
Patients treated across the group
90
Days in the programme
Other conditions we treat.
- Start herePrivate rehab Malaysia
- PerakDrug rehab Perak
- JohorDrug rehab Johor
- SelangorPrivate drug rehab Selangor
- Kuala LumpurDrug rehab Kuala Lumpur
- AlcoholAlcohol addiction treatment
- DrugsDrug rehabilitation centre
- Syabu and iceSyabu addiction treatment
- Heroin and opioidsHeroin and opioid treatment
- Prescription medicinesPrescription medicine addiction
- GamblingGambling addiction treatment
- Gaming and internetGaming and internet addiction
- Mood and dependenceDual diagnosis treatment
- OCDOCD and addiction treatment
Insights
Further reading
Ketum (kratom) addiction in Malaysia: how it starts, and how treatment works
A USM study found over half of ketum users were severely dependent. Here are the signs, where ketum stands in Malaysian law now, and how treatment works.
6 min readSleeping pills and cough syrup misuse in Malaysia: how dependence starts, and where help begins
Sleeping pills, Erimin 5 and codeine cough syrup are common routes into dependence in Malaysia. What families notice, and how treatment works.
5 min readIs ketum legal in Malaysia? The law in 2026, explained
No. Selling, supplying or possessing ketum products without authority risks RM100,000 or 5 years. Drinking, planting and AADK explained, as at October 2026.
9 min read
Sources
- 1Darshan Singh et al., Universiti Sains Malaysia (eprints): severity of ketum dependence among 293 users in Penang, Kedah and Perlis
- 2Vicknasingam B. et al., informal use of ketum to cope with opioid withdrawal in northern Peninsular Malaysia (PubMed)
- 3MDPI Healthcare (2022): prevalence and psychosocial factors of ketum use among methadone programme patients at Taiping Hospital
- 4The Malaysian Insight, 10 June 2022: legal status of ketum under the Poisons Act 1952
- 5Buletin TV3, 22 August 2025: Drug Addicts and Substance Abusers Act comes into force, statement by AADK Director General Datuk Ruslin Jusoh
- 6NIDA, Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: how long does drug addiction treatment usually last
This page is general information, not medical advice, and does not replace an assessment by a qualified clinician. If someone is in immediate danger, call 999.
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