Is Kanna Addictive?
No clinical study has asked whether kanna causes dependence or withdrawal. Here is what exists, what does not, and why the answer is 'unknown' rather than 'no'.
Is kanna addictive? It is one of the most common questions people type about any plant they are about to try, and for kanna the honest answer is awkward: we do not know. No clinical study we could find asked about dependence, addiction or withdrawal. What exists is a handful of animal and review papers, a long history of traditional use, and many forum posts. This post explains the terms, shows what the evidence does and does not cover, and keeps "unknown" separate from "no."
Whether kanna is addictive has not been studied in people. A rat study using a standard abuse-liability test found a Sceletium extract caused neither preference nor aversion [3], and the human trials we found were not designed to detect dependence or withdrawal [1][2]. Unknown is not the same as safe. If you are worried about your use, SAMHSA's helpline is 1-800-662-4357.
What do addiction, dependence and withdrawal mean?
They overlap but are not the same thing, and mixing them up causes most of the confusion online.
NIDA describes addiction as compulsive drug use despite harmful consequences, characterized by an inability to stop using, failure to meet obligations and, sometimes depending on the drug, tolerance and withdrawal. The latter two reflect physical dependence, where the body adapts to a drug. NIDA states that physical dependence on its own does not constitute addiction, though it often accompanies it, and that physical dependence can happen with many drugs, including prescription medicines taken as directed [8].
A 2021 commentary makes the same point from the other direction: people can have withdrawal without addiction, and addiction without withdrawal [9]. So "does kanna cause withdrawal?" and "is kanna addictive?" are two questions, and neither has been answered by research on kanna.
What do human studies say about kanna dependence?
Nothing directly. The trials were not built to find out.
The longest human study gave 37 healthy adults 8 mg or 25 mg of one extract daily for 3 months and measured safety and tolerability through vital signs, ECG, bloodwork and adverse events. It reported no differences from placebo on those measures and called both doses well tolerated [1]. A 3-week crossover study of 21 adults used a 3-week washout and reported on cognition, mood and adverse events [2]. Other trials were single doses or a few days [10][11].
None of those papers, as far as we can tell from their abstracts and full text where available, set out to measure urge-type symptoms, discontinuation symptoms, or loss of control. A trial can find "no adverse events" without ever asking those questions. All were short, in healthy volunteers, and mostly of one branded extract, often with authors tied to its owner. A 2026 critical review calls the evidence base mixed and limited by small samples [12], and a 2021 review notes the plant had not yet been studied in a clinical population [5]. We found no case reports of kanna dependence in our PubMed searches, but our searches were not a systematic review, and absence of case reports is weak evidence in any case.
What do animal studies say about kanna abuse liability?
One rat study found no sign of reward, which is a narrow and preliminary result.
In 2014, researchers at the University of Mississippi tested a Sceletium tortuosum extract and the alkaloid mesembrine in male rats using several standard behavioral tests, including conditioned place preference, which is commonly used to model whether a substance is rewarding. They reported that Sceletium did not cause preference or aversion in that test. They also found the whole fraction produced ataxia, a loss of coordination in rats [3].
That is useful, but it is one lab and one set of tests in rats. It does not address long-term use, and it does not translate cleanly to people. It also says nothing about physical dependence or withdrawal. Read it as one data point that does not raise an alarm, not as evidence that nothing can go wrong.
What about reports of misuse, and the word "abuse"?
Some literature mentions misuse in passing, without measuring it.
A 2024 review of psychoactive plants used in southern Africa lists Sceletium tortuosum among plants it found to be commonly used or abused, and says little is known about potential abuse in the region [6]. It is a broad overview, not a study of kanna dependence, and we cannot extract a rate or a risk from it. Traditional use, which the reviews describe as chewing or smoking the fermented plant [5], is historical context, and says nothing about how modern extracts in drinks and capsules behave.
Online forums contain accounts of people who felt urges to keep using, and accounts of people who stopped without difficulty. We do not cite them, since they cannot be checked and we cannot tell how typical they are. They do not prove a problem and they do not rule one out. In the absence of studies, that is the honest position.
Is kanna related to khat?
No, though the names are often confused.
Khat is Catha edulis, a flowering shrub native to East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. According to the DEA, it contains two central nervous system stimulants, cathinone, which is structurally similar to d-amphetamine, and cathine. The DEA says it has no accepted medical use in the United States [4]. Kanna is Sceletium tortuosum, a South African succulent whose main alkaloids are mesembrine-type compounds [5]. Different plant, different continent, different chemistry. Evidence about khat does not carry over to kanna, in either direction.
How does this compare with kratom?
Kratom acts on opioid receptors and has been studied for dependence; kanna has a blank where that research would be.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse says kratom's main compounds, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, activate mu-opioid receptors, and that researchers are still learning how often people who use kratom experience withdrawal or substance use disorder symptoms [15]. We summarize more in kanna vs kratom. The mechanisms proposed for kanna in the research we reviewed are different: serotonin-transporter and PDE4 activity in lab work [13]. Different mechanisms are a reason not to assume kanna behaves like kratom. They are not a reason to assume it behaves like nothing. The honest comparison is that one has a research record, still developing, and the other has a gap. For the wider safety picture, see is kanna safe and kanna tolerance. For what the trials used, see kanna dosage.
What if you are worried about your use?
Talk to someone. You do not need a diagnosis or a certain label to ask for help.
Signs worth taking seriously include using more than you meant to, being unable to cut down, using despite problems at work or home, or finding it hard to stop because of how you feel afterward. Those are general markers, not kanna-specific ones. A doctor or pharmacist can also check for medicine interactions; WebMD lists SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, tricyclics, antipsychotics, triptans and St. John's wort as concerns for sceletium [14]. SAMHSA's National Helpline is free, confidential and available 24/7 at 1-800-662-4357 (samhsa.gov) [7].
This page is general information, not medical advice. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. Kanna products are not intended for any disease or health condition. kannadrinks.com is published by Psilly Goose, a kanna drink maker.
References
- Nell H, et al. A randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial of Extract Sceletium tortuosum (Zembrin) in healthy adults. J Altern Complement Med 2013;19(11):898-904. PubMed
- Chiu S, et al. Proof-of-concept randomized controlled study of cognition effects of the proprietary extract Sceletium tortuosum (Zembrin) targeting phosphodiesterase-4 in cognitively healthy subjects. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2014;2014:682014. PMC
- Loria MJ, et al. Effects of Sceletium tortuosum in rats. J Ethnopharmacol 2014;155(1):731-5. PubMed
- Drug Enforcement Administration, Diversion Control Division. Khat (Catha edulis), December 2025. deadiversion.usdoj.gov
- Olatunji TL, et al. Sceletium tortuosum: a review on its phytochemistry, pharmacokinetics, biological and clinical activities. J Ethnopharmacol 2021;280:114476. PubMed
- Nyazema NZ, et al. The use and potential abuse of psychoactive plants in southern Africa: an overview of evidence and future potential. Front Pharmacol 2024;15:1269247. PubMed
- SAMHSA. National Helpline. samhsa.gov
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide, 3rd ed. nida.nih.gov
- Szalavitz M, Rigg KK, Wakeman SE. Drug dependence is not addiction, and it matters. Ann Med 2021;53(1):1989-1992. PMC
- Terburg D, et al. Acute effects of Sceletium tortuosum (Zembrin), a dual 5-HT reuptake and PDE4 inhibitor, in the human amygdala and its connection to the hypothalamus. Neuropsychopharmacology 2013;38(13):2708-16. PubMed
- Hoffman JR, et al. Ergogenic effects of 8 days of Sceletium tortuosum supplementation on mood, visual tracking, and reaction in recreationally trained men and women. J Strength Cond Res 2020;34(9):2476-81. PubMed
- de Jong M, et al. Mesembryanthemum tortuosum and Zembrin: mixed evidence from in vivo animal and clinical studies on their antidepressant and anxiolytic effects. Planta Med 2026;92(8):806-823. PubMed
- Harvey AL, et al. Pharmacological actions of the South African medicinal and functional food plant Sceletium tortuosum and its principal alkaloids. J Ethnopharmacol 2011;137(3):1124-9. PubMed
- WebMD. Sceletium: Uses, side effects, interactions. webmd.com
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. Kratom. nida.nih.gov
Frequently asked questions
Is kanna addictive?
Unknown. We found no human study of kanna dependence, addiction or withdrawal. A single rat study using a standard abuse-liability test found no preference or aversion for a Sceletium extract [3]. That is limited evidence, not a clearance.
Does kanna cause withdrawal?
We found no clinical data on withdrawal from kanna, and none of the human trials we reviewed was designed to look for it [1][2]. Online reports are anecdotes and cannot answer the question.
Is kanna the same as khat?
No. Khat is Catha edulis, an East African shrub whose leaves contain the stimulants cathinone and cathine [4]. Kanna is Sceletium tortuosum, a South African succulent with mesembrine-type alkaloids [5]. The names look alike but the plants are unrelated.
Is kanna habit-forming?
There is no evidence in either direction from controlled human research. A 2024 review of psychoactive plants in southern Africa lists Sceletium tortuosum among plants commonly used or abused there, without quantifying dependence [6].
Where can I get help if I am worried about my use?
SAMHSA's National Helpline is free, confidential and open 24/7 at 1-800-662-4357 [7]. You can also talk to a doctor or pharmacist.