DEA reversing decision to ban Kratom due to outrage

The Drug Enforcement Administration is reversing a widely criticized decision that would have banned the use of kratom, a plant that researchers say could help mitigate the effects of the opioid epidemic.

Citing the public outcry... ...the DEA is withdrawing its notice of intent to ban the drug

The DEA had announced in August that it planned to place kratom in schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, the most restrictive regulatory category, as soon as Sept. 30.

People who take it have have said kratom helped them overcome addiction to opiates or alcohol and treat otherwise intractable pain. Researchers say that their work with kratom could eventually lead to the development of nonaddictive alternatives to powerful opiate painkillers.

The DEA will now open up a period for public comment until Dec. 1 of this year. It is also asking the FDA to expedite a "scientific and medical evaluation and scheduling recommendation"

Sour ce

Excellent news here. The DEA had previously decided to label a drug called kratom as a schedule 1 substance. Schedule 1 drugs are described as having a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. Many people felt that this move by the DEA was the result of a corrupt government agency bowing to pressure from big pharma. As you may or may not know, the biggest backers of keeping marijuana illegal are opioid-producing pharmaceutical companies. Like marijuana, kratom is sometimes used in place of expensive, dangerously addictive opioid drugs - it even helps people recover from addiction to them. So when the DEA announced it was going to reschedule kratom as a schedule 1 drug and effectively bar people from using it, opposition was swift and fierce, and even included groups of senators and representatives.
The DEA is now reversing their decision to reschedule it, opening the topic up for public discussion, and recommending an FDA evaluation.

a reply to: trollz

GOOD. It was a travesty in the first place



Thanks for sharing

This is very good news but I suggest caution.

It is also asking the FDA to expedite a "scientific and medical evaluation and scheduling recommendation"

They will be back.

Remember that Big Pharma is behind this as well as the DEA looking to make up for the losses due to MJ being legalized.

Keep Your Guard Up!

P

originally posted by: pheonix358

They will be back.

They're waiting for everyone to go back to their regularly scheduled programming and then they'll pull the trigger--a little more quietly this time.

Yeah, they'll be back alright. Just around the time of the proposed ban, there were also announced new opioid drugs supposedly less addictive than the typical ones, as well as new studies on the active ingredients on kratom hinting that they would do exactly that. Combined, the timing of all three makes it obvious the FDA wants to corner the market on the content and effects of kratom, as they have done with so many other natural herbal aids (not just MJ). Standardizing it into a pharmaceutical would then ruin kratom for many people who are dependent on the flexible, adaptogenic nature of the whole herb. I mean imagine how angry people would be if coffee and green tea were banned and everybody was forced to take straight caffeine pills. That's a direct analogy to what they want to do with kratom, and a damn appropriate one considering kratom is actually in the same family as coffee and used traditionally for exactly the same purpose in its region of origin.

Fortunately, there is an organized and sizeable resistance to their will both governmental and private, and we are wary to their ploys this time. It will be a fight, but we're off to a decent start.

That last quoted paragraph goes on to explain what happens in December. This isn't a win yet.

They could permanently schedule it or "temporarily" schedule it or do nothing.

But really, is a power hungry government with the ability to take a little more control actually going to do nothing? Nope. And I'm not sure the government actually understands the word temporary at all.

Still, this pause is better than nothing. Thanks for the info.

Lets trade with the DEA!

They can have kratom if we can have pot rescheduled. Straight up, good ol' boy, you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours, deal. No take backs! And we get a rider: if you (the DEA) hem and haw, we get hemp unclassified as a drug!

Hey DEA, put that in pipe and smoke it!

a reply to: trollz

Excellent news!

Speaks to the power of an aware population!

Next up... Cannabis!

I think that when one- tenth of the senate and maybe one sixth of the congress said BACK OFF DEA that may have had an affect…maybe.


Or big pharma needs Kratom legal to investigate it…maybe


They need to decriminalize drugs totally not that Kratom is a drug

Unbelievable.

This proves they can change pot too.

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

Sorry, I've got to disagree there. Kratom and mj should really only be compared on the basis that they're both plants with medical applications. Beyond that Kratom is so beneficial it's absurd and trading is not an option for those people that really need it.

It's not something to take to get messed up which is how too many people look at it and mj. I've seen a trend with people taking it for the simplest reasons like it reduces anxiety and helps them talk more socially. There's nothing wrong with these people, they just want to be doing something trendy. It's hurting those that actually need it.

Someone very close to me takes it for chronic incurable pain and other "medicine", except the horribly addictive pharmaceuticals, can't come close to providing relief from that pain. I've seen her go from a dead sleep to balled up crying in pain. At random. Kratom helps that a lot and has increased her quality of life immeasurably. Mj isn't a regular option for her at this point. Nor do I think she'd choose it over kratom if given a one or the other type of choice.

I have a friend that cleaned up from a pretty hardcore opoid addiction with kratom. He failed many different ways until he found that and it worked. He's clean now.

I would personally give up so much to keep Kratom accessible to those that need it.

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
Unbelievable.

This proves they can change pot too.

The o-bots wont spin it that way. How about they expedite a "scientific and medical evaluation and scheduling recommendation" for weed.

I know there has been alot more outcry over pot.

It's crazy the damage this already did to the US kratom industry despite the immediate ban being postponed. Vendors were desperate to get rid of stock and customers, at least the ones more concerned with their health than the law, were desperate to stock up to try to weather the storm or at least give themselves time to find another solution, so the nationwide stock of the herb was almost completely depleted. Vendors are now in the rather odd position of having to essentially start their businesses over with the benefit of extra capital, existing infrastructure and customer base, but the downsides of lower supply, lower demand and the looming threat of scheduling. I sure wouldn't want to be in this business but I am incredibly thankful for the people that do...without them I would not have my 16 month reserve supply that I was totally going to destroy on September 30th, obviously. What? Stop looking at me like that.