Dea Going To Put Kratom On Schedule One

[t-pain]

https://boingboing.net/2016/08/31/dea-will-ban-kratom-a-popular.html

 

 

I didn't know people were using it to get off of opioids.

[phaquetoo]

"Kratom is an herbal supplement that's become popular in recent years in the United States. Kratom users say taking capsules of the powdered herb helps with social anxiety, chronic pain, and post-traumatic stress disorder. On Tuesday, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced that it intends to place two of kratom’s psychoactive chemicals into its list of Schedule I controlled substances, on temporary basis, citing the necessity "to avoid an imminent hazard to public safety."

According to the DEA, substances in Schedule I "are those that have a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision."

From the DEA's announcement:

Evidence from poison control centers in the United States also shows that there is an increase in the number of individuals abusing kratom, which contains the main active alkaloids mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine. As such, there has been a steady increase in the reporting of kratom exposures by poison control centers. The American Association of Poison Control Centers identified two exposures to kratom between 2000 and 2005. Additionally, the Texas Poison Center Network (TPCN), which is comprised of six poison centers that service the State of Texas, reported 14 exposures to kratom between January 2009 and September 2013. Between January 2010 and December 2015 U.S. poison centers received 660 calls related to kratom exposure. During this time, there was a tenfold increase in the number of calls received, from 26 in 2010 to 263 in 2015.

From STAT News:

“It’s a very tragic day,” said Susan Ash, the founder and director of the American Kratom Association, an advocacy group that works to keep the substance legal.

The issue is more than just work-related for Ash, who used kratom to wean herself off opiates to treat the chronic pain she attributes to Lyme disease. She still takes kratom every day to help control her pain.

“This just ripped my quality of life right out from under me,” she said. “This is the plant that returned me to being a productive member of society, and I truly fear for my future, and I fear for all of the people who found kratom to be a solution for them to get off things like heroin. I foresee a large jump in the already epidemic proportions of opiate deaths in this country.”

Ash and other kratom advocates insist that the substance is no more addictive than coffee, and that as long as it is unadulterated, it is safe for adults to consume. They claim that it is impossible to overdose because consuming too much kratom will make you throw up.

Emergency room doctors and toxicologists, on the other hand, have seen kratom interact negatively with other drugs. In the most extreme cases, seizures have been reported."

Edited September 2, 2016 by phaquetoo

[CedarSpringsCG]

Yeah, people take like 10x the amount of 1 dose and are fine.  Its when they eat 30+ pills at once that they get high and call poison control.  Not that it kills them, they get concerned over the effect.  Now, think that as little as 30 325MG aspirin can cause toxicity and kill you (based on 160 lb person).  It's the same thing, but aspirin no one worries about because it helps with very little medically.  Kratom is known outside of the US to help pain, anxiety, and even diabetes.  And yes, a lot of people use it to get over opioids.

[pergamum362]

I just came across this article on fb. so many things...dea needs to go.

[cristinew]

I know someone that uses this for pain it works very well all the reefer madness you here is just that ,   Please sign this Petition  Big Pharm wants us off Cannabis and Kratom,  Notice 2 weeks after they decide no on cannabis  the decide to ban Kratom,    https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/please-do-not-make-kratom-schedule-i-substance 

[cristinew]

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/please-do-not-make-kratom-schedule-i-substance 

[swamper]

Why is it just now I am learning of a PLANT that could benefit me by alleviating the pain from my medical condition and release me from the grips of pharmaceutical companies?  Anyone here have any experience using this plant for chronic rheumatoid arthritic pain? Is this still available until big pharmas right hand outlaws it?

[cristinew]

Its still legal for now . Yes this plant is better for pain control than any Opiate  and you can still function ... KIds,,,, If you looking to get high i suggest you look for something else.,

Edited September 3, 2016 by cristinew

[cristinew]

According to the DEA, substances in Schedule I "are those that have a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision."

From the DEA's announcement:

Evidence from poison control centers in the United States also shows that there is an increase in the number of individuals abusing kratom, which contains the main active alkaloids mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine.   I SMELL A RAT 

Edited September 3, 2016 by cristinew

[swamper]

The more I read about this herb and see the outpouring of people who swear this plant has helped them get their lives back, the more I detest our leadership and wonder who has the right to this much power to make people suffer like this. Here is the DEAs rational to ban a medicinal herb by making it a schedule 1 drug:

 

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2016/09/01/the-deas-crazy-kratom-ban-dresses-pharmacological-phobias-in-scientific-garb/#481191524f86

 

 

“Kratom is abused for its ability to produce opioid-like effects,” the DEA says. “Kratom is misused to self-treat chronic pain and opioid withdrawal symptoms, with users reporting its effects to be comparable to prescription opioids.” So if you use kratom to relax, relieve pain, or get off heroin, that’s abuse.

[cristinew]

National Call to Action

Posted by Angela Ross 26sc on September 03, 2016

TAKE ACTION TO SAVE KRATOM NOW!!!

 

We are now facing our darkest hour. The DEA has filed a notice of intent to schedule and ban kratom by September 30th, 2016. Countless people depend on this safe and effective herbal remedy related to coffee that was sacred to the Buddhists, who have used it safely for thousands of years. Many of you depend on this healing leaf for your general well-being, pain and suffering, depression, anxiety, PTSD, opioid dependency and more.

 

Experts have confirmed the 2 main alkaloids in kratom the DEA wishes to schedule (effectively banning the whole plant) are safe, effective and have many positive benefits. The recent decision to ban kratom federally comes after several failed attempts at the State level. It was your heartfelt testimonials, phone calls and letters that caught the ear of compassionate lawmakers. It's now time to send them to any and everyone with any influence over this action - our last chance! Here are several things you can do while we work the system from the inside with a top Washington, D.C. law firm.

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO!

1. Sign the Petition to the White House - http://tinyurl.com/jk3crus and make sure to confirm your email from the petition. Only Sign ONE time.

2. Join us for a March on the White House, Tuesday September 13! 
We are co-sponsoring a peaceful protest/march at the White House. Please attend and share the event with your friends and family.

Website: http://kratommarchdc.com/

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/KratomMarchDC/

 

3. Contact Your Congressperson (see letter template)

Find yours here: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

 

4. Contact Your Senator (see letter template)

Find yours here: http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/

5. Email the Assistant Secretary of Health
E-mail Karen B. DeSalvo, the Assistant Secretary of Health. E-mails and letters must be documented by all federal agencies for proof, phone calls are effective, but aren't documented in the same way. Please send any information you have from doctors, nurses, researchers, or papers from PubMed.

Email: ASH@hhs.gov

6. Call the DEA
Call 202-307-1000 and ask for Melvin Patterson. Press #4 to share your story.

7. Donate to the American Kratom Association and buy a shirt! 
We must raise an unprecedented amount of money to pay for our legal team, a public relations firm, lobbyists, scientists and more, but we also must raise money to keep our organization running if the ban goes into place so that we keep our doors open and work to reverse it. www.americankratom.org/donateor http://www.IAmKratom.com for t-shirts.

 
8. Share this AKA Fact Sheet
Share the AKA Fact Sheet: http://www.americankratom.org/aka_fact_sheet

Send these documents/link to journalist, legislators, law enforcement, friends and family so hopefully we can educate everybody including those higher up to better understand where Kratom stands as a medicinal herb.

 

9. Join our Facebook and the #iamkratom photo campaign

Get all the up to the minute news here first  https://www.facebook.com/groups/KeepKratomLegal/

THE TIME TO TAKE ACTION IS NOW! BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!

Letter Template*

*It's important not to copy and paste, please use your own words

 

We need YOUR help to fight the DEA's Intent to Schedule Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine, which would make Kratom (i.e., Mitragyna Speciosa) a controlled substance.  Below is a letter template you can use to write to your Senator, your Congressperson, the Department of Justice, the Attorney General, the Office of Diversion, Drug Enforcement Administration or the (ASH) Acting Secretary for Health.

 

Dear Congressman ______ and Senator ________, etc. OR If writing to a committee member, for example, the House Judiciary Committee, use Honorary Committee Member (committees listed at the bottom)

Find your Senator: http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/

 

Find your Representative:  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

 

My name is ________, I'm a __-year old _________ from _________ and I’m your constituent (when writing your Congressman and Senator).

 

I'd like to voice my opposition to the DEA’s Intent to Schedule the alkaloids Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine, which would make Kratom (Mitragynaspeciosa), a schedule 1 controlled substance with no medicinal value. This would put kratom, a plant helping millions of people suffering chronic and acute mental and physical conditions that is also safely easing the nation's opiate epidemic problem naturally, on the same level as illegal drugs like heroin. It would also prevent further research which, to date, has shown kratom to be an effective painkiller that does not cause respiratory depression; the main cause of death from opiate overdose.

 

-How you came to use kratom….. (did you learn about it in a chronic pain support group, etc?)

 

-What ailments you suffer, what treatments haven't worked (prescriptions, surgery, etc.), how long you've been dealing with your condition, how long you've been using kratom and how many/what medications you've been able to quit.

 

-What kratom means to you (has it given you your life back, have you gone back to work, can you play with your, exercise or travel, etc., something anecdotal about why kratom is important and should be available).

 

-Conclusion: Kratom is a safe alternative to pharmaceutical drugs with important medicinal uses and has changed my life. I’m asking you to please contact the DEA. Please send a letter or request an oversight hearing asking to delay this emergency action. I fear this action by the DEA will only lead to more tragic deaths of victims of the opiate epidemic, maybe even my own (if you think this may lead to a replace and illicit drug use). I know that my own quality of life as a productive member of society will not be the same without kratom.

If you have questions about kratom, please visit www.americankratom.org. Thank you for your time and service to the state.

Sincerely,

 

--- Include your name, address and phone number.

Please be professional and polite, keeping it as short as possible.

 

These are all the committees that have jurisdiction over the DEA. House and Senate Judiciary being most important. Message all members!

House Judiciary  https://judiciary.house.gov/ subcommittee/full-committee/

 

Senate Judiciary  https://www.judiciary.senate. gov/about/members

 

House Energy and Commerce  https://energycommerce.house. gov/about-ec/energy-commerce- committee-members

 

House Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Subcommittee http://appropriations.house. gov/about/members/ commercejusticescience.htm

 

Senate Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Subcommitteehttp://www.appropriations. senate.gov/subcommittees/ commerce-justice-science-and- related-agencies

 

House Oversight and Gov’t Reform Committee https://oversight.house.gov/ subcommittee/full-committee/

 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/about

 

U.S. Department of Justice https://www.justice.gov/doj/webform/your-message-department-justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20530-0001

•Department Comment Line: 202-353-1555

•Department of Justice Main Switchboard: 202-514-2000

 

Peter J. Kadzik

Assistant Attorney General

Office of Legislative Affairs ph: 202-514-2141

Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison ph: 202-514-3465

 

Michael J Lewis,

Office of Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration

8701 Morrissette Drive, Springfield, Virginia 22152; ph: 202-598–6812.

 

Also please contact the assistant secretary of

HHS, Karen B. DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc

Acting Assistant Secretary for Health

ASH@hhsgov ph: 202-690-7694

 

Jim Esquea

Assistant Secretary for Legislation (ASL) ph: 202-690-7627

 

Kevin Griffis

Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA) ph: 202-690-7850

 

Colleen Barros

Acting Assistant Secretary for Administration (ASA)

HHS Office of the Secretary

email: ASH@hhs.gov

  ph: 202-690-7431

You can send a message to the Department of Justice HERE

Do you like this post?

[cristinew]

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/dea-big-pharma-monopoly-kratom/ 

 

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) moved to ban the popular pain relief supplement kratom by temporarily placing it on the Schedule 1 list, which denotes “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse” – the most restrictive classification under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

A notice of intent to classify kratom was placed on the Federal Register on August 31, with plans to temporarily categorize the supplement as a Schedule I substance on September 30, according to a filing by the DEA:

Notice of Intent

The Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration is issuing this notice of intent to temporarily schedule the opioids mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, which are the main active constituents of the plant kratom, into schedule I pursuant to the temporary scheduling provisions of the Controlled Substances Act. This action is based on a finding by the Administrator that the placement of these opioids into schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act is necessary to avoid an imminent hazard to the public safety. Any final order will impose the administrative, civil, and criminal sanctions and regulatory controls applicable to schedule I controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act on the manufacture, distribution, possession, importation, and exportation of, and research and conduct of instructional activities of these opioids.

One of the major problems with this contention is the fact that Kratom is used by many people suffering from opioid addiction to successfully recover from severe physical and psychological dependence on pharmaceutical opioids, such as Oxycontin, and heroin.

According to a report by David Kroll in Forbes:

Various forms of kratom and teas made from the plant’s leaves are sold in cafes and on the internet. Their primary effect is to provide a short-lived peaceful and calm feeling that is described as pleasant. Consistent with this effect being opioid-like, anecdotal reports indicate that some users have used kratom to successfully recover from physical and psychological dependence on prescription opioids and heroin. Comments on my last report on kratom have also indicated the successful use of teas made from the plant in managing chronic pain without the side effects and addictive potential of prescription opioids like oxycodone, hydrocodone and morphine.

The DEA seems to be clearly ignoring the latest in scientific literature. In just the last two months, peer-reviewed research has revealed that kratom could potentially be a much safer alternative to deadly prescription opioids.

The latest research indicates that the main component of the herb, the alkaloid mitragynine, and its metabolite and oxidation product, 7-hydroxymitragynine, produce an effect on certain opioid receptors separate from many of the mechanisms that precipitate many opioid side effects.

Forbes reports:

As far as the DEA is concerned, the fact that people in other countries have used kratom for centuries to ease pain, boost work performance, and wean themselves from opiate addiction counts for nothing. All the DEA needs to know is that our shores have been invaded by a foreign drug that is increasingly popular among Americans as a home remedy and recreational intoxicant. From the DEA’s perspective, that is intolerable, regardless of the drug’s hazards or benefits.

Although the CDC reported in July that kratom can be abused and that poison control centers have received over 660 calls between 2010 and 2015 regarding kratom intoxication, these numbers pale in comparison to the extreme death that follows prescription opioids, which are the leading cause of drug death in the United States.

Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the US, with 47,055 lethal drug overdoses in 2014. Opioid addiction is driving this epidemic, with 18,893 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers, and 10,574 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2014.

Recently the state of North Carolina decided not to restrict or criminalize the sale and use of kratom and chose to simply put an 18+ age restriction on the supplement due to the numerous testimonials regarding the benefits of kratom tea and its therapeutic qualities.

These moves by the DEA must be seen for what they truly are – an attempt by the federal government to protect the big pharma industry. Kratom, a plant, could drastically cut into the financial bottom line of the opioid death peddlers. However, the federal government instead works to protect the big pharma industry by outlawing the substance in such a way that even studying it would become a criminal act.

There is no question that kratom has medicinal uses as the National Institute of Health has noted on its website. The DEA’s ignorant stance, which blatantly ignores the latest scientific research, reveals an agenda at play that has little if anything to do with keeping people safe, and everything to do with protecting drug makers.

Please share this article to wake other people up to the fact that the DEA is only operating as the guardians of the big pharma monopoly!

Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/dea-big-pharma-monopoly-kratom/#w9ytL5tz4TT6QKcP.99

[cristinew]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20590358 

 

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2010;11 Suppl 1:97-101.

Pain relief is a human right.

Daher M1.

Author information

 

Abstract

For centuries, medical and surgical treatment has emphasized saving the life of the patient rather than ameliorating the patient's pain, particularly when there were few options for the latter. Today at the dawn of the 21st century, the best available evidence indicates a major gap between an increasingly understanding of the pathophysiology of pain and widespread inadequacy of its treatment. Epidemiologic evidence has proven that chronic pain is a widespread public health issue. Studies of cancer patients' pain control consistently reveal that up to half of patients receive inadequate analgesia and 30% do not receive appropriate drugs for their pain. Equally, for patients suffering HIV/AIDS, 60%-100% will experience pain at some stage in their illness. In the developed world, this gap has prompted a series of declarations and actions by national and international bodies advocating better pain control. One response to the worldwide undertreatment of pain has been to promote the concept that pain relief is a public health issue of such critical importance as to constitute an international imperative and fundamental human right. The importance of pain relief as the core of the medical ethic is clear. Pain clinicians promote the status of pain management beyond that of appropriate clinical practice or even an ethic of good medicine. They advocate a paradigm shift in the medical professions' perspective on pain management, from simply good practice to an imperative founded on patient rights. There is a need to promote policies which create conditions where human beings can bear even incurable illnesses and death in a dignified manner. This must help health professionals or lay groups to initiate a powerful agenda to reform local statutes. The essential components of such legislation are: 1. Reasonable pain management is a right. 2. Doctors have a duty to listen to and reasonably respond to a patient's report of pain. 3. Provision of necessary pain relief is immune from potential legal liability. 4. Doctors who are notable or willing to ensure adequate analgesia must refer to a colleague who has this expertise. 5. Pain management must be a compulsory component of continuing medical education. For too long, pain and its management have been prisoners of myth, irrationality, ignorance, and cultural bias. We are confident that the Pain Relief and Palliative Care Working Group under the auspices of the Lebanese Cancer Society is the main promoter of Palliative Care in Lebanon whose main goal is to relieve suffering and improve quality of life of the cancer patients, and advocate pain relief as a human right.

[t-pain]

it is interesting how much this parallels cannabis

[cristinew]

Yes  it just a plant,  They want to ban this  force you off your medical mj and send you to a pain clinic to die,

[cristinew]

Reefer Madness to an extreme ,

[cristinew]

https://www.botanical-education.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DEA-set-to-schedule-Kratom.pdf 

[AmishRnot4ganja]

Republicans fall all over themselves vowing to be the one candidate who will eliminate the most government agencies/departments. I have never heard ONE of them recommend eliminating the DEA. Who's side are they on?

[t-pain]

nor the tsa.

[swamper]

Kratom survey

 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Z7TPP2G

[beourbud]

Republicans fall all over themselves vowing to be the one candidate who will eliminate the most government agencies/departments. I have never heard ONE of them recommend eliminating the DEA. Who's side are they on?

And, repubs fall all over themselves to break up all Unions except the Police Union, who's side are they on?

[cristinew]

In the words of Dr. Christopher McCurdy, head researcher at the University of Mississippi (where kratom has most recently been studied in the U.S.): “Based on the information available in the scientific literature, we know that Kratom has been utilized for centuries by people in Thailand, without stigma associated with its use. In traditional medicine, Kratom has been used as an antidiarrheal and as a treatment for opioid dependence. Although there are suggestions that Kratom has a risk of addiction, there is no solid scientific evidence available to support or refute this idea.” Kratom is safely relieving mental and physical suffering in the lives of adults all across America. We support further scientific study of the plant, and oppose legislation that will turn responsible kratom users into criminals. akratomassociation@gmai

 

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/americankratomassociation/pages/88/attachments/original/1472344454/AKA_Factsheet2.pdf?1472344454

Edited September 6, 2016 by cristinew

[cristinew]

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

LNC Chair's comments on DEA scheduling of kratom like heroin

 

While the American people are demanding drug peace and self-ownership, the DEA is headed in the wrong direction with kratom.

By Nicholas Sarwark

Libertarian National Committee Chair 

The DEA is losing the war on drugs with state after state softening stances on marijuana. 8 states will be voting on legalizing marijuana for recreational AND medicinal purposes in November. Americans are overwhelmingly seeing that prison and government violence are terrible ways to solve the problems of addiction and drug abuse, and they are demanding a different approach. They are demanding more liberty. They are demanding drug peace.

Instead, the DEA is seeking out new plants and herbs to wage war on, presumably to refill our prisons and keep the revenue from asset forfeiture going to the state.

Kratom is a simple herb. The medicinal form is derived from leaves of a plant, ground into powder or made into a tea. It has very low toxicity and no death has ever occurred because of kratom alone. In fact, many use it to negate the vicious withdrawal effects from heroin addiction. Many use it for anxiety and depression and claim it works far better for them than other pharmaceuticals and with no side effects.  Many claim it saves lives. Maybe it does, and maybe it doesn’t. That should be a decision grown adults make for themselves, and if they say it helps them, so be it.

At this point, it is sold as an unregulated herbal remedy and that is how it should stay. But, presumably because it DOES actually do something, the DEA is planning to schedule it the same as heroin and ban its use at the end of this month, even though no harm can be proven. According to the DEA, the American people are required to prove some medical benefit through the ridiculously arcane process of FDA approval.

So we are supposed to spend 10 or more years and millions of research dollars to get permission to ingest an herb that is currently not hurting anybody? The Libertarian Party and a majority of the American people reject this philosophy of governance and demand that the DEA stand down on kratom and marijuana.

It is especially critical to keep alternatives like these open to our nation’s veterans, who are committing suicide at an appalling rate of 22 per day, many of them desperate for mental health services or pain management from overburdened and poorly managed VA health services. We have already failed our veterans in so many ways.

If kratom helps even one of them deal with the trauma of endless, pointless war, it is downright inhumane to put any kind of stumbling block between them and their recovery.

If the DEA moves forward with this scheduling and the veteran suicide rate goes up, blood will be on their hands. The American people are sick and tired of unelected bureaucrats making life more miserable for people already suffering.

Stop it.

[swamper]

But OxyContin for kids is A-OK.

While the DEA is banning substances that can actually help people with chronic pain and help wean them off of harsher,
more dangerous drugs, the FDA has approved the narcotic painkiller OxyContin for pediatric use. The agency reported the
drug is safe for children as young as 11 years old who have chronic pain.

But the very fact that pediatricians are prescribing the drug to children is troubling to some experts, since rates of
opioid addiction are on the rise, especially in young people. According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately
2.1 million Americans are struggling with an addiction to prescription painkillers. Abusing this class of drugs is often a
precursor to heroin addiction.

So, on one hand, we have the federal government saying that the powerful and deadly narcotic OxyContin is safe for young
children, a drug that is at the core of the opioid addiction crisis in this country, while on the other hand that same
government is saying that a plant that can also alleviate pain and has the side-effect of helping wean people off of the
powerful and dangerous narcotic and has never been proven to harm anyone is too dangerous for people to decide if they can
use them? What the actual flower?

Cronyism at its best

It’s pretty clear what the issue is here. OxyContin is developed and sold by a major pharmaceutical company, Purdue Pharma,
that has given nearly $2 million directly to political candidates over the last 15 years and gave almost three-quarters of a
million dollars in lobbying last year alone. Kratom is a natural substance that no one company has control of, let alone a
company with the billions that Purdue Pharma has to throw around Washington. This is clearly cronyism at its best, folks.
This is politicians and bureaucrats scratching the backs of people who are funding their campaigns and cutting out a product
that can actually reduce dependency on the politician’s campaign funding giant’s product. Many people point to money in politics
as the issue, or big pharma as the issue, or any number of symptoms. But, these are only the symptoms of the problem. The
problem, the cancer, is the power that our politicians have to control every aspect of your life and every aspect of the economy
with arbitrary regulations by government organizations that cannot be help accountable by the people. Remove that cancer and all
of the symptoms go away.

[cristinew]

https://engage.drugpolicy.org/secure/senate-kratom-dea

 

Stop the DEA's War on Kratom

 

The DEA recently placed kratom, a medicinal plant used for millennia in Southeast Asia, on the list of Schedule I drugs, effective September 30.

 

Without a serious scientific investigation the DEA intends to subject anyone caught with any quantity of kratom to long prison sentences, while effectively halting scientific investigation into kratom’s medicinal benefits, and making it impossible to enact sensible legal regulations for kratom.

 

Many people struggling with opioid addiction have turned to kratom as a safer alternative, but now all promising scientific studies on kratom’s role in opioid treatment could be immediately shut down. Tell your Senators to stop the DEA's irresponsible action before it's too late. 

 

 

Take Action

Edited September 9, 2016 by cristinew