TLDR: The DEA is about to list a plant with the potential to help opiate addicts and chronic pain patients as a schedule I drug via emergency banning powers. Please sign this Whitehouse.gov petition to keep a beneficial and medicinal plant from going down the same road as Marijuana!

As the public consciousness swings in favor of Marijuana, another lesser known medicinal plant called Kratom has jumped into the crosshairs.

In a vague public announcement on Tuesday, August 31st, the US Drug Enforcement Agency has announced its intent to list the herbal supplement as a schedule I drug in the face of public outcry and mounting evidence in support of Kratom as a therapy for opioid addiction and pain.

What is Kratom?

Kratom is the common name of Mitragyna Speciosa, a tree in the coffee family, grown in Southeast Asian countries. For centuries, it has been used natively as a medicinal plant.

In lower doses, Kratom is a pleasant and mild stimulant, much like its close relative coffee. At higher doses, however, it has effects more like an opiate, though it is not itself an opiate. And this is an important distinction.

While it has partial affinity for our opiate receptors, it does not carry the same respiratory depression effects or risk of fatal overdose. For this reason, it has been hailed as a miracle plant for the hundreds of thousands of opiate addicts across America (and the rest of the World). 

Many addicts have reported the successful use of Kratom to get off the harder stuff without experiencing withdrawal. And it has been widely used as an alternative to prescription opiates as a healthier way to manage chronic pain, one without the potentially life-altering side effects and risk of overdose.

In a very real way, it has benefitted and improved the lives of untold thousands of people. People who are about to be in a world of hurt when it’s taken away.

Schedule I is a major problem:

While not FDA approved, various forms of the Kratom plant have been widely available in the US, both online and in health food stores for decades now with little issue. It’s only in the last five years or so that it’s become more well known to the general public.

But the DEA is using emergency powers to immediately list Kratom as schedule I for 2-3 year’s, ostensibly to continue researching the plant before making a permanent decision.

Very few plants/substances have ever made it back from such a temporary designation.

The problem, however, is that placing it as Schedule I will make it virtually impossible to conduct scientific research. This is the very problem facing Marijuana: the public knows it’s a medicine, nearly half the states know it’s a medicine, but the fact that it’s schedule I prevents the research necessary to prove it as medicine, and implies that the Feds think that it’s as dangerous as Heroin.

The DEA cites CDC statistics in their argument, stating that 660 calls have been received by poison control center for Kratom in the last 5 years. But this is misleading, and statistically insignificant compared to the more than 3 million calls the center receives annually, often for legal over-the-counter drugs, prescription drugs, and alcohol. 

And while 6 states had already decided to ban Kratom, many other states considered banning it, and instead decided to either leave it be, or implement better labeling and age restrictions. 

For example, the Florida Drug and Law Enforcement Official Statewide Intelligence Drug Report, recently published their findings on Kratom. Here is the key take away:

“A review of information currently available through identified law enforcement and laboratory sources in Florida indicates that Kratom does not constitute a significant risk to the safety and welfare of Florida residents.”

The DEA is choosing to completely ignore the growing litany of scientific research and evidence. It is a blatant continuation of the DEA’s failed drug war policies.

Call to Action: Steemit we need your help! 

You can help to prevent another medicinal plant from falling the way of Marijuana. The ban is going to affect literally hundreds of thousands of Americans who use this herb to keep opiate addiction at bay, to help with chronic pain, or a multitude of other ailments.

It is a sad day for American’s but we can try to put our foot down. 

Please help to keep this plant legal by taking 1 minute to sign this Whitehouse.gov petition. If it reaches 100,000 signatures, the white house has to address the issue and make an official response. And it’s already well on its way.

Thanks everyone!

Whitehouse.gov Petition: Please do not make Kratom a Schedule I Substance

More Reporting:

Forbes: The DEA Is Placing Kratom And Mitragynine On Schedule I

Gizmodo: The DEA Now Thinks Kratom Is as Dangerous as Heroin

Huffington Post: Feds Declare War On Herb Touted As A Solution To Opioid Addiction

STAT: DEA will ban chemicals contained in kratom, a popular herbal supplement