Politics

The FDA wants to stop Americans from using a popular but unapproved [by them] opioid alternative

Scott Gottlieb, the FDA’s commissioner, called for external studies on the substance, as well. “I encourage you to conduct the research that will help us better understand kratom’s risk and benefit profile, so that well-studied and potentially beneficial products can be considered,” he said. (There was no clarification on how anyone in the US should…

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Science

Is Kratom the CBD of opioids?

*Peace Monument in Washington D.C. Could Kratom be the CBD of the opiate world? … Ironically, the greatest danger of Kratom these days is from fake products contaminated with substances approved by the FDA. In rats, there was no observed toxicity following single, huge oral doses up to 806 mg/kg of [mitragyine]. (CBD is also…

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Biography/Memoir

Why does the FDA care about Kratom?

The process of determining the legality of a substance—in this case kratom—is not something most laypeople are familiar with. The FDA says they need information from the DEA. The DEA says scientific tests take time and money but if and when they have anything, they’ll surely send it along to the FDA … Lowin said,…

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Politics

FDA Kratom advisory unfounded, FOIA docs show [opinion]

Though it won’t come as much surprise to anyone in the kratom community, it turns out, wonder of wonders, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) advisory was pulled completely out of nowhere, according to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) material released by Muckrock. ​ The FDA made multiple false claims regarding kratom itself, the way…

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Does Kratom really kill? Officials aren’t telling us the whole story.

Scientists say there’s scant evidence that mitragynine causes fatal overdoses, and many kratom advocates claim that overdosing on the substance alone is impossible. Although authorities have come forward with reports of deaths supposedly related to kratom, all of the cases they’ve cited publicly have involved the presence of other, often more dangerous drugs, making it…

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What’s Kratom, and why are States banning it?

The American Society of Addiction Medicine argued in comments to the DEA last year that the whole botanical product … should be made illegal to prevent people with addictions from trying to use it to recover … Animal studies have shown that kratom use may lead to addiction. But user surveys indicate that although the…

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