The recently released Hemby study : https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/adb.12639 published in Addiction Biology sent shock waves through the FDA corridors with the finding that mitragynine, the major alkaloid in kratom, “does not have an abuse potential and reduces morphine intake” which is exactly the pharmacologic activity for “candidate pharmacotherapies for opiate addiction and withdrawal.”

This study directly challenges the premise the FDA has advanced in its recommendation for the DEA to schedule kratom, namely that kratom has a high addiction profile and poses a risk to the public health.  FDA Commissioner Gottlieb has been critical of kratom on the now clearly discredited claim that kratom has “similar effects to narcotics like opioids, and carries similar risks of abuse, addiction, and in some cases, death.”1

Original Article (American Kratom Assocation):
 Kratom: Legislative Update
Artwork Fair Use: Frank Vincentz