Biography/Memoir

Letter: Tell DEA to leave kratom alone

If kratom is banned many people will suffer or even die. They will be forced to seek stronger and more dangerous options. Kratom is a necessary and under-utilized tool to combat this nation’s opioid epidemic. Show the people that you will actually listen. Show them that we do have a voice. Renew our faith in…

READ MORE
Politics

How a kratom ban… [would] create health risks and suffering—and fuel terrorism

There are at least three major hazards inherent in the government’s [increasingly prohibitionist stance and] approach. First, it risks pulling the safety net away from millions of Americans who managed to find a relatively inexpensive alternative to “big bad” opioids, using it for everything from back pain to fibromyalgia… Second, outlawing the powdered leaves of…[kratom] and…

READ MORE
Politics

[A] nationwide ban on kratom… [would] be deadly

*Senator Stabenow of Michigan meets with representatives of the Kratom Rally in June 2018. The FDA just approved a new opiate (Dsuvia) that is 8-10x stronger than fentanyl. Basically, this says that a plant proven to treat opiate withdrawal [kratom] is more of a threat to public safety than one of the strongest opiates known…

READ MORE
Politics

…ban kratom[?]

The abusive concern for kratom centers on two organic compounds called alkaloids contained within the leaves: mitragynine (MG) and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-HMG). These two drugs show activity at μ-opioid receptors, which are related to pain relief. While these chemicals are not true opioids, they have demonstrated effective pain relief in human and animal studies. “In the…

READ MORE
Politics

A ruling is imminent on the legality of a controversial drug that’s used to treat addiction — but some have called it a ‘dangerous opioid’

Hemby worries that the government’s ruling could make studying the plant and its key ingredients even harder than it already is, and he’s not alone [especially after the following research emerged]. In October 2017, the FDA broke out kratom’s two main components and studied them separately, ultimately recommending a ban on both of them, Stat News reported…

READ MORE
Medicine/Healing

Kratom missing from DEA report on drug threats

The Drug Enforcement Administration has released the 2018 National Drug Threat Assessment, the agency’s annual report on drug trafficking and drug abuse in the United States …  there’s not a word about kratom in the National Drug Threat Assessment. There never has been. “It is not surprising.  Kratom is not the ‘dangerous opioid’ that the FDA…

READ MORE
Politics

Ohio plans to ban kratom…

These studies demonstrate kratom’s potential medical uses. By classifying the active compounds in kratom as Schedule I substances, Ohio’s Board of Pharmacy would prevent further medical research into its benefits (similar to the obstacles the DEA has imposed on research of marijuana, a Schedule I substance).  At the time of the assessment’s release, FDA Commissioner…

READ MORE