DEA: No Timetable for Kratom Ban
http://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2016/9/29/dea-no-timetable-for-kratom-ban
Just think about it… the DEA .. has taken issue with what is a supplement.. used world wide.. that is part of the COFFEE FAMILY… they claim that some 30 people have died from it WORLD WIDE – not per day, per week, per year.. but IN TOTAL… it claims that the poison control centers received some 500-600 phone calls about use/abuse of this substance over 5-6 YEARS… but … the poison control center receives abt SEVEN PHONE CALLS EVERY SECOND 24/7. 50+ members of the House has sent the DEA a letter to back off rescheduling Kratom… and reportedly some Senators are doing the same.
Maybe all of the discussion around this rescheduling is going to really put the actions of the DEA into the spotlight that is long past needed to be done and will clearly demonstrate that the DEA has moved far away from the original intend of The Control Substance Act 1970. There is more and more evidence that legal prescribing of opiates has little to do with the so called opiate epidemic… and that the drugs that are being abused and are killing people are coming from south of our border and China.. It will interesting to see if all this interest by the members of Congress is just a “smoke screen” to get past the Nov election.. if not.. it may be a signal to the chronic pain community to start a call/email/fax campaign to member of Congress about the misdirected actions of the DEA.
By Pat Anson, Editor
A spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says there is no timetable yet for kratom to be formally classified as a Schedule I controlled substance – a move that would make the sale and possession of the herb a felony.
Under an emergency scheduling order published in the Federal Register last month, the DEA could schedule kratom as an illegal drug as early as Friday, September 30. But that appears to be increasingly unlikely.
“I don’t have a timetable. It could be this week, could be in the future, I just don’t know,” DEA spokesman Rusty Payne told Pain News Network.
Since the DEA announced its plans on August 30, online kratom suppliers have hurriedly shipped orders to deplete their inventory and tens of thousands of consumers have stocked up on the herb, which many use to treat chronic pain and other medical conditions.
An unprecedented grassroots lobbying campaign was also launched to get the DEA to reverse or postpone its decision. Over 135,000 people signed a petition asking the Obama administration to stop the DEA, and hundreds of kratom supporters rallied in front of the White House.
A bipartisan group of congressmen in the House also signed a joint letter asking the agency to delay the scheduling of kratom to allow for public comment.
Now a second letter to the DEA is circulating in the U.S. Senate that calls the scheduling of kratom “unprecedented for a natural substance” and urges a delay.
The letter was drafted by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the powerful chair of the Senate Finance Committee, who has long maintained an interest in supporting the dietary supplement industry.
All of this has apparently made the DEA think twice about scheduling kratom, at least for the time being.
“What we’re hearing from the DEA today is that it’s not going to happen tomorrow (Friday), but that it’s still going to happen,” said Susan Ash, founder of the American Kratom Association, a consumer group that promotes the use of kratom for medical reasons.
“I’m hoping and praying for some kind of negotiation or compromise. But it sounds like the DEA has dug in because they’re trying to save face. The level of calls that they are receiving and the level of complaints there are receiving is nothing like ever before. We are not a bunch a bunch of drugged out people. If we were, we wouldn’t be on the phone to DEA, congress people and our senators pleading with them to step in and get a delay.”
Acting on the advice of the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the DEA moved to classify kratom as a Schedule I substance – alongside heroin, LSD and marijuana – without any public notice or comment. The DEA maintains that kratom, which comes from the leaves of a tree that grows in Southeast Asia, poses “an imminent hazard to public safety” and has been linked to several deaths.
However, in a survey of over 6,000 kratom consumers by Pain News Network and the American Kratom Association, 98 percent said kratom was not a harmful or dangerous substance and 95% said banning the herb will have a harmful effect on society. The vast majority said they use the herb in teas and supplements to treat chronic pain, anxiety, depression, addiction or other medical issues. And many say they will continue using kratom even it is scheduled as a controlled substance.
“We need to be very careful about what we put into Schedule I, especially with limited data. I think that’s a huge mistake,” says John Burke, president of Pharmaceutical Diversion Education, which educates law enforcement and healthcare professionals about prescription drug abuse and diversion.
“What if it’s a legitimate drug that can help people? And now we’re going to make criminals out of them. I just think it’s awfully fast. I would hope that if it is Schedule I that it is given a huge window of research and experimentation. To me, if 6,000 people say it’s helping me, that tells me there’s a promise there and we ought to be exploiting it.”
If and when kratom is turned into a controlled substance, it will fall in line behind a long list of illegal drugs the DEA is already struggling – some would say failing — to control.
“Our priorities would not change. Anybody that’s in violation of the CSA (Controlled Substance Act) runs the risk of arrest and prosecution,” says DEA spokesman Rusty Payne. “That said, right now our biggest problem is the opioid epidemic; fentanyl, heroin, prescription drugs, fentanyl compounds from China, designer synthetic drugs. That’s the biggest priority right now that we’re dealing with.”
Filed under: General Problems
Mighty protest video “Heal yourself” – Listen! AND SHARE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jijb5E1XnVc
Download MP3 link:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hrnwxz0jm4qwo74/AABnZKBAMvHTKXXPSI1n1Ciia?dl=0
its called corruption, and some man named Klondyn and the dea whom is in a position of power and has corrupted their purpose,,,he only want his rehabs filled up sooo he can make a huge profit on us,,paid for by our money.The dea same thing,,its easier to sit infront of computers ,,then get-en off their buts and chase down real drug dealers,,,Can’t go to South America any more,thrown out,soo our doc’s are easy pickens,,.There are sooo many ways to make a profit legally on a non-profit,,,it a joke,,,We commented 5,000 times,,sent 34,000 letters to our senators and the prez,,wrote the International community who agree’d its torture to forced physical pain onto another humanbeing,,,,,,They protest 1 time,,and get a stay of execution,,,,,its called corruption plain and simple,,,and abuse of just powers derived from the governed,,maryw
Mary, I totally understand why your upset…. I also have lived in chronic pain since 1984. With all of the government interventions it is very hard to find a Dr willing to prescribe opioid pain meds. Until 2013 I was in pain management, each month having to go to the Dr, pay cash for the visit, submit to random drug testing to make sure I had the PROPER levels of medication in my system. In 2013 I was told SORRY but due to government regulations i can no longer prescribe you any more meds! I went through terrible withdrawal as I had been on everything from oxycontine, fentanyl patches, methadone just to name a few…. I discovered kratom Jan 2015 and not only has it changed my life, Kratom gave me my life BACK! For the first time since 1984 I don’t walk around in a drug induced fog, counting the hours before I can take another dose.
I’m sorry that your experience with Kratom caused you to get sick, I believe that you took to much… That is the only thing that will happen if you take to much kratom…. You can’t OD on Kratom, like you can on prescribed opioid’s…you simply throw it up! My suggestion, try again, just take a very small amount or make a tea….you also can get your life BACK!! I was unable to work for over 20 yrs, I’m able to work everyday now… Think about it!
To Tina,,i never walk around in a fog from my opiate medicine,,it simple lessens my physical pain enough to function,,thus no fog,,I did not take TOO much Kratom,,it was my pancreas as to why I puked,,See this is exactly what I mean,,NO LAYMEN,, or anyone who knows nothing about your pain,,my pain,anyones physical pain,,has a rite to decide what u should take or what u cannot take,,The FREEDOM to choose as adults,,what works for us is gone,,Its like all the pot smokers telling me,,try pot,,it works for me,,soo it better work for u,,because the legally prescribe medicines cause o.d.??!!!!,,That’s my point,,TRUTH,FACT is ignored now a days,,,FACT/TRUTH is IT is literally impossible for anyone to physically feel the physical pain of another from medical illness,,literally impossible,,Soo NO-ONE has this divine rite to decide who suffers in physical pain and who does not suffer in physical pain from medical illness,,Which is exactly what is truthfully happening now a days,,humanbeings are being FORCED to endure physical pain from medical illness,,by laymen or people who think their way,their medicine,their approach to lessen -physical pain is the only rite way,,,WHICH IS WRONG, when it is impossible for you to physically feel the physical pain of another,,THE BIG PICTURE Tina,,,Since it is literally impossible for anyone to feel the physical pain of another,,as a humane society,we can only use medicines that lessen physical pain,,,be it kratom or opiates,,what-ever works for each individual body,and to know that FREEDOM to choose whatever medicines work for u will never be taking away again,,its not your rite,or my rite,or anyones rite to decide how much u should suffer in physical pain from medical illness,by telling me,,Kratom must work for u,cause it worked for me,,or badrapping my meds,,cause they caused a ,”fog,”’ for u,,,never did for me,,Freedom to choose,,,is gone ,,and people are being forced to suffer in physical pain because of it.
By the DEA’s own admission, heroin and opiate painkillers are their biggest problem right now. Kratom has an effect on opioid receptors so automatically an assumption is made that it will add to the opiate problem. The exact OPPOSITE is true. Chocolate, caffeine, and wheat also have an effect on opioid receptors, as do MANY other everyday things. For many people kratom it is the only thing standing between them and opiate addiction. If kratom is placed on schedule 1, countless people will be forced back onto drugs and the opiate epidemic will continue to spiral out of control. People should be able to make up their own minds and find ways to manage their own health without the fear of becoming criminals. This decision is reckless and misguided. An egregious error has been made here. Assumptions and knee-jerk reactions are never the appropriate way to handle things. The many thousands of stories about kratom helping people are more than enough proof that there is medicinal value in this natural supplement. Stopping the ban on kratom is required to prevent imminent harm to the public. Anything less would be an act of cruelty and a profound injustice to the American people.
How did the kratom community manage to get these results, but chronic pain patients who need opioids cannot?
Guns/knives/automobiles/bleach/gasoline/alcohol/paint fumes/dogs have been linked to a lot of deaths and I don’t see those being listed.
Many people including parts of my family have come back to being normal functioning people who Because of Kratom, have quit taking unprescribed & prescribed medications for a naturally grown substance. My cousin has been completely free from heroin use now for over 2 years. I pray that because of the DEA & wanting to ban & make kratom illegal that my cousin & so many others that are NOW COMPLETELY clean because they use a tree leaf to feel better. Honestly I feel at this point the US Govt is attempting to control population & get rid of a natural plant growing so they can kill off the people that are functional in society now versus them using drugs that really could kill you
And what drugs are u referring to Kelly???my medicine,,my OPIATE medicine for chronic physica;l pain??that allows me to function??/just curious which medicine u feel should be banned??insulin??heart meds?/pain meds??again,,please tell me why YOU have a rite to decide how much we should suffer in physical pain from medical illness by banning our meds??no different then the dea banning your kratom!,,,as free adult the freedom of CHOICE is the point,,whatever wqorks for u and the freedom as adults too have that medicine,,Hey people get relief from NATURAL coca plant teas,,dea banned it too,,,is that rite too????mary
WTF are you on about, Kelley says Kratom is good, and I assume you have some kind of brain damage cause you don’t know that it’s spelled RIGHT, maybe if you’d care more about spelling right and learned to read and write right you wouldn’t be ranting incomprehensibly at some person on the internet.
You’re bitching like she said she wants prescription drugs banned when she said nothing of the sort. She said HEROIN, so unless that’s your prescribed medication then why don’t you go rethink yourself.
hmm maybe u should get a pair of glasses before spewing your incompetent hatred?!,,,,show me were she specifically stated only heroin and not prescription or non prescription medicines,,not drugs??I am all for ANYTHING NATURAL;,,ANYTHING THAT LESSEN PHYSICAL PAIN FOR ADULTS AND OUR GOD GIVEN FREEDOM AS ADULTS TO CHOOSE,,, what works for 1 will not work for all,,and bad rapping my medicine cause I have tried Kratom,,it did nothing but made me puke,,,but don’t see me bad rapping her right to choose what-ever works for her,,,Bitchen off the wall a little too much buddy,,TO THE POINT u have no idea wtf u r talking about??!,get a pair of glasses or learn what a exclamation mark looks like on a computer screen,,before u think u have the rite to decide who suffers in physical pain and who does not by endorses 1 brand of medicine over another,,Its about our rite to choose what works for you,,,not a cookie cutter ideology,,,,”u must take kratom,,its better then prescribed medicine attitude,””,,freedom to choose is thee only HUMANE answer,,,
B.S.. on the 78 people a day,,,but this hole thing is b.s.,, I truly believe thee agents’ going after us,,our doctors ,the propaganda,,and now our Petition2 Congress ,”Due No Harm,”has mysreoeuly ben hacked every since we made it known we were going to use it as evidence of the toerture and genocide the United StatesGovernment has committed,,,[ are the same ones/division thrown out of South America for human rites violations ,,thus the needed employment,,,our doctors are way easier then chasing some criminal down in the jungles or threw mtns of Bolivia/Peru,…All the dea needs now a days,,,is a computer,,,not there 2 legs and a brain obviously!!!!!mary
Today on CSPAN, Nancy Pelosi made a public statement in a news conference saying that 78 people a day die from opiates. Of course she didn’t define the difference between legally prescribed or illegal street opiates. She just stated that it was an epidemic that this Congress has failed to create legislation to combat. My question is, Are these elected officials misinformed or are they just ignoring the voices of people in pain???? She also stated the they Finally agreed to compensation or funding for both the Zika virus and the Flint water fiasco. But it’s not the amount of funding needed for either, it’s just a bandage to get by on until they can get back in session and debate about it again for months. I guess personal political PENIS measuring is more important than the healthcare needs of the American people.