The Huffington Post published an article titled, “Why Kratom’s Getting Banned- And How We Can Stop this Drug War Madness.” The article reads in part as follows,
“The DEA’s recent move to prohibit and criminalize kratom, a medicinal plant used for millennia in Southeast Asia, shows us just how far we are from the drug war’s ultimate demise. Without any serious scientific analysis, the DEA intends to subject anyone caught with any quantity of kratom to long prison sentences, while obstructing scientific investigation into the plant’s medical benefits.
Kratom is a long-established folk remedy in southeast Asia, where it is traditionally popular among day laborers and has long been used as a replacement therapy for people struggling with opiate addiction. Kratom leaves can be chewed fresh, or dried and consumed in powder, tea or bar form. In small doses, it can have stimulant-like effects, and in larger quantities it acts as a sedative. Side effects of kratom are minimal, and its withdrawal symptoms are weak and nearly inconsequential compared to the suffering of people trying to quit opiates or amphetamines.
Many people struggling with opioid addiction have turned to kratom to help them cut back or quit, but now all promising scientific studies on kratom’s role in opioid treatment could be immediately shut down. With U.S. currently suffering from an overdose epidemic linked to opioids, it’s absurd to criminalize a substance that many people use to help with opioid withdrawal. If the DEA gets its way, more people who struggle with addiction could be criminalized, which is exactly the opposite direction drug policy should be going.
The Drug Policy Alliance is fighting to put the brakes on kratom prohibition – you can help us by taking action and pressuring Congress to stop the DEA before it’s too late.”
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