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posted by janrinok on Monday October 17 2016, @02:08PM   Printer-friendly
from the let-them-hear-your-voice dept.

The Washington Times reports [Link no longer available]

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration [DEA] will hold off on a previously-announced ban of the herbal drug Kratom while soliciting additional input from the public and the Food and Drug Administration [FDA].

A DEA announcement in August that it planned to add the psychoactive compounds in Kratom to the list of Schedule I drugs[1] banned under the Controlled Substances Act drew outrage from individuals who believe the herbal supplement, which is derived from trees indigenous to Southeast Asia, can help individuals struggling with opioid addiction.

"Since publishing that notice, DEA has received numerous comments from members of the public challenging the scheduling action and requesting that the agency consider those comments and accompanying information before taking further action," states a notice[PDF] issued [October 12] by the DEA that it will withdraw its proposal to ban the substance.

[...] In addition to accepting public comments[2] on Kratom through December 1, the DEA has also asked for a scientific and medical evaluation of the drug by the FDA. [DEA spokesman Melvin] Patterson said the DEA initially asked for such an assessment in 2014, but never received the results and opted to go forward with the ban without the assessment.

[...] Susan Ash, who founded the American Kratom Association in 2014 to advocate for users of the drug, said [...] "We believe Kratom should not be scheduled in any way, shape or form," Ms. Ash said. "It's been consumed safely for decades in the U.S. and world-wide for millennium, so there is no impetus to make it a controlled substance."

[1] Claimed to have no legit medical value and a high potential for abuse (as Cannabis is classified)

[2] Their directions are in the PDF, which tells you to go to a ridiculous page which is driven by scripts and use the code Docket No. DEA-442W. It's as if they want to make it as difficult as possible to comment.

Previous: The Calm Before the Kratom Ban


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  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday October 18 2016, @11:58AM

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 18 2016, @11:58AM (#415622)

    doesn't count all the additional benefits

    I was counting that, there's some trade or customs or treasury thing which I cannot find today that boiled down to foreigners on travel visa or admitted for travel purposes spend something like tens of billions per week and some survey that claimed X% of foreign visitors plan to visit a national park, some multiplying and there you go.

    I'd certainly agree with the expense. At glacier the cost of a car pass is increasing to $30. Assuming cars cost 50 cents/mile thats 60 miles. I'm orders of magnitude further away than 60 miles. Of course there's two amtrak stations, also not free, etc etc. I'd spend a lot of money on food nearby the park but thats just money I'd not be spending back home, so only the foreigners money counts. I don't want to sit in a car as my vacation for 20 hours nor do I want to pay a bazzilion bucks for mass transit options, so ...

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