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posted by Fnord666 on Monday February 12 2018, @05:09AM   Printer-friendly
from the scheduled-for-elimination dept.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has released a new statement denouncing the drug kratom. The statement says that the FDA has learned about new deaths that "involved" kratom use, additional adverse effects associated with its use have been found, and that Public Health Assessment via Structural Evaluation (PHASE) "3-D computer technology" has been used to analyze the chemical compounds in kratom:

Using this computational model, scientists at the FDA first analyzed the chemical structures of the 25 most prevalent compounds in kratom. From this analysis, the agency concluded that all of the compounds share the most structural similarities with controlled opioid analgesics, such as morphine derivatives.

The FDA continues to discourage the use of kratom, which it is calling an opioid.

The American Kratom Association provided a rebuttal of the FDA statement:

Nine leading scientists in substance addiction and safety wrote to White House Opioid Crisis Team Leader Kellyanne Conway and Acting DEA Administrator Robert W. Patterson requesting they disregard the FDA's latest disinformation campaign against kratom. The scientists warned that "four surveys indicate that kratom is presently serving as a lifeline away from strong, often dangerous opioids for many of the several million Americans who use kratom. A ban on kratom that would be imposed by CSA Scheduling would put them at risk of relapse to opioid use with the potential consequence of overdose death. Similar unintended consequences are to be expected in some who would be forced to use opioids to manage acute or chronic pain."

[...] David Herman, Chairman of the AKA, called upon FDA Commissioner Gottlieb to pull back the curtain on the "black box voodoo computer model" that was unveiled by the FDA to justify their continued 'War on Kratom,' this time claiming their computer model conclusively shows kratom is an opioid, and therefore had to be banned.

The nine respected scientists pointed out that "kratom provides a far more favorable safety profile for consumers compared to more dangerously addictive and potentially deadly classical opioid medications." They also pointed out that the FDA's solution – to file a new drug application for kratom – made no sense because "the average time and cost of new drug development is more than 10 years and 2.5 billion dollars."

Previously: DEA Welcomes Kratom to the Schedule I List Beginning September 30
The Calm Before the Kratom Ban
FDA Blocks More Imports of Kratom, Warns Against Use as a Treatment for Opioid Withdrawal

Related: Opioid Commission Drops the Ball, Demonizes Cannabis


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  • (Score: 2) by edIII on Monday February 12 2018, @07:44PM (4 children)

    by edIII (791) on Monday February 12 2018, @07:44PM (#636795)

    Hmm, yeah, but I was smoking weed before it was recreational. Civil disobedience will start to be really effective when you have jury nullification. I believe that is what happened with the J20 prosecutions. The jury could see that it was about regulating unpopular speech and suppressing legal protests. They've let most of them go, and are continuing to double down on what is left. I predict that will also be jury nullification. Trump isn't popular, he didn't win the popular vote, and most people are on the side of the protesters.

    Kratom, Big Pharma, and Law Enforcement are going to play out the same game. I wouldn't convict somebody of possessing Kratom, much less distributing it. I'm not particular interested in trying it either, but I'm also not particular interested in nasty veggies like asparagus. To each their own.

    Government will always be trying to get power back, and with the astounding abuses of power that the DEA along with local enforcement have performed, they don't want to let go. When you have some LEO who is corrupt and willing to steal from the "bad guys", that's how you get them with sports cars, and all the trappings of wealth that the drug lord had.

    The people that are trying to regulate Kratom are nothing more than state sponsored highwaymen.

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  • (Score: 2) by requerdanos on Monday February 12 2018, @08:46PM (2 children)

    by requerdanos (5997) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 12 2018, @08:46PM (#636820) Journal

    I wouldn't convict somebody of possessing Kratom, much less distributing it.

    Jury nullification is a good and necessary thing. The question I have for you is this: How do you avoid getting excluded from the jury pool during jury selection?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 13 2018, @03:45AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 13 2018, @03:45AM (#636965)

      Except that unless you convince the _entire_ jury to nullify, you risk a mistrial and a more hostile jury for the poor SOB whose life you’re toying with to take your personal agenda to court, which is why it is a weapon of last resort not to be deployed by fools, which is to say, almost everyone.

    • (Score: 2) by edIII on Tuesday February 13 2018, @07:23PM

      by edIII (791) on Tuesday February 13 2018, @07:23PM (#637230)

      Just act like an ordinary person that doesn't have their mind made up. It would depend on the lawyer asking the questions. I guess my answer is "carefully"

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      Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
  • (Score: 2) by requerdanos on Tuesday February 13 2018, @08:23PM

    by requerdanos (5997) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 13 2018, @08:23PM (#637255) Journal

    all the trappings of wealth that the drug lord had.

    Same or poorer value system and care for others, as well.