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Please do not make Kratom a Schedule I Substance | We the People: Your Voice in Our Government
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petiti ... -substance
Please do not make Kratom a Schedule I Substance
Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.
This is not true for Kratom, it has been shown numerous times in reports from users to help recovering Opiate addicts, treat pain, combat depression and anxiety, and much more. Deaths that involve Kratom being a persons' system have always been from the result of mixing Kratom with other drugs, rather than Kratom alone. In states that banned Kratom, Alabama specifically, opiate usage and deaths went up after Kratom was banned in the state. Please stop the DEA from scheduling Kratom as Schedule I, there are many people who will suffer from this.
Sources:
http://jaoa.org/article.aspx?articleid=2094342
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3670991/
DEA "Prison for Plants" Travesty
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Tone Weaver
- Posts: 1044
- Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2014 7:14 pm
Re: DEA "Prison for Plants" Travesty
More Info:
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/201 ... dule_i_sam
DEA Places Kratom on Schedule I, the Same Status as Heroin
The DEA announced Tuesday that it plans to crack down on kratom, a Southeast Asian plant that has gainedincreasing popularity among chronic pain sufferers and people wishing to wean themselves from opioids.
The drug agency said it was using its emergency powers to place two psychoactive substances in the plant -- mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine -- on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the same schedule as heroin. The move will take effect by the end of September and will be in effect for up to three years.
"Kratom has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and has a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision," the defining characteristics of a Schedule I drug, the DEA said.
Kratom was traditionally used in Thailand and Malaysia to help endure physical labor, relieve pain, and stop diarrhea. It was also good for relieving the symptoms of opium withdrawal.
That's because it acts like an opiate. Its active ingredients activate the same opioid receptors heroin and prescription pain pills do. And it behaves like an opiate -- with a couple of exceptions, one interesting and one quite important.
Like other opiates, it relieves pain, slows bowel activity, produces euphoric feelings, and creates physical addiction and a withdrawal syndrome. But unlike other opiates, it causes a pleasant, caffeine-type buzz in small doses and, more significantly, it is apparently very difficult -- if not impossible -- to overdose on it. The few deaths where kratom is implicated include poly-drug use, or as in a case reported by the New York Times, suicide by a young kratom user who was also being treated for depression.
And it has caught on here in the United States, especially among pain patients and people seeking to transition from opioid addiction, so much so that the DEA said it needed to act "in order to avoid an imminent threat to public safety." Calls to poison control centers about kratom jumped from a mere two between 2000 and 2005 to 660 between 2010 and 2015. DEA reported 15 "kratom-related" deaths between 2014 and now.
But that's out of millions of doses. According to DEA's own data, at least 130,000 pounds of kratom was seized by law enforcement in the last two years, and the FDA has ordered another 140,000 pounds of the stuff held pending an admissibility decision. That's enough for some 12 million doses, and that's just what they seized.
The DEA decision will doubtless lead to the removal of falsely-labeled and tainted products claiming to be kratom, but it's also likely to drive thousands of people with chronic pain and opioid problems back to the substances they were trying to avoid. And when it comes to lethality, kratom is opium's mild-mannered little sister. While the DEA cites 15 deaths linked to kratom since 2014, there were more than 29,000 fatal opioid overdoses in 2014 alone.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/201 ... dule_i_sam
DEA Places Kratom on Schedule I, the Same Status as Heroin
The DEA announced Tuesday that it plans to crack down on kratom, a Southeast Asian plant that has gainedincreasing popularity among chronic pain sufferers and people wishing to wean themselves from opioids.
The drug agency said it was using its emergency powers to place two psychoactive substances in the plant -- mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine -- on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the same schedule as heroin. The move will take effect by the end of September and will be in effect for up to three years.
"Kratom has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and has a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision," the defining characteristics of a Schedule I drug, the DEA said.
Kratom was traditionally used in Thailand and Malaysia to help endure physical labor, relieve pain, and stop diarrhea. It was also good for relieving the symptoms of opium withdrawal.
That's because it acts like an opiate. Its active ingredients activate the same opioid receptors heroin and prescription pain pills do. And it behaves like an opiate -- with a couple of exceptions, one interesting and one quite important.
Like other opiates, it relieves pain, slows bowel activity, produces euphoric feelings, and creates physical addiction and a withdrawal syndrome. But unlike other opiates, it causes a pleasant, caffeine-type buzz in small doses and, more significantly, it is apparently very difficult -- if not impossible -- to overdose on it. The few deaths where kratom is implicated include poly-drug use, or as in a case reported by the New York Times, suicide by a young kratom user who was also being treated for depression.
And it has caught on here in the United States, especially among pain patients and people seeking to transition from opioid addiction, so much so that the DEA said it needed to act "in order to avoid an imminent threat to public safety." Calls to poison control centers about kratom jumped from a mere two between 2000 and 2005 to 660 between 2010 and 2015. DEA reported 15 "kratom-related" deaths between 2014 and now.
But that's out of millions of doses. According to DEA's own data, at least 130,000 pounds of kratom was seized by law enforcement in the last two years, and the FDA has ordered another 140,000 pounds of the stuff held pending an admissibility decision. That's enough for some 12 million doses, and that's just what they seized.
The DEA decision will doubtless lead to the removal of falsely-labeled and tainted products claiming to be kratom, but it's also likely to drive thousands of people with chronic pain and opioid problems back to the substances they were trying to avoid. And when it comes to lethality, kratom is opium's mild-mannered little sister. While the DEA cites 15 deaths linked to kratom since 2014, there were more than 29,000 fatal opioid overdoses in 2014 alone.
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Tone Weaver
- Posts: 1044
- Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2014 7:14 pm
Re: DEA "Prison for Plants" Travesty
Democracy. Use it or lose it.
In this case the Petition goal has been reached.
112,503 SIGNED
100,000 GOAL
Needs 0 signatures by September 29, 2016 to get a response from the White House
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petiti ... -substance
Please do not make Kratom a Schedule I Substance
Created by P.M. on August 30, 2016
Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.
This is not true for Kratom, it has been shown numerous times in reports from users to help recovering Opiate addicts, treat pain, combat depression and anxiety, and much more. Deaths that involve Kratom being a persons' system have always been from the result of mixing Kratom with other drugs, rather than Kratom alone. In states that banned Kratom, Alabama specifically, opiate usage and deaths went up after Kratom was banned in the state. Please stop the DEA from scheduling Kratom as Schedule I, there are many people who will suffer from this.
Sources:
http://jaoa.org/article.aspx?articleid=2094342
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3670991/
In this case the Petition goal has been reached.
112,503 SIGNED
100,000 GOAL
Needs 0 signatures by September 29, 2016 to get a response from the White House
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petiti ... -substance
Please do not make Kratom a Schedule I Substance
Created by P.M. on August 30, 2016
Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.
This is not true for Kratom, it has been shown numerous times in reports from users to help recovering Opiate addicts, treat pain, combat depression and anxiety, and much more. Deaths that involve Kratom being a persons' system have always been from the result of mixing Kratom with other drugs, rather than Kratom alone. In states that banned Kratom, Alabama specifically, opiate usage and deaths went up after Kratom was banned in the state. Please stop the DEA from scheduling Kratom as Schedule I, there are many people who will suffer from this.
Sources:
http://jaoa.org/article.aspx?articleid=2094342
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3670991/
-
Tone Weaver
- Posts: 1044
- Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2014 7:14 pm
Re: DEA "Prison for Plants" Travesty
Tell your senators:
Stop the DEA's War on Kratom
The DEA recently placed kratom, a medicinal plant used for millennia in Southeast Asia, on the list of Schedule I drugs, effective September 30.
Without a serious scientific investigation the DEA intends to subject anyone caught with any quantity of kratom to long prison sentences, while effectively halting scientific investigation into kratom’s medicinal benefits, and making it impossible to enact sensible legal regulations for kratom.
Many people struggling with opioid addiction have turned to kratom as a safer alternative, but now all promising scientific studies on kratom’s role in opioid treatment could be immediately shut down. Tell your Senators to stop the DEA's irresponsible action before it's too late.
https://engage.drugpolicy.org/secure/senate-kratom-dea
Text:
On August 31st the DEA irresponsibly placed the active compounds in kratom, Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine, into Schedule I, effective September 30.
Kratom is a tropical plant in the coffee family from Southeast Asia that has been used to help those suffering from opioid withdrawal for centuries.
Without a serious scientific investigation the DEA intends to subject anyone caught with kratom to long prison terms and mandatory sentencing. This DEA action threatens to halt all scientific investigations into kratom’s medicinal benefits in part because it will become illegal to import the kratom needed for research purposes.
With America currently suffering from an overdose epidemic linked to opioids, the DEA is criminalizing a plant 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 we should be going.
As your constituent I ask that you please act immediately to halt the DEA’s irresponsible action to place kratom on the list of Schedule I drugs.
Stop the DEA's War on Kratom
The DEA recently placed kratom, a medicinal plant used for millennia in Southeast Asia, on the list of Schedule I drugs, effective September 30.
Without a serious scientific investigation the DEA intends to subject anyone caught with any quantity of kratom to long prison sentences, while effectively halting scientific investigation into kratom’s medicinal benefits, and making it impossible to enact sensible legal regulations for kratom.
Many people struggling with opioid addiction have turned to kratom as a safer alternative, but now all promising scientific studies on kratom’s role in opioid treatment could be immediately shut down. Tell your Senators to stop the DEA's irresponsible action before it's too late.
https://engage.drugpolicy.org/secure/senate-kratom-dea
Text:
On August 31st the DEA irresponsibly placed the active compounds in kratom, Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine, into Schedule I, effective September 30.
Kratom is a tropical plant in the coffee family from Southeast Asia that has been used to help those suffering from opioid withdrawal for centuries.
Without a serious scientific investigation the DEA intends to subject anyone caught with kratom to long prison terms and mandatory sentencing. This DEA action threatens to halt all scientific investigations into kratom’s medicinal benefits in part because it will become illegal to import the kratom needed for research purposes.
With America currently suffering from an overdose epidemic linked to opioids, the DEA is criminalizing a plant 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 we should be going.
As your constituent I ask that you please act immediately to halt the DEA’s irresponsible action to place kratom on the list of Schedule I drugs.
-
Tone Weaver
- Posts: 1044
- Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2014 7:14 pm
Re: DEA "Prison for Plants" Travesty
One more time folks. Thousands of people suffering chronic nerve pain really need our activism.
This is for real. I have family and friends who would rather not need to buy Big Pharma drugs when Mother Nature has her gifts for us.
PLEASE HELP.
===
THIS is what we've been fighting for! Congressmen Pocan (D-WIS) & Salmon (R-AZ) have written a letter to stop the ban. On MONDAY (9-19) we need your Congressman to sign on too.
Monday (9/19) Phone Call That Will Stop the Kratom Ban
1) Find your representative with your zip code -
http://www.house.gov/representatives/...
2) Call (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Congressman's office
3) Say -
Hi, my name is [your name] from [your state].
I would like you to pass the message on to [Your Congressman] that I would like him/her to sign on to the "Pocan/Salmon Dear Colleague Letter".
I or (family/friend) use Kratom for [whatever you use it for] and it's safe. It's not a recreational drug. Hundreds of thousands of Americans do too. Research needs to be done before this natural herb is banned. Please have him/her sign the "Pocan/Salmon" Dear Colleague letter.
This is for real. I have family and friends who would rather not need to buy Big Pharma drugs when Mother Nature has her gifts for us.
PLEASE HELP.
===
THIS is what we've been fighting for! Congressmen Pocan (D-WIS) & Salmon (R-AZ) have written a letter to stop the ban. On MONDAY (9-19) we need your Congressman to sign on too.
Monday (9/19) Phone Call That Will Stop the Kratom Ban
1) Find your representative with your zip code -
http://www.house.gov/representatives/...
2) Call (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Congressman's office
3) Say -
Hi, my name is [your name] from [your state].
I would like you to pass the message on to [Your Congressman] that I would like him/her to sign on to the "Pocan/Salmon Dear Colleague Letter".
I or (family/friend) use Kratom for [whatever you use it for] and it's safe. It's not a recreational drug. Hundreds of thousands of Americans do too. Research needs to be done before this natural herb is banned. Please have him/her sign the "Pocan/Salmon" Dear Colleague letter.