Current Events

The Big Dietary Supplements Industry Wants to Ban Kratom

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Import Alert Imposed During Natural Products Association CEO’s Tenure at FDA The Natural Products Association (NPA) describes itself as the “leading trade association for dietary supplements”. Its board members include representatives from massive “nutraceuticals” manufacturers, big names like GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, and Nature’s Way (subsidiary of pharma giants Schwabe), Danisco (subsidiary of Dupont), and chemical …

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Kratom Legality in Thailand will go into effect August 24, 2021

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The government of Thailand announced May 26th in the Thai Royal Government Gazette that kratom will be taken off the list of banned narcotics. This is expected to go in effect on August 24th. Growing kratom remains restricted until regulations are set in place with what could eventually become a new kratom industry. A new …

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FDA-Induced Panic by Another Kratom-Induced Seizure

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an import alert on kratom in 2012, giving the agency the legal right to seize imports. The justification for the alert was based on laughably flimsy evidence, including nine deaths in Sweden of a product called “Krypton”, that contained toxic levels of O-desmethyltramadol (Babin, 2018). Since then, the …

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Happy 4/20! Every American should have the right to grow plant medicine

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Every American should have the right to grow their own plant medicine in their backyard, greenhouse, or inside their residence. Plants including kratom, poppies, cannabis, and psilocybin mushrooms should be just as legal to grow as coffee, sunflowers, tomatoes, and shiitakes. The right to have a plant medicine garden could be protected just as the …

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Important Kratom Legislative Updates: February 2021

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Kratom has received plenty of attention across state legislatures this month. Below is a rundown of all that has taken place in the US kratom sphere since the beginning of February.  Mississippi Back in early January, a Mississippi Senate Bill was proposed calling to add kratom to Schedule I of the Uniform Controlled Substance Act. …

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Full Text of 2018 HHS Letter to DEA Rescinding Kratom Ban Recommendation

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICESOffice of the SecretaryOffice of the Assistant Secretary for HealthWashington, D.C. 20201 AUG 16 2018 [stamped] The Honorable Uttam DhillonActing AdministratorDrug Enforcement AdministrationU.S. Department of Justice8701 Morrissette DriveSpringfield, VA 22152 Dear Mr. Dhillon: Pursuant to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), 21 U.S.C. § 811, I am rescinding our prior recommendation …

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Federal Research on Kratom Granted for 2021

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The United States House Committee on Appropriations has allocated the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) $500,000 towards kratom research for the year of 2021. The AHRQ was given a budget of $338,000,000 in total. “The Committee is aware of the potential promise of kratom-derived compounds for acute and chronic pain patients who seek safer …

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FDA Head Ranted About Kratom on Twitter a Day After HHS Quietly Withdrew Ban Recommendation

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On August 16, 2018, Brett Giroir, Assistant Secretary of Health for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent a letter to then Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Uttam Dhillon, rescinding a previous HHS recommendation that kratom should be federally outlawed. Pursuant to the Controlled Substances Act…, I am rescinding our …

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Federal Actions on Kratom: 2006 to 2018 HHS Decision to Withhold Ban

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This is a timeline of actions taken by federal agencies concerning kratom up to the August 16, 2018 HHS decision to withdraw a recommendation to ban kratom. FDA has been the most active federal agency in trying to control kratom, from releasing several import alerts, to requesting shipment seizures, to sending cease and desist letters …

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