The Fight for Botanicals

With a shift in consumerism towards a more dynamic and natural outlook, it is time to cover grey areas like Kratom under laws. Apart from its popularity among users, Kratom is an excellent industry for investment and growth. The high craze for kratom strains like Red Horned kratom makes it imperative for authorities to keep a check. The last few years have seen a rampant rise in updates relative to the legal status of Kratom. While many blogs focus only on whether buying Kratom is legal or not, the current surge in consciousness demands to look beyond it. The laws related to commerce always protect consumers, and since Kratom is a product, it’s high time the debate to preserve kratom consumers is put forth.

Keep reading at programminginsider.com

A top federal health agency hosted a meeting last week to explore the therapeutic potential of a “controversial tree” commonly known as kratom, which supporters say has pain relieving qualities and can be used as a substitute for opioids.

As part of a lecture series, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) invited University of Florida researcher Christopher McCurdy to provide an overview of the science of kratom and what role it could play in mitigating the overdose crisis.

McCurdy, who previously served as the director of an NIH research center, titled his lecture, “Can a Controversial Tree Help End the Opioid Crisis?” He went into detail about anecdotal experience and clinical research, explaining how there’s promising evidence that kratom could help alleviate pain, reduce withdrawal symptoms from opioids and lower dependence on methamphetamine, for example.

Read more at Marijuana Movement

JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Senate endorsed legislation Monday requiring more regulations for kratom products.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Phil Christofanelli, R-St. Peters, in the House, and Sen. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, in the Senate, will bar the sale of the product to anyone younger than 18, as well as require sellers to ensure that their products do not contain dangerous substances.

The legislation was approved on a 30-2 vote, with Republican Sens. Paul Wieland of Imperial and Jeanie Riddle of Mokane dissenting.

Kratom is a plant grown in Southeast Asia that affects the same opioid brain receptors as morphine. It is often used as a dietary supplement for pain relief and a natural alternative to treat opioid withdrawal, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other health conditions.

Keep reading at stltoday.com

A bill by Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, who is also chairman of the Florida Republican Party, would have regulated a different drug, kratom, a medicinal plant with opioid properties. 

Gruters withdrew the bill after it passed two committees unanimously but then stalled. The Florida Kratom Consumer Protection Act was intended to protect people’s rights to consume the drug safely in Florida, Gruters said.

Sarasota County has banned possession of kratom, citing the decision by the U.S. Army and Navy to ban the drug. Their findings said the drug has addictive properties and causes symptoms like dry mouth, insomnia, anorexia, hallucinations and confusion.

Gruters said the drug is good overall and wants to prevent manufacturers from mixing the drug with harmful substances. The drug can be found in many smoke shops around the U.S. and is typically consumed in tea.

Keep reading at the Orlando Sentinel

RADNOR — One week after the Radnor Board of Health said they’d recommend the township not regulate kratom, the commissioners are moving ahead with the introduction of an ordinance to regulate the substance.

But the proposed regulations will not be a ban, as some residents and commissioners have demanded. Instead, the new rules will limit where it’s sold and set a minimum age for purchasing the product.

A final vote on the regulations could come as early as the board’s next meeting on March 28.

Under the proposed ordinance, the sale of kratom and another product called delta 8 would be prohibited within 1,000 feet of a school, playground or daycare center.

Keep reading at delcotimes.com

Many of their stories are similar. Homeless and hooked on heroin. Suffering from chronic pain and addicted to opioids. Unemployed with a grim outlook for the future.

Until these consumers started using a botanical native to Southeast Asia: kratom.

In response to a Federal Register notice related to an upcoming meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO), one man named Abe Stewart wrote to FDA that he suffered from “chronic pain” and turned to opioids.

“I became addicted, I lost my home and my job, and I was homeless for years dealing with an opioid addiction,” he shared. “Kratom not only [helped] me get over that addiction, but it also helps me deal with the pain so I can be a functioning member of society. Without this plant in my life, the pain would be so horrific that it would not be worth living.”

Read more at Natural Products Insider

MADISON – Assembly lawmakers are scheduled to take up a bill this week that would legalize an herbal supplement over the objection of law enforcement officials and medical doctors. 

But Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who supports the legislation, said Wednesday that the bill is in limbo and may get voted down on the floor. 

Under the legislation, the extract known as kratom would no longer be considered a controlled substance in Wisconsin — one of few states that bans the product.

Derived from the leaves of an evergreen tree native to Southeast Asia, kratom acts on opioid receptors in the brain and is sold as a supplement, most often in capsule or powder that can be mixed with liquid.

Read the full article at jsonline.com.

The Ohio House passed a bill allowing for regulation of kratom on Wednesday, a controversial move given that some medical experts have called it addictive and harmful.

Kratom is an herbal extract from the leaves of a Southeast Asian tree and is typically taken as a powder or tea. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the extract can decrease pain, lead to pleasure or sedation and can help people cope with opioid withdrawal.

Currently, its use is not outlawed in Ohio, and it is sold in specialty stores, head shops, gas stations and online. But whether it’s safe has been a matter of debate.

Get the full story at finance.yahoo.com.

JACKSON • One day after marijuana became legal in Mississippi for medicinal use, the state House on Thursday passed legislation that would make the herbal product known as kratom illegal. “This is a drug that has no medicinal value,” House Drug Policy Chairman Lee Yancey said from the…

Read the full story at Daily Journal