The Fight for Botanicals

Gov. Kate Brown intends to veto two bills approved during the recent Oregon Legislature session.

Brown’s office announced Sunday that she will reject Senate Bill 721. It changes the way members are selected for a consumer advisory council that helps the Oregon Health Authority deal with mental health and substance abuse. The bill would allow members of the advisory council to select future members and refines its advisory role in an attempt to ensure consumers have a voice in how mental health and substance abuse policies are crafted and enforced.

The governor’s office says the legislation is well intentioned, but contradicts federal law, which prohibits the Oregon Health Authority from delegating its responsibility over implementing Medicaid policies.

Sponsors plan to submit a revised bill.

Read more at OPB.org.

After failing to get kratom prohibited domestically, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now seeking public comment to inform the U.S. position on how the substance should be scheduled under international statute.

In a notice published in the Federal Register last week, the agency is soliciting feedback on a number of substances. But advocates are especially concerned about where FDA and global drug officials come down on kratom, which has been touted as a natural painkiller that works as a safer alternative to prescription opioids.

The U.S. agency doesn’t quite see it that way, however.

“Kratom is abused for its ability to produce opioid-like effects,” FDA wrote in the notice. “Kratom is available in several different forms to include dried/crushed leaves, powder, capsules, tablets, liquids, and gum/ resin. Kratom is an increasingly popular drug of abuse and readily available on the recreational drug market in the United States.”

Read more at marijuanamoment.net.

After being listed as an illegal narcotic for many decades, Thais will finally be allowed to use and own Mitragyna speciosa, also known as kratom, as traditional medicine by August this year.

On May 28, an announcement was made in the Royal Gazette which effectively removed the plant from the list of narcotics. As new laws take effect 90 days after their publication in the Gazette, kratom use and possession will be effectively decriminalised on Aug 24.

Prior to its decriminalisation, kratom was categorised as a Class 5 Narcotic substance under the Narcotics Act, which made consuming, cultivating and possessing any part of the plant illegal.

Justice Minister, Somsak Thepsutin, said the move the regulate kratom does not end with its decriminalisation, as the parliament is now working on new laws to manage and control the cultivation and use of the plant.

Read more at the Bangkok Post.

A firm linked to a government seizure of $1.3 million in kratom products denied in federal court that the botanical is a new dietary ingredient (NDI).

The “affirmative defense” raised by MT Brands LLC asserts the “articles” seized were marketed in the U.S. before Oct. 15, 1994.

Dietary ingredients marketed before the above date are not subject to a notification requirement in the law to demonstrate their safety to FDA.

For several years, FDA has raised concerns over kratom, a botanical from Southeast Asia which has long been the subject of an import alert. Although several companies aiming to lawfully market kratom in dietary supplements have submitted to FDA premarket NDI notifications, the agency has essentially rejected all of them, citing safety concerns and other considerations.

Read more at Natural Products Insider.

Drug warriors have long deployed disinformation to justify panics and crackdowns. Kratom, an unregulated plant-based product used by many to manage opioid consumption and withdrawals, has not been spared.

On May 21, former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb spread a baseless claim on social media with a call to criminalize kratom consumers and obstruct access for people with opioid use disorder (OUD).

“I’m convinced [kratom is] fueling the opioid addiction crisis,” Gottlieb posted on Twitter, followed by a call for the Biden Administration to finish the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) 2016 scheduling effort that failed in the face of consumer advocacy and public opposition. 

Dr. Gottlieb’s statement came in response to a series of tweets by both the official FDA account and that of the agency’s current acting commissioner, Dr. Janet Woodcock.

Read the full article at Filter Mag

The Kratom plant has been removed from a list of narcotics listed under the amended Narcotics Act.

Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin said the Act has been modified and the new version was published in the Royal Gazette on Wednesday to annul the plant’s narcotics status.

The amendment will take effect on Aug 24, Mr Somsak said.

He thanked the organisations involved in pushing for the plant’s removal from the list, noting Kratom is a part of local people’s lifestyle.

However, cultivation of the plant will still be restricted until a new law to regulate kratom plantations is enacted, the justice minister said.

He said this legislation, also known as the Kratom Law, will detail how the plant is allowed to be used.

Keep reading at MSN

The Ashdown Police Department has seen an increase in the number of people in possession of an illegal substance known as Kratom.

According to APD, Kratom, which is also called Mitragyna Speciosa, is a schedule 1 controlled substance which makes it a felony offense to possess it in the state of Arkansas.

Mitragyna Speciosa, or Kratom, is a plant which grows in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

Kratom affects the opioid brain receptors as morphine which exposes the risks of addiction, abuse, and dependence. There are no FDA approved uses for Kratom.

Kratom is used in many ways, the most common are pills, capsules, crushed and smoked, brewed as tea, or by chewing the raw leaves.

Read more at arklatexhomepage.com