Kratom Lords

Why does the FDA claim kratom is unsafe for consumers? The FDA has a long-standing bias against any dietary ingredient, botanical supplement, or dietary supplement that is not a chemical formulation subject to regulatory approval as a new drug. In 1994, Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DHEA) to reign in the FDA’s overregulation of dietary supplements FDA wanted banned on the premise they were highly addictive, being used to self-medicate without physician supervision, or were so poorly formulated these products posed a threat to public health requiring them to be banned. Today, FDA maintains the same three common objections about kratom, i.e., kratom is unsafe, is highly addictive, and has no approved medical use — and people are using it to self- medicate to withdraw from opioid addictions . Accordingly, FDA has made three specific attempts to have kratom’s constituents, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, as Schedule I substances. Base...

NEW JERSEY — A new bill would put some guidelines down for kratom, a currently-unregulated herbal supplement found for sale at smoke shops and other retailers in New Jersey which can produce harmful psychoactive effects and get users addicted. Two senators are seeking to regulate the sale of kratom and make sure New Jersey retailers label it properly, as federal officials warn people away from using kratom products. The bipartisan “New Jersey Kratom Consumer Protection Act” proposed by Sens. Joseph A. Lagana (D-Bergen, Passaic) and Jon M. Bramnick (R-Morris, Somerset, Union) establishes regulations for the sale of kratom in the state. The bill ( S549 ) also sets an age limit of 21 years old for purchase of the substance. The Senate bill has been referred to the Commerce Committee. A similar bill in the New Jersey Assembly was introduced last May but did not advance through the state legislature. Kratom comes from a tropical tree ( Mitragyna speciose ) which grows in some South...