Kratom bomb: DEA's 'unprecedented' reversal of drug ban shows culture shift

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Kratom bomb: DEA's 'unprecedented' reversal of drug ban shows culture shift

The Drug Enforcement Agency, which has a long ‘record of ignoring
both science and public opinion’, has responded to an outcry over a
south-east Asian plant

Baynard Woods in Baltimore
Friday 14 October 2016 11.30 BST

The US Drug Enforcement Agency took an unprecedented step this week that the agency says signals a substantial shift in its direction, after decades as a leader in the US war on drugs.

After the DEA imposed its strictest drug regulations on a south-east Asian plant called kratom, the outcry was strong and immediate. Many have cited the plant as an effective treatment for addiction to prescription painkillers and other opioids, while evidence of the drug’s harms, they said, is minimal.

In response, the DEA handed a major victory to drug reform advocates: it reversed its decision and halted the emergency scheduling of kratom.

“This is an unprecedented action. It’s never happened before,” said agency spokesman Russ Bayer. “We’ve never withdrawn a notice to temporarily schedule any substance but we want to move through this process in a transparent manner.”

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/14/kratom-dea-ban-reversal-culture-shift

[tymorial]

1. They ran the numbers

It will cost more to police the distribution and usage of kratom than they would absorb from seizing assets during raids. That is the only reason for the reversal.

The war on drugs pads their operating budget.

[ewe army]

4. its all about the numbers

War on drugs. Explosive prison funding. The only real addiction problem I can see is our addiction to money. The ones at the top have it worst. They seem to be so blindly and fervently addicted to it they don't care who they hurt. I do believe it is this money addiction that is ultimately causing our planet to warm up. More industry! More money! But why? Can't we see this behavior is hurting us?

The real addicts grab money and power with absolute determination. They are the ones we need to heal, before they end up killing us all.

[tanyev]

2. Marking to read later.

[n2doc]

3. Astounding

They still will likely move to ban it, but it will take time, and maybe just maybe people will listen to the Public and realize that the scare mongering over Kratom was pure bullshit.