Drug Enforcement Administration Withdraws Emergency Kratom Ban

[cristinew]

This is what happens when you put up a good fight .

http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2016/10/unprecedented-move-drug-enforcement-administration-withdraws-emergency-kratom-ban 

 

DEA Opens Public Comment Period, After Immense Pressure from Advocates and Prominent Members of Congress

 

Drug Policy Alliance: Kratom Does Not Belong in Broken US Drug Scheduling System

In an unprecedented move, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has posted a notice in the Federal Register stating that it is withdrawing its plans to ban kratom using emergency scheduling powers. The DEA instead is opening a public comment period ending December 1^st. The official notice indicates that comments received by the DEA will be considered - along with formal input from the Food and Drug Administration - before a determination is made about scheduling kratom. The DEA's proposed ban on kratom, a medicinal plant used for millennia in Southeast Asia and currently used by millions in the U.S., was anticipated to go in effect as early as September 30.

Today’s announcement by the DEA comes amidst enormous pressure on the agency from the public and federal lawmakers to halt the proposed kratom ban. In recent weeks, prominent members of Congress, including Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), have sent letters to the DEA criticizing the kratom ban and calling on the agency to provide a public comment period. Today’s announcement is considered unprecedented for a law enforcement agency that has never backed down when using its controversial emergency scheduling powers.

“This is a truly remarkable moment to see the Drug Enforcement Administration, a law enforcement agency with a long track record of ignoring both science and public opinion, being forced to consider the scientific evidence and public opinion before taking additional steps with respect to kratom,” said Grant Smith, deputy director of national affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance. “People who oppose a federal kratom ban only have about six weeks to tell the federal government that kratom does not belong in our broken drug scheduling system."

DPA held a national press tele-conference about kratom on September 27^th with leading advocates and researchers – audio is available here. Since the ban was announced, DPA donors and activists have sent over 60,000 messages to Congress.

In the days leading up to September 30^th, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the most senior Republican senator and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, senta “Dear Colleague" letter to the DEA asking to postpone its plan to place kratom in Schedule I. The letter was also signed by Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Angus King (I-Maine), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.).

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) also sent a separate letter to the DEA, co-signed by Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), stating the need for ”adequate time for experts to weigh in via public comment.” In the House, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) led a bipartisan letter to the DEA signed by 51 U.S. Representatives urging them to hold off on the ban. 

Many people struggling with opioid addiction have turned to kratom as a safer alternative, but all promising scientific studies on its role in opioid treatment would have been immediately shut down by a Schedule I designation. Critics have slammed the DEA for using its emergency scheduling powers to ban a natural substance that is being actively studied in the U.S. for therapeutic uses and questioned the rigor by which the DEA consulted scientific evidence in its decision. Schedule I is reserved for substances that have a “high potential for abuse,” “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States” and “no accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision,” criteria that differ from scientific literature exploring kratom and its constituents. 

The DEA’s emergency scheduling action would have subjected anyone caught with any quantity of kratom to long prison sentences. The Schedule I designation also would effectively halt scientific investigation into kratom’s medicinal benefits, while making it impossible to enact sensible legal regulations, such as quality control measures, product labeling requirements, as well as marketing, branding and retail display restrictions, which are long proven to reduce substance misuse and youth access. 

Advocates argue that the DEA’s decision to add kratom to Schedule I underscores the need for an overhaul of our federal drug scheduling system. Decisions about how drugs are classified and regulated should be guided by science -- not by law enforcement. Scheduling decisions should be led by federal health agencies, with input from independent scientists and experts.

“If the DEA gets its way, more people who struggle with addiction will be criminalized,” said Jag Davies, director of communications strategy at the Drug Policy Alliance. “Given the widespread moral, political and scientific consensus that drug use and addiction are best treated as health issues rather than criminal matters, there’s no good reason to criminalize people simply for using kratom – especially considering how much we already know about prohibition’s disproportionate impact on people of color and other marginalized communities.”

 In 2014, DPA and MAPS co-released a report, The DEA: Four Decades of Impeding and Rejecting Science, that demonstrates how the DEA has systematically obstructed medical research and rejected scientific evidence.  In 2015, DPA released another, more far-reaching report, The DEA: Everything You Need to Know. To learn more about how the DEA has fueled mass incarceration, wasted taxpayer money, and blocked scientific research, check out DPA’s “Fire the DEA” campaign.

Contact:

Grant Smith, 202-683-2984, gsmith@drugpolicy.org
Jag Davies, 212-613-8035, jdavies@drugpolicy.org   

Edited October 12, 2016 by cristinew

[trichcycler]

hopefully this opens more eyes into the corrupt system our Presidents have supported all along.

Thank you for your huge part in making this happen cristenew

[cristinew]

Yes  It was Obama's FDA appointment that started this mess Now we have to prove he is a lyin sob

NaturalNews) In his last months in office, President Obama continues to pursue his policy of appointing industry insiders and lobbyists to important posts within the federal government.

A glaring example is his recent nomination of Dr. Robert Califf to become the new head of the FDA when current commissioner Margaret Hamburg steps down in March.

Califf has just received the support of a Senate committee, and is now expected to receive full senate approval of the appointment – despite revelations that he has close ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Even mainstream media outlets have voiced concerns over the appointment. A number of journalists and observers are questioning the potential impartiality of an appointee who has worked so closely with Big Pharma for so many years.

 

http://www.naturalnews.com/052658_Dr_Robert_Califf_FDA_Obama.html 

Edited October 12, 2016 by cristinew

[cristinew]

We need to thank the democrats and republicans that stood up to this madness,,,,,  Its not over yet, This FDA guy is the devil .

Edited October 12, 2016 by cristinew

[dutchfarm]

  It was Obama's FDA appointment that started this mess???????????

This started long before Obama was even born, revolving door appointments of people that are tied to the industry they are supposed to be regulating has been going on since at least the 1940's, think, the fox protecting the hen house folks. If anyone of you think there is going to be any change in politics, as usual, please, think again!! 

                                   Farmer Brown

[dutchfarm]

The current head of the USDA is a shill for Monsanto, go figure!! And I am sure this goes on at each and every ABC government agency

                        Farmer Brown

[cristinew]

  It was Obama's FDA appointment that started this mess???????????

This started long before Obama was even born, revolving door appointments of people that are tied to the industry they are supposed to be regulating has been going on since at least the 1940's, think, the fox protecting the hen house folks. If anyone of you think there is going to be any change in politics, as usual, please, think again!! 

                                   Farmer Brown

Yes with the kratom ban 

Edited October 13, 2016 by cristinew

[trichcycler]

these slimy rascals, like all politicians, aim to force their agenda and ideals upon us.

someone said  " We will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

 

I can dig it

[phaquetoo]

 

[cristinew]

“Imagine a society that subjects people to conditions that make them terribly unhappy. To then, give them the drugs to take away their unhappiness. Science fiction, you ask? Everyday reality.
It is already happening in our own society. Instead of removing the conditions that make people depressed, modern society gives them antidepressant drugs. In effect, antidepressants are a means of modifying an individual's internal state in such a way, as to enable him to tolerate social conditions that he would otherwise find intolerable.”
― Theodore J. Kaczynski

[trichcycler]

“Imagine a society that subjects people to conditions that make them terribly unhappy. To then, give them the drugs to take away their unhappiness. Science fiction, you ask? Everyday reality.

It is already happening in our own society. Instead of removing the conditions that make people depressed, modern society gives them antidepressant drugs. In effect, antidepressants are a means of modifying an individual's internal state in such a way, as to enable him to tolerate social conditions that he would otherwise find intolerable.”

― Theodore J. Kaczynski

 

and if thats not enough those quacks we trust with our lives meet every year to ADD new behaviors, ones seen in many families, children as normal, to a list of DISEASES, to be treated by a list of PRESCRIPTION DRUGS. Nail biting, bed wetting, fidgeting, ....LET THEM  KIDS EAT METH/AMPHETAMINE !

 Is it their fault?  we beg for "cures" to our daily life symptoms. We choose to work instead of raise our kids. We pay others to raise them. They're raised by people who choose to babysit kids for a living.  some are great, some are monsters.

sometimes we're unhappy, sometimes we're manic, sometimes we laugh or azzes off uncontrollably....but do we need to ingest more flouride based ingredients into our systems ?  dont we get enough already? 

 

why not make those pills chewable..you know, kill to birds with one stone, tooth decay and depression-- voila..these guys just dont think things out.

The people who invest in these Big Pharma keep their puppet FDA alive and flourishing.

This group allows;

HFCS is a main mercury carrier. where is the FDA to remove this top 3 most toxic element from our foods and beverages?  How about from our frikken teeth!!! What kind of monster would agree to validate placing mercury into your mouth to leach for the rest of your life?  I can name a few.  why is radiation treatment, a purely homeopathic treatment, -It is based on the principle of 'like cures like'. In other words, a substance taken in small amounts will cure the same symptoms it causes if it were taken in large amounts.- Is this the best we can do for the most feared disease of our times?  Rely on quackery?  maybe those who survived their cancer treatments were misdiagnosed, or worse yet, fraudulently used in a money scam,  in the first place, and never had it to begin with!  This would show a survival rate even, as it does report poorly at the cancer institute stats.

 

Genetically modified unlabeled salmon? thanks FDA

Aspartame??? WTF are you thinking?

 

Not only does the FDA give Monsanto unprecedented political power in shoving their genetically modified foods down your throat, but they have also been given the greenlight to contaminate the United States dairy supply with their genetically engineered growth hormone known as rBGH. Linked to breast and gastrointestinal cancer, the substance has been banned in 27 countries. Unfortunately, it is estimated that around 1/3 of cows in the United States are injected with this synthetic hormone, which means that you have most likely been highly exposed to rBGH if you live in the U.S. or have eaten U.S. dairy products.

Perhaps this has to do with the fact that Monsanto employees have positioned themselves prominently within the FDA?

 

One example of many is Margaret Miller. Margaret Miller was in charge of preparing the report on rBGH following its approval at Monsanto, she was later the official in charge of reviewing her own report as Deputy Director of Human Safety and Consultative Services.

 

this too;

Nearly half of all pharmaceutical drugs within the United States were not only produced overseas, but a shocking 81% of the 3,765 foreign factories have never been inspected by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Of these mystery drug factories, many are unregulated and stationed in China. To top it all off, the percentage climbs even higher when looking at the active ingredients for pharmaceuticals. About 80% of these active ingredients are created overseas.

 

The findings show that you really do not know the quality, or perhaps even the full ingredient list, of any pharmaceutical drug that you may be taking. What’s more is that a 2008 GAO report revealed that the FDA took 2 to 5 years to even follow up with foreign plants that had been cited for safety issues. That is if they followed up with the plants at all. Even when the FDA knows that the plants are affecting your safety, they fail to do anything about it — at least for about 2 to 5 years.

FDA Sits Back as Unregulated Factories Kill Americans

What happens as a result of the FDA allowing these factories to go unregulated and pump in pharmaceutical drugs to the United States? Besides slapping a premium price tag on these low quality mystery pills, the end result is a number of preventable deaths. A few reports reveal deaths directly linked to the poor manufacturing processes, but the truth of the matter is that it is nearly impossible to track to the true number of deaths that have occurred as a result of improper pharmaceutical manufacturing.

One such example involves hundreds of Chinese pharmaceutical plants. After creating and shipping a tainted batch of the blood thinner known as heparin to the United States, 81 people died as a result of taking the drug. What’s truly amazing, however, is the number of individuals who die on a yearly basis from overall pharmaceutical deaths. As fatality numbers skyrocket from properly taking pharmaceuticals drugs, the death toll has now outnumbered traffic fatalities according to the most recent statistics.

You may think that many supplements and regular pain relief drugs are exempt from this faulty manufacturing, but that is in fact untrue.http://naturalsociety.com/almost-half-of-pharmaceuticals-produced-overseas-unregulated-chinese-factories/

 

What We Allow Is What Will Continue.

good luck fighting against the organizations that pay your monthly dividends and show you the money, if you even care too. so far this is the case.

surely voting for the lesser of two evils results in an evil elected  leader(anon?) if we keep doing what we've always done we'll keep getting what we've always gotten.

[trichcycler]

[cristinew]

Love it

[cristinew]

here is a survey for pain pts   https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/reportpainmanagement_prescribing

[cristinew]

Kratom United would like to give a HUGE thankyou to Congressman D Hank Johnson   ! He met with Loretta Lynch, looked her square in the eye and questioned her about Kratom. A true leader in Congress and speaking for We The People!

This is what a true leader does! Speaks for the people, questions authority, makes them accountable!

[cristinew]

All you need is the leaf   this makes me so fukin  mad   http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/12/the-new-drugs-with-a-chance-to-reverse-the-opioid-addiction-epidemic.html 

 

New opioids could relieve pain without dangerous side effects

Aneri Pattani, special to CNBC.com

Wednesday, 12 Oct 2016 | 9:38 AM ETCNBC.com

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Once hailed as saviors of pain patients everywhere, opioids — including oxycodone and fentanyl — have caused an addiction epidemic in the United States and earned the scorn of doctors, patients and lawmakers. Some scientists think it's time to give opioids a second chance, by developing a new generation of drugs with all the painkilling power of conventional opioids but without some of the dangerous side effects.

Researchers are working with three compounds that appear to be the most promising when it comes to reversing the recent rise in opioid addiction and overdose death.

Pennsylvania-based pharmaceutical company Trevena's oliceridine has been given preferential regulatory treatment by the FDA; mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, a compound derived from leaves of the Southeast Asian kratom plant, has shown less incidence of addiction in mice trials; and early testing of compound PZM21 has produced results researchers claim are unlike anything they've seen from potential painkiller compounds.

The new molecular approach to painkilling

Each of these compounds binds to opioid receptors — specific proteins found in the brain, spinal cord and other organs in the body — just like morphine. But they activate a different signaling pathway, a route through which information flows from one molecule to another, than conventional opioids.

These distinctions mean the new opioids could decrease the risk of addiction and eliminate a leading cause of overdose death: respiratory depression. The fatal side effect drew attention recently after it was deemed the cause of death for popular pop artist Prince.

Brian Shoichet, professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at University of California, San Francisco, and co-author of a paper on PZM21 published last month in Nature, says eliminating this side effect is one of the most important goals in creating new opioids.

"The whole field is sort of opening up, and there's hope that there's molecules that at least don't cause respiratory depression," he said. "That's what kills people on opioids."

Deaths from prescription opioids have quadrupled since 1999, killing more than 28,000 people in 2014, according to the most recent data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The economic costs are high, too. Prescription opioid overdose, abuse and dependence carries an estimated economic burden of $78.5 billion per year, according to a study published in the October issue of Medical Care.

The statistics — along with the many heartbreaking stories — have prompted politicians to advocate for stricter controls on prescription medications, and doctors — including Surgeon General Vivek Murthy — to advocate for more physician education.

[cristinew]

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b00748  

 

Mitragynine/Corynantheidine Pseudoindoxyls As Opioid Analgesics with Mu Agonism and Delta Antagonism, Which Do Not Recruit β-Arrestin-2

András Váradi†, Gina F. Marrone†, Travis C. Palmer†, Ankita Narayan†, Márton R. Szabó§, Valerie Le Rouzic†,Steven G. Grinnell†, Joan J. Subrath†, Evelyn Warner†, Sanjay Kalra†, Amanda Hunkele†, Jeremy Pagirsky†,Shainnel O. Eans‡, Jessica M. Medina‡, Jin Xu†, Ying-Xian Pan†, Attila Borics§, Gavril W. Pasternak†, Jay P. McLaughlin‡, and Susruta Majumdar*†

† Molecular Pharmacology and Chemistry Program and Department of Neurology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10065, United States

‡ Department of Pharmacodyanamics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 032610, United States

§ Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, H-6726 Hungary

J. Med. Chem., 2016, 59 (18), pp 8381–8397

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b00748

Publication Date (Web): August 24, 2016

Copyright © 2016 American Chemical Society

*Tel: 646-888-3669. E-mail: majumdas@mskcc.org

[dutchfarm]

Yes with the kratom ban 

I see your point, but... hows about the 1930's Marihuana ban?

[cristinew]

Melvin Patterson (DEA spokesman)

"This move by the DEA is unprecedented. It's something we've never done before. We've never started down the path to emergency schedule something and then completely withdraw, but I like the reasoning behind it. 

We want to do some more research and gain more perspective, prior to going forward, if we do go forward at all. 

We have opened it up for public comment, which will run through December 1, 2016."

"We've actually had some differing viewpoints in regard to kratom and its affect on brain receptors," Patterson said. "We've asked the FDA to do their own eight point analysis. We actually asked them back in 2014, and we never got any results from that, so we were now told they were going to do a rush on this. 

Once we get those results, that's going to be considered along with the public comments, and that will help us make a more informed decision on how to proceed.

I don't think we anticipated the push back from the public, but we are concerned with the public self-medicating itself, and with that said, the DEA still cannot be swayed. It's not a popularity vote. 

The DEA still leans on the side of science. We will consider whether or not we're going to pursue an emergency scheduling [after December 1], or normal scheduling, or maybe it's something we don't want to pursue at all."

[cristinew]

 normal scheduling, or maybe it's something we don't want to pursue at all."  Yes forget about it YOU have not done anything good anyway....