FDA Declares Popular Alt-Medicine Kratom an Opioid (nbcnews.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News: The Food and Drug Administration declared the popular herbal product kratom to be an opioid on Tuesday, opening a new front in its battle to get people to stop using it. New research shows kratom acts in the brain just as opioids do, FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said in a statement. And he said the agency has documented 44 cases in which kratom at least helped kill people -- often otherwise healthy young people.

"Taken in total, the scientific evidence we've evaluated about kratom provides a clear picture of the biologic effect of this substance," Gottlieb wrote. "Kratom should not be used to treat medical conditions, nor should it be used as an alternative to prescription opioids. There is no evidence to indicate that kratom is safe or effective for any medical use." The FDA released detailed accounts of several of the deaths. The victims often had mixed kratom with other substances, including chemicals taken out of inhalers and found in over-the-counter cold and flu drugs.

Comments

What the devil are you on about?

[rsilvergun]

are you suggesting Kratom is killing folks, because it's not. The FDA says that the deaths were caused by mixing Kratom with other substances, but don't really go into details and their own data seems to prove otherwise.

This is more shitting on poor people and another extension of our racist drug policy. The goal is to fill the private prisons (which are now a convenient source of slave labor that _you_ compete with) while allowing roundabout institutionalized racism and segregation. There is literally nothing good about this.