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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.
"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.
Learn something new every day. Never even heard of "kratom" until today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
"is a tropical evergreen tree in the coffee family (Rubiaceae) native to Southeast Asia in the Indochina and Malaysia phytochoria (botanical regions). M. speciosa is indigenous to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea, where it has been used in traditional medicine since at least the 19th century. Kratom has some opioid- and stimulant-like properties."
Where I get your position....I'm not sure I agree.
It seems to me that the FDA has a purpose and if something being sold openly in stores is killing folks, they might just have the responsibility to respond. I think they see this as a matter of public safety, and I think they have at least some justification for this. They've restricted other products for less, even if those being killed are being stupid and using more than recommended to get high...
Now calling something an opioid that's not actually derived from similar sources as opium does seem a bit heavy handed, because that puts this substance on a path to be made illegal to posses or use. It may act in similar ways as opium, however it's not actually opium...
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Ultimately, the SCOTUS decides constitutionality, not random citizens with a vision of how things would be if they were made Emperor.
Questions about the constitutionality of regulating arms has been decided by the SCOTUS several times , in some cases over a century ago:
* Presser v. Illinois (1886): The SCOTUS determined that states are able to regulate gun ownership - which is why we see state-approved firearms (ie. California's Roster of Handguns Certified for Sale )
* United States v. Miller (1939): The SCOTUS said "we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument"; specific weapons can be regulated.
Social Security is similarly declared constitutional.
Helvering v. Davis (1937): The SCOTUS determined Social Security providing the welfare of the people, and would almost certainly be used as a reason to allow universal healthcare.
Standing armies and navies aren't banned - they merely require Congress to renew authorization every two years.
-- Sometimes you have to turn the lights off in order to see.
1) 44 people who had the substance in their system. Correlation is not causation.
2) 44 people is a teeny tiny number. About the same number of people that are killed by toasters.
3) All drugs are poisons (Paracelsus, 1580 or thereabouts).
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
The age of "racist drug policy" is long gone;
False.
the urge to ban substances is based on authoritarianism and dogooderism.
And it disproportionately targets blacks and other minorities (but especially blacks.)
Accusing people of racism where none exists weakens your case and makes you look like a fool.
Pretending racism doesn't exist where it totally does exist weakens your case and makes you look like a white supremacist.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Sure, it is not an opiate, it is an opioid. But it doesn't matter when it come to risks.
The difference is that opiates are extracted from the opium poppy, while opioids include all chemicals acting on opioid receptors. Morphine, codeine and heroin are opiates and opioids. Fentanyl and kratom are opioids but not opiates. The origin of the substance or whether it is natural or synthetic doesn't matter to your body.