Southeast Asian Plant Creates A Stir Over Its Legality: Kratom Controversy

Nine thousand miles away from the rainforests of Thailand, Indonesia, and Myanmar where it is harvested, a leafy plant in the coffee family called kratom is the subject of a debate sprouting in Tupper Lake. This is the latest branch of a debate growing here and throughout the U.S.: Should kratom remain legal?

Though the Southeast Asian plant has long been used by native residents of Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar, it only recently found a market in the U.S. over the last decade or so. It has quickly amassed a dedicated community of thousands of users, a Food and Drug Administration investigation and an announcement last year from the Drug Enforcement Agency that it intended to reclassify kratom as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin, LSD, and marijuana. That announcement was then withdrawn after two months of public outcry.

Though the DEA pulled its notice of intent to expedite a scientific and medical FDA evaluation of kratom, the thought of reclassification still looms large over the kratom community.

Read the complete article at Adirondack Daily Enterprise