DEA to place Mitragyna speciosa (Kratom) and its active alkaloids mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine into Schedule I on 30. September 2016.

There is always a plausible explanation in the heads of people that do things like this. It's just a different perspective and reality than you and I have. They have never lived in the shoes of the people who's lives they are ruining. So they cannot even understand their perspective. They build this narrative in their heads to justify what they do, and it is near impossible to break them out of it. The official stance for why they are doing this is multi-fold.

One, they have noticed an uptick in fake kratom being sold in headshops and gas stations, which is causing some health issues. So to prevent fake knockoffs causing harm, they want to emergency schedule it to have some time to tackle it.

Two, there was a shitty fucking selfish company putting mitragynine in energy shots and misbranded supplements. So they want to put a stop to that, and emergency scheduling gives them the power to do that. Otherwise they have to rely on the FDA to stop those products. So you can thank the makers of Viva Zen, United Naturals, for this. Seriously, thank them for everyone, and let them know just how many people they fucked over for a quick buck. They are a Canadian company, also called ZAG Group. You can find the owner's name really easily. He is one of the biggest people to blame for this scheduling.

Three, there have been a lot of articles the past couple years about kratom, and how people are using it to get off heroin and other hard opiates. So naturally, that kind of press gets retarded soccer moms, and morons with opinions on things they don't understand, to start writing their representatives asking the government to take action. The DEA cites that there have been 660 calls to US poison control centers about kratom in a 5 year period. They seem to think that is a lot, when it is NOTHING in the grand scheme of things. Guess how many calls to poison control centers there are every year for antihistamines? 35,000! Thirty five fucking thousand in one year for antihistamines, and the DEA thinks that 660 calls for kratom IN 5 YEARS is an issue? So they say that emergency scheduling will give them time to study and assess the threat kratom is to public health and safety. Ohh, don't worry about all the people that are going to DIE overdosing on heroin when they can't get kratom anymore. The DEA needs time to assess the public health risk...

The DEA is going to kill people with this action, and for no reason. Kratom does not pose a public health risk, and massively helps people with chronic pain or to get off things like heroin. Just look at some of the kratom forums right now, and you will see people with multiple sclerosis and other disorders freaking out, because kratom is the only thing that has been working to help them. So 660 calls to poison control centers in a 5 year period is justification enough to ruin thousands of other people's lives. Just imagine a person with multiple sclerosis being put in prison because they are caught with some kratom. It's insane!