MultiTroll
01-06-2016, 11:01 AM
Any of you SpursTalkers taken Kratom?
Welcome to kratom, a new semi-legal sort of mostly drug (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/us/kratom-an-addicts-alternative-is-found-to-be-addictive-itself.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0). Long used, and now banned in its native Thailand, kratom is made from kratom leaves, shredded and then brewed into a kind of tea. It is said to affect the brain like an opiate, say Oxy or heroin. It is addictive, particularly to people already prone to addiction, such as alcoholics.Kratom exists in a kind of legal purgatory. Because it is categorized as a “dietary supplement,” the Food and Drug Administration cannot officially restrict its sale unless it is proved unsafe or producers claim that it treats a medical condition. Packages are often labeled “not for human consumption” to avoid tripping such alarms.
However, none of that stopped the U.S. government, which just up and banned the the import of kratom in 2014, under its authority when a substance is “strongly suspected” to be harmful. That year, marshals seized 25,000 pounds of it from a single Los Angeles warehouse, so the stuff seems to have a few fans out there.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has listed kratom as a “drug of concern” but not a controlled substance, which would require proven health risks and abuse potential. Indiana, Tennessee, Vermont and Wyoming have banned it on their own; several other states, including Florida and New Jersey, have set aside similar bills until more is known about kratom’s health risks. The Army has forbidden its use by soldiers.
On the other hand, the New York Times reports (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/us/kratom-an-addicts-alternative-is-found-to-be-addictive-itself.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0) that powdered forms of the leaf are sold at “head shops,” gas stations, convenience stores and on the Internet. Bars have recently opened in Colorado, New York, North Carolina and other states where customers nurse brewed varieties, varying in strength, from plastic bottles that resemble those for fruit juice.
Welcome to kratom, a new semi-legal sort of mostly drug (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/us/kratom-an-addicts-alternative-is-found-to-be-addictive-itself.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0). Long used, and now banned in its native Thailand, kratom is made from kratom leaves, shredded and then brewed into a kind of tea. It is said to affect the brain like an opiate, say Oxy or heroin. It is addictive, particularly to people already prone to addiction, such as alcoholics.Kratom exists in a kind of legal purgatory. Because it is categorized as a “dietary supplement,” the Food and Drug Administration cannot officially restrict its sale unless it is proved unsafe or producers claim that it treats a medical condition. Packages are often labeled “not for human consumption” to avoid tripping such alarms.
However, none of that stopped the U.S. government, which just up and banned the the import of kratom in 2014, under its authority when a substance is “strongly suspected” to be harmful. That year, marshals seized 25,000 pounds of it from a single Los Angeles warehouse, so the stuff seems to have a few fans out there.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has listed kratom as a “drug of concern” but not a controlled substance, which would require proven health risks and abuse potential. Indiana, Tennessee, Vermont and Wyoming have banned it on their own; several other states, including Florida and New Jersey, have set aside similar bills until more is known about kratom’s health risks. The Army has forbidden its use by soldiers.
On the other hand, the New York Times reports (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/us/kratom-an-addicts-alternative-is-found-to-be-addictive-itself.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0) that powdered forms of the leaf are sold at “head shops,” gas stations, convenience stores and on the Internet. Bars have recently opened in Colorado, New York, North Carolina and other states where customers nurse brewed varieties, varying in strength, from plastic bottles that resemble those for fruit juice.