Brandon Turbeville
November 15, 2016
When the DEA announced that it was backing off of its decision to go through emergency procedures to place kratom on the Schedule 1 list of controlled substances, kratom proponents all over the country rejoiced. This meant that the announcement of the DEA’s intentions only 30 days prior would not take effect at the beginning of October.
Unfortunately, it appears that most kratom activists completely misinterpreted the DEA’s decision. Pulling away from listing kratom as Schedule 1 was not a decision against banning kratom. It was only a decision to stop pursuing the ban in an emergency fashion.
Basically, the DEA is marching forward with its plan to ban the herb but it wants to give the illusion of democracy and freedom before it does so.
The DEA announcement essentially postpones the ban as the agency takes comments from the public regarding their opinions and experiences with the plant. Unfortunately, however, the jubilation of many kratom activists seems to have overtaken pragmatism and strategy since the turnout of posting comments is drastically lower than the turnout in the month of September when users thought the substance was going to be banned.
In order to keep kratom legal it is imperative that all people of goodwill immediately mobilize and begin to take the simplest of actions such as posting public comments in the appropriate place on the DEA website. The comment period has a small window of opportunity only lasting until December 1st, 2016.
When the DEA announced that it was backing off of its decision to go through emergency procedures to place kratom on the Schedule 1 list of controlled substances, kratom proponents all over the country rejoiced. This meant that the announcement of the DEA’s intentions only 30 days prior would not take effect at the beginning of October.
Unfortunately, it appears that most kratom activists completely misinterpreted the DEA’s decision. Pulling away from listing kratom as Schedule 1 was not a decision against banning kratom. It was only a decision to stop pursuing the ban in an emergency fashion.
Basically, the DEA is marching forward with its plan to ban the herb but it wants to give the illusion of democracy and freedom before it does so.
The DEA announcement essentially postpones the ban as the agency takes comments from the public regarding their opinions and experiences with the plant. Unfortunately, however, the jubilation of many kratom activists seems to have overtaken pragmatism and strategy since the turnout of posting comments is drastically lower than the turnout in the month of September when users thought the substance was going to be banned.
In order to keep kratom legal it is imperative that all people of goodwill immediately mobilize and begin to take the simplest of actions such as posting public comments in the appropriate place on the DEA website. The comment period has a small window of opportunity only lasting until December 1st, 2016.
