While Tennessee, Minnesota, and Kansas have had recent success to keep kratom legal, a storm is brewing over the entire country regarding the legality of kratom on the federal level. This has triggered a country-wide response from the kratom community.
On March 15, 2018, U.S. Representatives Phil Roe, M.D. (R-TN) and Thomas Suozzi (D-NY) introduced HR5298, or, the "Modernizing Drug Enforcement Act of 2018" – To amend the Controlled Substances Act to deem drugs or other substances that act as opioid mu receptor agonists to be in schedule I, subject to exceptions for substances intended for legitimate medical or research use, and for other purposes.
Read that last sentence again... subject to exceptions for substances intended for legitimate medical or research use, and for other purposes. Exactly what does that mean? The language is clear: Make it illegal for citizens by pre-emptively classifying kratom as schedule I narcotic, but allow pharmaceutical companies to develop synthesized, patented alkaloids to make marketable prescription drugs approved by the FDA.
The proposed Modernizing Drug Enforcement Act of 2018 reads:
‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—A chemical substance is exempt from inclusion in schedule I by operation of paragraph (1) if the substance— ‘‘(A) is the subject of an approved application submitted under subsection (b) or (j) of section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; ‘‘(B) is exempt from the provisions of section 505 of such Act relating to new drugs because—
‘‘(i) the substance is intended solely for investigational use as described in section 505(i) of such Act; and ‘‘(ii) the substance is being used exclusively for purposes of a clinical trial that is the subject of an effective investigational new drug application; or ‘‘(C) is the subject of a nonclinical drug investigation by experts qualified by scientific training and experience to investigate the safety and effectiveness of drugs."
Three synthetic opioids synthesized from the alkaloids in kratom already exist: MGM-9, MGM-15, and MGM-16. They were synthesized from kratom’s alkaloids Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine: to make what is essentially patentable, pharmaceutical kratom.
The first study, published in 2008, took Mitragynine and used it to synthesize “MGM-9”. The second study, published in 2014 synthesized MGM-15 and MGM-16 from kratom’s other primary alkaloid, 7-Hydroxymitragynine.
Compare this to Cannabis; it is classified federally as a schedule 1 substance. However, the pharmaceutical industry can manufacture a profitable synthetic version of THC (the same active ingredient in cannabis) and make it legal.
Yet another example is Speciofolin, a kratom alkaloid. On August 10, 1964, a patent was filed for Speciofoline by the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline LLC. The patent claims the “alkaloid has useful pharmacodynamic activity, particularly analgetic and antitussive activity.”
Te list continues with the patent application US20100209542A1, for University Of Massachusetts Medical School, University Of Mississippi in 2010. The application recognizes kratom as a treatment for opioid withdrawal, and goes on to claim that kratom could be used to help withdrawals from other drugs as well.
The Rx pain medication epidemic is sweeping across the nation, killing thousands every year and converting many of its abusers into heroin addicts, the pharmaceutical companies are scrambling to find a -profitable- alternative.
Kratom should be that alternative. However, since kratom is a plant, pharmaceutical companies can’t monopolize it — unless it is made illegal countrywide. As of March 21, 2018, kratom is still legal in most of the U.S.. If HR5298 is passed, kratom will be illegal in America, but the synthetic, patented, versions of kratom that Pharmaceutical Giants own will become readily available. And profitable. With the full support of Uncle Sam.
More often than not, the drugs themselves, and the people that abuse them are blamed for this opioid crisis that is crippling our country. Not the giant Pharmaceutical corporations. Not Pharmaceutical lobbyists pushing to keep dangerous Rx drugs on the market. And certainly not our own government. How many more lives need to be ruined? How many more people have to die from overdose?
The people of this great country deserve to be treated better than this. If kratom has positively changed your life, and if you are passionate about keeping kratom legal, there are many things you can do:
- Call, write and email your representatives. It's easy, and only takes a few minutes.
- Share your story. Share it with anyone that will listen. There is nothing to be ashamed of if kratom has positively affected your life.
- Reach out to kratom groups to connect with others.
- Support kratom advocate groups like the AKA, BEA and NKC.
- Stay Informed - stay connected to a reliable source to follow kratom legislation.