Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.
This is not true for Kratom, it has been shown numerous times in reports from users to help recovering Opiate addicts, treat pain, combat depression and anxiety, and much more. Deaths that involve Kratom being a persons' system have always been from the result of mixing Kratom with other drugs, rather than Kratom alone. In states that banned Kratom, Alabama specifically, opiate usage and deaths went up after Kratom was banned in the state. Please stop the DEA from scheduling Kratom as Schedule I, there are many people who will suffer from this.
Sources:
Response to Petition
An update for your petition on the scheduling of kratom:
Thank you for taking the time to sign this petition on the We the People platform.
While the White House does not have a role in decisions on how to schedule controlled substances, we can point you to a relevant announcement made by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on October 13, 2016:
On August 31, 2016, the DEA published in the Federal Register a notice of intent to temporarily place mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, which are the main psychoactive constituents of the plant Mitragyna speciosa, also referred to as kratom, into schedule I pursuant to the temporary scheduling provisions of the Controlled Substances Act. Since publishing that notice, DEA has received numerous comments from members of the public challenging the scheduling action and requesting that the agency consider those comments and accompanying information before taking further action…
DEA is therefore taking the following actions: DEA is withdrawing the August 31, 2016 notice of intent; and soliciting comments from the public regarding the scheduling of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine under the Controlled Substances Act…
The comment period will be open until December 1, 2016. DEA’s full announcement and information on how to submit comments can be found here.
Thank you again for using the We the People platform to make your voices heard on the issues you care about.
-- The We the People Team