Kratom in Thailand: Herb Legalized, Dozens of Jail Sentences Dropped

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seems to grasp for any reachable straw to ban kratom, including now involving the World Health Organization (WHO), Thailand has officially made use of the herb legal. Kratom, which belongs to the same family as coffee, is a botanical that reportedly helps millions of people with everything from energy levels to overall mental and physical well-being.

Thailand Justice Minister: Making Strides, Kratom No Longer Classified as ‘Opiate’

Thailand Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said last month that kratom would no longer be considered an opiate in the country. In addition, citizens are finally permitted to grow the botanical as well. As of the enactment date of August 24 , thousands of criminal legal cases involving kratom in the country have been thrown out, and jail sentences halted.

Fake News: Kratom Alone Did NOT Kill Nine People In Sweden, Which Led to Initial Ban

This is great news for those who say the government has no business banning a plant that, in its natural form, has never killed anyone. Rumors surrounding the herb causing deaths first occurred in Sweden, where seven deaths were purportedly blamed on kratom. However, autopsies showed the kratom to be adulterated with lethal doses of tramadol, a pharmaceutical grade pain reliever.

Kratom advocates also say you cannot, in any way, compare its effects to any opiate or drug. In fact, most compare its physical effects to that of coffee, which makes sense considering it belongs to the same family.  People also say kratom helps with mental well-being, with different strains aiding with heightening overall mood and the like.In its natural state, kratom should never make one “high.”

FDA Hides Information Vital to Kratom’s Legality

Interestingly enough, and unfortunately not surprisingly, the FDA hid information they requested themselves regarding the botanical.

The AKA announced on January 28, 2021:

Congressman Mark Pocan (WI) and Congressman Morgan Griffith, in exercising their oversight responsibilities over the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), discovered that on August 16, 2018 HHS had rescinded the request for the kratom to be classified as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Apparently the FDA wasn’t a fan of the finding, perhaps because it negatively affects Big Pharma pocketbooks?  Thailand legalizing kratom is great news not just for the movement as a whole, but for those in Thailand who were unjustly punished for their use of a natural product, a product that, unaltered, has never killed a single person.

121 Inmates Released Immediately

“Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said thousands of legal cases for the possession or sale of kratom were being dropped, and 121 inmates convicted in such cases would be released immediately,” according to ABC News. “Possession of kratom had been punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of as much as 200,000 baht ($6,077) for quantities of 10 kilograms (22 pounds) or more.”

Although Thailand legalizing kratom is great news, this isn’t a time to give up advocating for kratom. The American Kratom Association (AKA) is working tirelessly to educate lawmakers on the truths of the botanical. In a truly unprecedented event, the organization recently won a lawsuit against the FDA, in order to give kratom advocates more time to submit comments amongst the latest news of the FDA is asking the WHO for their help in banning kratom internationally.

Your voice matters, and the kratom movement needs your support now more than ever. You can submit your comments by clicking here, and it is requested that you ask friends and other loved ones to do the same. The AKA is personally taking the comments and submitting them to the Federal Registry, as the FDA has already proven that they’re headstrong on banning the herb and witholding information from the public eye.