Just read an email from the AKA, seems all the letters and outpouring worked, at least for now. We really should feel good that 2021 is much different that 1985. If this were 1985 kratom would be labelled as a narcotic by the Reagan administration and Nancy would have added it to the list of no no's. But now that cannabis is becoming legal (I wonder what Ron and Nancy would think of that!) it seems natural items are much harder to ban. I remember when they tried to ban ephedra, they kept going back and forth with that because of a little outcry.
Anyway this is what the emaiil says:
WHO ECDD RECOMMENDS AGAINST CRITICAL REVIEW
The American Kratom Association has received initial reports from the World Health Organization Executive Committee on Drug Dependency's report from the October meeting and they stated:
"The Committee concluded that there is insufficient evidence to recommend a critical review of kratom."
This is an enormous validation of the comments you submitted and science we presented to the WHO ECDD. Your comments and ongoing scientific research seem to have weighed heavily in the decision.
The report stated "People report using kratom to self-medicate a variety of disorders and conditions, including pain, opioid withdrawal, opioid use disorder, anxiety and depression. Kratom is being used as a part of traditional medicine in some countries. Research is ongoing to determine the basic pharmacology and the potential therapeutic value of kratom, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine."
Our fight is far from over in America as we still have state bans, import alerts, and an FDA that seems to ignore the science. However we cannot overstate how important avoiding a WHO critical review or outright scheduling is for millions of American kratom consumers!