Can the FDA's tactics – to impact the current opioid problem – also predict its successor? The goal is to head off escalation before problems are crises, and the move is a departure from the status-quo, reactive nature of prior policies.
kratom
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb condemned the use of kratom, which is a plant-based mixture of chemical compounds, some of which are opioids. The evidence is strong that kratom does contain multiple opioid drugs – and therefore carries with it some risk. But those who use it to treat pain are adamant about needing it. Who's right? Maybe both sides.
Federal Marshals just seized 90,000 bottles of kratom, another so-called dietary supplement produced by an Illinois company. It's a hallucinogenic narcotic, so what exactly is it supposed to supplement? The LSD you took as a teenager? Once again, this nonsense is made possible by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and the insane legislation he co-authored in 1994.