“Vapes,” produced in China are also on the mind of Andy Harris, a U.S. House Republican from Maryland, who shared his concerns on the “Washington Watch” program last week.
Kratom is a tropical evergreen tree (Mitragyna speciosa) native to Southeast Asia, belonging to the coffee family (Rubiaceae). The term also refers to products derived from its leaves, which contain psychoactive alkaloids — primarily mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) — that bind to opioid receptors in the brain.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced recently its recommendation that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) use science-based ratio or concentration thresholds when targeting 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl (MGPI).
HHS is drawing a clear line between “natural kratom” and “dangerous, enhanced opioid products, Sec. Robert F. Kennedy said. This way only certain kratom products will be listed under Schedule 1 drug.
That approach isn’t strong enough, Harris told show host Tony Perkins.
“In the last couple of days, they've announced that now kratom and its derivative, 7-OH or seven hydroxy — they're going to lessen up the regulation on that. This is crazy,” Harris stated.
Also referred to as “gas station heroin,” Kratom is one of many dangerous substances, such as hemp products packaged as children’s snacks, that are easy to obtain at convenience stores. Since 2015, there has been a 1,200% increase in kratom-related reports and cases.
The two Ole Miss students were found dead with the substance nearby. While the police investigated the deaths separately, they looked into whether kratom contributed to either death.
'People are dying from kratom'
The toxicology report on both students found the same three substances, which included Smax Mango Breeze pills, a kratom-related product were found near the bodies, Fox News reported.
“The bottom line is people are dying from kratom again. It's sold in the same stores and gas stations as the hemp derivatives are. All these things should be much more highly regulated because they're addictive and, in the case of kratom, it could be lethal,” Harris stated.
Three U.S. senators have written a letter to the DEA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to protect Americans from kratom by placing all substances found to include the product placed under Schedule 1.
Harris hopes the letter will help the administration reconsider their current stance. If not, Congress will act, he said.
“We are ruining young people's lives with Kratom and its derivatives. It should be regulated, and the administration, instead, is taking a position where it should be treated as a nutritional supplement,” Harris stated. “There's nothing nutritional about Kratom ... There's nothing nutritional about hemp. These are pharmacologic agents. They should be treated that way by the FDA.”
While not on the federal level, individual states have already taken measures to get kratom off the shelves. Fourteen states have either banned or scheduled the plant-based substance, while 23 states are putting age restrictions.
AFN reported previously on Congress closing a loophole that allowed hemp products to still be sold in store. While it was set to take effect in November, Democrats delayed the restrictions until December 11.
Beware vapes from China
Harris spoke briefly on another measure he is urging the Senate to support, the House-passed initiatives to help federal agencies shut down the illicit nicotine marketplace. China, he said, is selling billions of dollars’ worth of nicotine-addled vapes in the U.S.
“You can't trust the Chinese to actually put in the right level of nicotine or a safe level of nicotine. You don't know what's in these products. You don't know what's in these vape devices,” Harris stated. “The bottom line is we should just ban these devices, and we should enforce the ban.”
In fact, he said these are already illegal, but the U.S. is not enforcing the law, which the government should. With unknown amounts of nicotine and other chemicals in the Chinese vapes, this is another case in which the FDA has dropped the ball, Harris said.
