When the Drug Enforcement Administration announced in late August that it would outlaw an opioid-like plant called kratom, the reaction was immediate. Kratom sellers threatened legal action. Over 130,000 people signed a petition to stop the ban. Some 400 users marched in front of the White House, with kids wearing shirts that said, “Kratom saved my mom.”
A bipartisan group in Congress has signed a letter asking the DEA to delay a ban on kratom. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images. Image sourced from STAT News. Available at: https://www.statnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Kratom_GettyImages-530276388-645x645.jpg