Biologically, kratom acts enough like an opioid that DEA considers it a hazard to public safety. The agency prepared to use a regulative mechanism called emergency situation scheduling to position it in the exact same limiting category as lsd, heroin, and marijuana . This category, Schedule I, is scheduled for exactly what the DEA thinks about the most harmful drugs-- those with no redeeming medical value, and a high capacity for abuse.

KRATOM: THE UNPALATABLE PLANT WHICH WILL BENEFIT OPIOID NUTS-- ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT THE DEA DOES NOT BAN IT