Biologically, kratom acts enough like an opioid that DEA considers it a threat to public safety. The agency prepared to use a regulative mechanism called emergency scheduling to put it in the same limiting category as lsd, heroin, and cannabis . This classification, Schedule I, is reserved for what the DEA thinks about the most unsafe drugs-- those with no redeeming medical worth, and a high capacity for abuse.

KRATOM: THE UNPALATABLE PLANT LIFE THAT MIGHT BENEFIT OPIOID ADDICTS-- IF THE DEA DOESN'T BAN IT