How SITSA May Ban Kratom

There is one piece of text in the proposed SITSA Act that directly threatens the continued legality of Kratom. If you haven't read the SITSA Act yet, click here. In general, the SITSA Act amends the Controlled Substances Act to add a new schedule to the list, Schedule A. This new category places any substance that is "substantially similar" to an already-scheduled substance into a new Schedule A controlled substance category.

Under Sec 2, the bill defines a Schedule A drug as, "In General, the drug or substance has an actual or predicted stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system that is substantially similar to or greater than the stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system of a controlled substance in schedule I, II, III, IV, or V."

The SITSA Act also defines a drug or substance placed into Schedule A as "a chemical structure that is substantially similar to the chemical structure of a controlled substance in schedule I, II, III, IV, or V," a piece in the Act that I do not believe is a threat to Kratom. However, there is no clear definition in the law that describes what "substantially similar" literally means, which is the real danger. This phrase is too open to interpretation and without a clear definition, something as vague as Kratom interacting with certain opiate receptors in the brain could be enough to schedule Kratom. But keep in mind that chocolate, sugar, and even breastmilk also interact with opiate receptors, among many other things. Just because something interacts with opiate receptors, that doesn't qualify that item to be a controlled substance.

My suggestion is for the legislators to amend the SITSA Act to state that "any and all currently-legal natural substances and their respective alkaloids shall be exempt from scheduling under the SITSA Act." This act is currently advertised as a solution to the synthetic Fentanyl market that is driving up the opioid epidemic. SITSA stands for "Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act of 2017." The title itself focuses on synthetic drugs, not natural substances. However, the language described in the SITSA Act is too broad and does not specifically state that SITSA exclusively applies to synthetic, not natural, substances. This act must be amended in order to keep Kratom safe and available to the public.

Petition URL:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AKASITSA
Senate SITSA Act:  https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1327/text
House SITSA Act:  https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/2851/text