Today is a sad day for FL and also sorry for the extremely short notice.
Today the FL House voted and passed a bill to make Kratom illegal outright in the state of FL. Not even an age limit... On Monday the FL Senate votes on this bill and if it passes FL is outta luck on people whom use Kratom for energy and/or relaxation depending on type, help with opioid withdrawal, pain relief, etc.
Its horrible as I personally love Kratom. I also love pot(not trying to break rules just saying) and feel in no way really all things considered is pot at all that dangerous. However that being said I feel Kratom is even more benign and less dangerous than even good old pot/weed. I mean the feeling Kratom produces is divine like pot but pot is actually way more dissociative and inebriating than Kratom. Also here in FL we are pushing heavily to legalize pot and now we're gonna make and even less of a concern plant illegal! Outrageous!
FL peeps do whatever you can. Call your senators and express your opinions on Kratom it may just stop this deal albeit its at the door knocking. NY was proposing an outright ban as well but reduced it to age 21 or older to buy after being educated by Kratom users. We can do this peeps stand up for your right to choose!
MP
I do not agree with prohibition in any way, I do however agree with regulation similar to what New York has done.
Here Kratom has been illegal since 1937, it was initially done because Kratom could not be taxed by the state and opium could. So in order to keep the opium industry and govt happy Kratom was outlawed. While it is far more benign than alcohol there is still a real possibility for abuse as a substance. The evidence can be seen in a large section of the rural and/or working poor here. It is a real shame that there is no real long term data about this, the govt placed a ban on research in the 70's when they signed the UN Narcotics Convention.
As a medicine Kratom has a huge benefit if used appropriately and currently benefits tens of thousands of people across the globe. As such, it should be researched far more than it is, especially any long term usage factors. Outright prohibition would absolutely kill any research, especially prohibition in Florida since it has one of the few US environments where Kratom can be grown on a large scale. I'm sure that the politicians leading the "charge" there can be tied to the Pharma industry, same as they are here.
nobody