Biologically, kratom acts enough like an opioid that DEA considers it a risk to public security. The company planned to use a regulatory mechanism called emergency scheduling to put it in the same limiting category as lsd, marijuana, and heroin . This category, Schedule I, is scheduled for what the DEA considers the most harmful drugs-- those without any redeeming medical worth, and a high capacity for abuse.

KRATOM: THE INTENSE PLANT LIFE THAT CAN AID OPIOID JUNKIES-- ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT THE DEA DOESN'T BAN IT