Kratom, Imodium, and the Strict Father Regulation Machine

Recently the FDA has released a warning about Imodium, the over the counter (OTC) diarrhea medicine. What was long known in opioid using subcultures as “poor man’s methadone” is just recently coming to the attention of the FDA. I first encountered the phrase in Jim Hogshire’s underground classic Opium for the Masses in the late 1990s, although the book was first published in 1994.

Another warning issued by the FDA is against Kratom, a naturally growing tree indigenous to Thailand. They have interfered with free commerce by seizing shipments of Kratom entering the country, despite its legality, and seek to regulate Kratom. That was in November of 2016. Tuesday of this past week, the FDA released a statement declaring Kratom an opioid.

Scott Gottlieb, Commissioner of the FDA, is waging war against DIY cures for opioid withdrawal symptoms. Gottlieb worked as an advisor for Team Trump, prior to being appointed to head the FDA by Trump, and has received an endorsement from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Gottlieb is most concerned, according to Erin Brodwin, writer for Business Insider, with Kratom being used to treat opioid use withdrawal symptoms. This is also why Gottlieb is complaining about a lack of regulation pertaining to Imodium.

In 2016 the DEA unsuccessfully attempted to shove Kratom into a Schedule I controlled substance category (where cannabis irrationally continues to languish), where substances which the government disapprove of have…