Following the unlocking of marijuana and hemp for medical and commercial purposes, preparations are being made to remove Kratom from the narcotics list.
Minister of Justice Somsak Thepsutin, as chairman of the committee considering amendment to legislation criminalizing narcotics, declared this week that a report is being compiled for the House of Representatives that will call for the decriminalization of Kratom to be placed on the government’s agenda. The move will be made at the end of this month and appropriate use of the plant could be decriminalized in 90 days after a decision is made in Parliament. The committee will review relevant drafts during the proceedings.
Democrat Party MP Thepthai Senpong, who is a member of the body, indicated a positive decision would allow Thais to utilize the plant legally for any purpose except as a narcotic.
Kratom (Mitragyna speciose) is a tropical evergreen tree in the coffee family native to Southeast Asia. It is indigenous to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea, where it has been used in herbal medicine since at least the nineteenth century. (NNT)
