BANGKOK, 04 Oct 13 The Minister of Public Health, Dr. Pradit Sinthawanarong, has established a committee to look into the possibility of removing Kratom leaves from Class 5 of the narcotics list.
The committee, headed by Dr. Patom Sawanpanyalert, Deputy Secretary General of the Food and Drugs Administration, will focus its study on 3 main areas – whether or not Kratom leaves contain addictive substances, whether they have medicinal properties, and their possible side effects.
The committee is also tasked with finding the status of the Kratom in the international community and reasons why it is given such categorizations. The team has 2 months to make a conclusion on the subject. Once the final decision has been reached, the Public Health Minister said the ministry will present its opinion on whether or not to delist the plant from the narcotics list to the Ministry of Justice.
Nonetheless, the Minister stresses that the study would focus on scientific aspects rather than the legal ones.
