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Trump escalates attacks on prosecutors, says Democrats run ‘a Gestapo administration’

Top RNC lawyer resigns after rift grows with Trump

Divided Trump campaign weighs joining TikTok, the app he tried to ban

A frank look at hot dog prices at MLB ballparks

Sloppy first inning dooms the Nationals in a 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays

In a pinch, the Nationals finally find some offense

After years of delay, Boeing to try again with Starliner space capsule

Google’s empire is massive. A judge will soon rule if it’s a monopoly.

The Post endorses April McClain Delaney and Tom Royals for Maryland’s 6th District

On Press Freedom Day, little to celebrate for Hong Kong’s journalists

Young Georgians want to be part of Europe. Their government is in the way.

In photos: The 150th running of the Kentucky Derby

University of Michigan graduation disrupted by protesters

Protesters clash with law enforcement at U-Va.

Carolyn Hax: Working for a celebrity has this employee feeling ‘small’

Ask Amy: I live with my boyfriend – and his sister and her family

Miss Manners: Is it inappropriate to reach out to old girlfriends?

The New York Times, alone in its outrage over access to Biden

The ‘Access Hollywood’ video cemented Trump’s air of invincibility

Stephen A. Smith would like even more of your attention

How Pope Francis opened the Vatican to transgender sex workers

Israeli cabinet votes to shut Al Jazeera’s Israel operations; cease-fire talks ongoing

Residents accuse Israeli forces of executions during West Bank raid

Strangers help Sesame Street puppeteer after heirloom necklace was stolen

Teen grabs wheel when driver passes out and school bus veers into traffic

Cat climbed into Amazon return box, found alive 630 miles away

The new cure-all for vacation excess: the IV drip 

What’s the best bus to New York? We tested 5 for comfort and value.

You asked: Do I need a passport for my cruise?

Daron Taylor

The Drug Enforcement Administration is reversing <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/09/15/the-dea-wants-to-ban-another-plant-researchers-say-the-plan-is-insane/" target="_blank">a widely criticized decision</a> that would have banned the use of kratom, a plant that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/09/27/lawmakers-slam-obama-administrations-hasty-decision-to-ban-another-plant/" target="_blank">researchers say</a> could help mitigate the effects of the opioid epidemic.

Citing the public outcry and a need to obtain more research, the DEA is withdrawing its notice of intent to ban the drug, according to <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2016-24659.pdf" target="_blank">a preliminary document</a> that will be <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/10/13/2016-24659/schedules-of-controlled-substances-temporary-placement-of-mitragynine-and-7-hydroxymitragynine-into" target="_blank">posted to the Federal Register Thursday</a>.

The move is "shocking," according to John Hudak, who studies drug policy at the Brookings Institution. "The DEA is not one to second-guess itself, no matter what the facts are."

The DEA had announced in August that it planned to place kratom in schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, the most restrictive regulatory category, as soon as Sept. 30. But since announcing their intent to ban kratom, the "DEA has received numerous comments from members of the public challenging the scheduling action," acting administrator Chuck Rosenberg wrote in the notice, "and requesting that the agency consider those comments and accompanying information before taking further action."

A spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

[What it's like to be high on kratom, according to the people who use it]

Kratom is a plant from southeast Asia that's related to coffee. It contains a number of chemical compounds that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/09/16/what-its-like-to-be-high-on-kratom-according-to-the-people-who-use-it/" target="_blank">produce effects similar to opiates</a> when ingested.

People who take it have <a href="http://www.americankratom.org/success_stories" target="_blank">have said</a> kratom helped them overcome addiction to opiates or alcohol and treat otherwise intractable pain. Researchers <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/kratom-drug-ban-may-cripple-promising-painkiller-research/" target="_blank">say that their work</a> with kratom could eventually lead to the development of nonaddictive alternatives to powerful opiate painkillers. Placing kratom in schedule 1 would cripple researchers ability to study the drug, they say.

U.S. lawmakers were among the groups expressing their displeasure with the DEA's intent to ban kratom. A <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/09/27/lawmakers-slam-obama-administrations-hasty-decision-to-ban-another-plant/" target="_blank">group of 51 U.S. representatives wrote to the DEA</a> saying that the DEA's move "threatens the transparency of the scheduling process and its responsiveness to the input of both citizens and the scientific community."

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/09/30/dea-defies-senators-appeal-to-reconsider-unprecedented-kratom-ban/" target="_blank">Another group of nine senators</a> said the DEA's "use of this emergency authority for a natural substance is unprecedented," and urged the administration to reconsider.

The DEA will now open up a period for public comment until Dec. 1 of this year. It is also asking the FDA to expedite a "scientific and medical evaluation and scheduling recommendation" for the active chemical compounds in kratom.

At the close of the comment period, a number of things could happen. The DEA could decide to permanently place the plant in a schedule of the Controlled Substances Act, which would require an additional period for lawmakers and the public to weigh in. It could also decide to temporarily schedule kratom, which would not require any additional comment.

It could also decide to leave kratom unregulated.

[Police arrest more people for marijuana use than for all violent crimes — combined]

Advocates for kratom use, who say the plant has helped them treat pain and stop taking more powerful and deadly opiate painkillers said they are elated.

"I am in tears," Susan Ash of the American Kratom Association said in an email. "Our voices are being heard, but we still have a long road ahead of us.

Lawmakers who criticized the initial announcement to ban kratom are also pleased. "Concerned citizens across the country have made it clear, they want the DEA to listen to the science when it comes to the potentially life-saving properties of kratom," said Mark Pocan (D.-Wis.) in an email.

Researchers are welcoming the move, but they point out that the future of their work with the plant is an uncertain one.

"It's certainly a positive development," said Andrew Kruegel of Columbia University in an email. Kruegel is one of the researchers <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/kratom-drug-ban-may-cripple-promising-painkiller-research/" target="_blank">working to develop next-generation painkillers</a> based on compounds contained in kratom.

Kruegel says that the FDA's evaluation of the drug will carry a lot of weight in the DEA's decision. But the kind of rigorous, controlled trials that the FDA typically refers to in situations like this simply don't exist for kratom.

"Unfortunately, in the United States I don't think we have a good regulatory framework for handling this situation or taking perhaps more reasonable middle paths" between banning the drug outright or keeping it unregulated, Kruegel says.

Still, he says, "the FDA is a scientific agency rather than a law enforcement agency, so I am encouraged that they will now be having more serious input on this important policy decision."

Marc Swogger, a clinical psychologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center who has <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26595229" target="_blank">published research on kratom use</a> and earlier called the decision to ban the plant "insane," said in an email that "I'm happy to see this. It is a step in the right direction and a credit to people who have spoken out against scheduling this plant."

He added "now, the government should take into account, not just the minimal available scientific data on kratom, but the broader impact that criminalizing the use of this plant will have on vulnerable citizens."

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/09/28/marijuana-really-can-be-deadly-but-not-in-the-way-you-probably-expect/" target="_blank">Marijuana really can be deadly, but not in the way you probably expect</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/10/07/drug-cops-raid-an-81-year-old-grandmothers-garden-to-take-out-a-single-marijuana-plant/">Drug cops raid an 81-year-old woman's garden to take out a single marijuana plant</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/13/one-striking-chart-shows-why-pharma-companies-are-fighting-legal-marijuana/">One striking chart shows why pharma companies are fighting legal marijuana</a>

Cornell University, BA in religious studies

Christopher Ingraham was a reporter on The Post’s business desk from 2014 to 2021. He currently writes <a href="https://thewhyaxis.substack.com">the Why Axis</a>, a newsletter about the data shaping and informing our lives.