Kava and kavalactones considered for scheduling by NDPSC?

[Darklight]

OK can someone *else* read the NDPSC June 2004 pre-meeting notices and tell me whether I'm right ( my comprehension level is notoriously inconsistent )

Kava and kavalactones are being considered for scheduling- page 3 item 6.6. Am I right?

Now is the time to start the ball rolling with headlines " Government drug paranoia creating lucrative black market for legal tribal tea" , " Common herbal stress relief to become a crime "

These peopl are going beserk- I wonder what changes were made on the committee around the time of the Sally schedule which made it suddenly so viciously paranoid? It's not like kava is a new thing...

( edited title and body later today to get my terminology correct- the Committee is the National Drugs and Poisons Scheduling Committee- the actual document is the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Drugs and Poisons )

[ 03. May 2004, 14:45: Message edited by: Darklight ]

[Darklight]

And when exactly did the new documents- the post- Feb gazette and the pre- June gazette- get uploaded to the TGA site?

I'm STILL waiting on my email from the TGA advising me as to the Feb meeting minutes release- and I subscribed to their mailing list two years ago.

I had to hear about impending ban on Mitragyna through the forums or I wouldn't know about it at all. That thread was dated April 14- the February meeting took place on 24 Feb.

The public aren't being notified of changes or proposed additions to allow sufficient time to comment, rally or make submissions. And I suspect their alleged mailing list is either nonfunctional or nonexistent. Almost three months for a government department to post official documents onto the web is ridiculous, given the meetings are held every four months.

[ 03. May 2004, 14:51: Message edited by: Darklight ]

[Torsten]

Your subscription is maybe not working properly, cos I get them all (incl the mitragyna one).

This scheduling of kava is apparently not a major issue. remember, there are 9 schedules (well, 8 active ones) of which only 4 are really crap. I have been told by one source that this scheduling is all about better labelling of kava products and shouldn't affect kava trade in any major way. However, I have not been able to confirm this benign approach with my other source and he seems to think that something more vigorous is afoot. Let's assume the worst and make submissions along those lines.

[Thelema]

There are simply too many interested parties for them to make it schedule9.

I personally wouldnt even bother with this one, organizations with lawyers and cultural force will ensure that the worst that will happen will be like in WA and NT where you need permission to buy and sell it. (There's only 1 place in WA that sells it.)Too much media criticism will happen if they f*ck around with it.

But Im still reeling from the Kratom decision. I just simply cant believe that something so innocuous can be sk9'd. They just have no idea how innocuous it is. All they hear is "opioid agonist" and think "illegal." Knee-jerk reaction, emphasis on the word "JERK".

[Darklight]

Thelema:

Too much media criticism will happen if they f*ck around with it....

But Im still reeling from the Kratom decision. I just simply cant believe that something so innocuous can be sk9'd.

That's why I think we should take action anyhow. I don't think they can be trusted to make decisions. I *didn't* put in a kratom submission cos I thought that the abuse potential is so minimal and any possibility so far into the future that we would have time to explore the wider range of applications- and now I'm kicking myself

[Darklight]

Torsten:

Your subscription is maybe not working properly, cos I get them all (incl the mitragyna one).

Yeah, the last three or four messages haven't put in an appearance at all but it was OK for about eighteen months. I just resubcscibed but have yet to receive confirmation messages