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RI open to ‘kratom’ opioid exports despite proposed local ban
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Authorities burn seized marijuana in Thailand’s southern Narathiwat province in 2008. Thailand’s National Assembly passed a bill on Tuesday legalizing the use of marijuana and kratom (a traditional herb) for research and medical use. (AFP/Madaree Tohlala)
I
ndonesia is keeping open the possibility of exporting opium-like plant Mitragyna speciose to the United States amid ongoing legal debate as to whether the plant should be classed as an illegal narcotic.
Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said the US had made inquiries about the export of the Southeast Asian native plant, familiarly known as kratom, inquiries which he said would welcome with open arms.
“I agree to anyone who’s thinking of exporting [kratom]. There is no [prohibition in place],” Zulkifli told reporters on Thursday.
Read also: Indonesia’s zero tolerance drug laws leave hundreds on death row
Since 2019, the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has been pushing for kratom to be included as a type-1 narcotic together with cocaine, heroin and crystal meth, among other drugs, as regulated under Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics.
The agency looks at type-1 narcotics as a group of highly addictive drugs that have a serious potential for abuse, thereby making its consumption a crime that could result in four to 12 years’ imprisonment along with fines of up to Rp 8 billion (US$525,037).
“If [the kratom] is misused [in the US], that won’t be our fault, that’s their fault. What’s important is our farmers get the dollars, good income, it’s all fine. Other countries are doing the same thing, they export whatever they can export,” said Zulkifli.
