(NaturalNews) Scores of scientists and consumers of an herbal remedy used to produce mild, opioid-like painkilling effects, are incensed that the Obama administration is set to add it to a list of Schedule I drugs that are considered by the government to be the most dangerous.

As reported by the Seattle Times, the DEA is set to add kratom – a plant from Southeast Asia with large, green leaves that are dried, powered, and ingested – to the same list where much more potent opioids like heroin are listed. Marijuana – nowhere nearly as dangerous or potent as heroin – was also recently reclassified to the list by the agency, a confusing signal from an administration that has refused to sue states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use though it remains against federal law.

Kratom has been used for generations in Asia, usually brewed into a tea as a tonic or chewed directly, as a painkiller, for those weaning themselves off of opioids. Here in the US it can be found in smoke shops around the country and can be purchased in powder or capsule form.

'This is a disservice to science'

But now, likely in deference to Big Pharma, Obama's DEA is set to classify the substance as, under federal policy, something that has "no currently acceptable medical use" ('acceptable' to whom has always meant the federal government). The classification will instantly make kratom illegal to possess or sell, while making it more restricted that oxycodone or even cocaine.

DEA officials say that the classification is necessary because bureaucrats have deemed it an "imminent hazard to the public safety," Special Agent Jodie Underwood told the Times.