It's because the DEA can't make it too public they manipulate the FDA's decisions. (That ain't legal.) The most notable examples are sassafras and tryptophan. In both cases, the medical grounds given by the FDA for trying to suppress public sales are let's say highly dubious, for it might bee rude to say FUCKING PHONY. Happens the FDA cannot stop the herbal distribution of sassafras; it ain't legal. Sassafras was first a medicinal herb, and its oil so used, before its safrole ingredient was declared a precursor. They just muscled the oils distributors by threatening to pull their liability insurance for that item.
http://www.itmonline.org/pdf/asarum.pdf
It's also not legal for them to keep l-tryptophan off the consumer shelves either; the facts have been known nearly a decade, and pure l-tryptophan presents no public health hazard. Nobody has the balls to take them to court over it, is all.
We know, hell we probably could present documented proof, that the DEA is muscling its fellow agency to pretend these substances are public health hazards, just so the DEA can restrict our access to these two beautiful precursors. Unfortunately, our lobby in Washington happens to be a little weak right now.
Note the FDA regulations have to do with its public availability. These do not determine its DEA watch list status. It is conceivable that single-component l-tryptophan as a dietary supplement could be restored to store shelves, for the DEA could say nothing about that. It isn't currently a controlled precursor, nor on any watch list. Sassafras oil is neither a controlled precursor, nor on a watch list per se. We know the DEA watches it like a nearsighted buzzard, though their legal authorization to do so is by no means firmly grounded. Its safrole content is the listed precursor, which is on the watch list.
Sassafras root bark is neither listed nor watched. I expect you can make yourself conspicuous enough, importing thirty tons from China to your third floor apartment, to get yourself noticed, though. The FDA doesn't regulate it, and the DEA doesn't watch it. Customs, though, is very likely alert to it, particularly as a single-component shipment, in large amounts as above. Business recipients, as always, get more slack than peeps do.
Goes for the oils as well: sassafras albidum, ocotea cymbarum, cinnamomum camphora (brown). Domestic oil sales in quantity are not
formally watched. In fact, DEA extortion on most of the large domestic suppliers leads to the de facto situation that you'll get snitched out, by some suppliers under some circumstances. That's not strictly a legal situation, it's more of a description of applied State terror. A chemical supplier selling purified safrole is required by law to snitch on its customers to the DEA. An essential oil supplier selling sassafras oil is not legally required to snitch, but likely as not will "voluntarily" do so, after the DEA twists their arm hard enough. Arm twisting is among the specialties of that agency.
turning
science fact into
<<science fiction>>