One thing an Interactive Public Docket ( IPD) does is that it provides an open forum for the public not only to express their views on a topic but it allows others to comment on their comments.
The post we made yesterday resulted in a number of very notable contributions in that many of the comments addressed the two critical questions raised in our post:
- If kratom is banned will a new black market come into existence?
- Is there an elephant in the room?
In one instance a comment answered a question CRE did not ask, namely the identification of the elephant or elephants.
Please note that CRE takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the comments posted on its numerous IPD’s.
Nonetheless CRE’s role as a nationally recognized watchdog is a result, in part, of the valuable information received from the public. Consequently we do use the information obtained through our public comments but only after an in-depth review of their accuracy by CRE.
We the People have great faith in the CRE that the identified elephants will be accurately verified. Employment history and financial connections between certain officials and lobbying firms (and their clients) can’t be ignored. We have only about 2 weeks before a grave mistake is set in stone by people abusing their positions in our government. With so little time left, the reaction is justified.
CRE, have you received any correspondence from your 2 letters to the Agency?
With the crackdown on Rx opiates for chronic pain patients on the rise and the potential that Kratom will be banned, the DEA is only driving us to go to our friendly neighborhood illegal Oxy, Hydrocodone, fentanyl and Heroin dealer. The DEA is unwittingly lining the pockets of scum who sell these things to desperate people at outrageous mark-ups. And chronic pain sufferers become addicts again simply because they want relief. ELEPHANT!
That’s not totally true – I’m not going to go seek out illegal activity that I never was entangled with before. I don’t even have an issue where I need to visit a doctor for pain meds. Why is everyone so stuck on the idea that this plant is only good for pain/addiction/withdrawal? I don’t find IBS and severe asthma relief with those drugs you listed. Am I to be labeled an addict or “weak person” just because I use this herb as a tool to cope with environmental problems? There are SO many other uses for it. Our Mitragyna community has been facing the stigma of being addicts (and addiction is a “personal problem” which opponents have been placing blame in our hands) when most of the users (~60%) are not even of the demographic which has explored the opiate world. I have no pain, but I deal with IBS all day since I was involved in occupational chemical exposure. My life changed overnight, and I became allergic to all animals, dairy, wheat, fragrances, … and I have been dealing with asthma, heartburn, and IBS for 20 years now. The last 9 years have been much better thanks to this tree. Without it, I’m not going to be as fit as I am now, as I’ve tried everything before finding this tree leaf. It’s not as if I will go seek treatment for things I already know are ruining people’s lives.
Hi, I too use kratom for IBS and also severe Restless Legs Syndrome. I have tried every pharmaceutical intervention for both conditions that a doctor will prescribe me, and none of them were effective. I love the kratom because my body feels much healthier when I use than when I don’t. I have never had any side effects, as I only take the lowest dose that effectively controls my symptoms. I don’t plan to go to a doctor if kratom is banned, because nothing they can give me works unfortunately. I have ordered some other herbs hoping to find something else that works but I think it’s silly to outlaw a leaf that helps so many people. Why can’t they just regulate it?
I too use the lowest amount needed to control my IBS. It comes to about 1/2 tsp max, twice a day (total per day: 2.4g max). As a beneficial “side effect”, I found that I don’t sneeze all day like I had for decades before I found this tree. I was going through a box or two of Kleenex per DAY. That tissue habit became expensive. I grew up in an area where industry and chemicals flooded our water and air, so my immune system has always been hurt. I’ve gone to a doctor in the past that said use whatever works, even if it’s some exotic herb. I know some people who are actually being told by their doctors to use this leaf, because it truly does help them. There’s this one woman I know who proved to her doctor how well it works for her EXPENSIVE blood pressure medications by sitting in front of him and taking a spoonful of the leaf powder. In 20 minutes, he took the blood pressure readings and was absolutely amazed at how well it worked. He told her that nothing he has ever seen works as fast and as well as that – “What is that stuff?!?” he asked her. She told him what it was, and now that doctor recommends it to others he know need the help. We’re talking people who are being forced to be on meds that lose disability payments if they refuse purchasing meds which cost near $2200/mo for just two of the meds. It’s a racket. Their doctors feel for them, and when they see something that works and will help them financially, they will do what’s best if they’re the caring type.
I’ve been an outcast in society – I’m what people refer to as a bubble boy. I have severe MCS with all the other problems that come with it (asthma, sinus infections, IBS, wheat intolerance, dairy intolerance). I can’t go outside where other people are and enjoy myself without taking my daily medicinal leaf. Otherwise, I am highly affected by being downwind of some stranger who has the chemical fragrance of dryer sheets embedded on their clothes… and that’s two football fields away. It’s a condition that has affected me and my family so much that it almost tore us apart. I don’t want to be seen as the husband that can’t go out into public and support our household just because some lady named Sally at the bank or post office decides to spray a bottle of perfume all over her. If I don’t take my leaf powder after I wake up, the fumes from anything with fragrance in it hit me like a magma-hot load of bricks. My lips swell, my face goes hot and numb, and I also can’t touch doorknobs and gas pump handles because of the fragrance in lotions that people slather all over their hands, finally ending up all over the pump handle. I’m not a germ-a-phobe whatsoever. My body, for some reason, has a severe histamine response when I am put into an environment where there are chemical fragrances (Glade, air fresheners, air deodorizers…anything with the ingredient “fragrance” on the label). No fragrance smells different to me – my body only detects some underlying chemical fume that is common to all these consumer products. As a result of me being a victim to society and my environment (which I have zero control.. try telling a woman with perfume and makeup that being close to her is affecting your health.. see what happens!), I am faced with either not existing in this realm, or I must do what it takes to continue being a father, husband, taxpayer, and active member of this busy world. I cannot live my life without Mitragyna speciosa. I have tried EVERYTHING else and have not found anything to even work a tenth as well, and even then, those other items cause me to fall asleep at the wheel or experience feelings of rage (some anti-asthma meds did this big time). I have tried Benedryl for years, and while that barely helps, it knocks me out and can cause me to endanger others. My body is not tolerant of anticholinergic drugs (benedryl, dramamine, those eye drops at the optometrist).
I don’t already have some medicine cabinet full of poisons that I’m tossing on the 29th… I simply have NOTHING else in my arsenal. I haven’t needed anything else since 2007. I have no longer craving for alcohol, something that is responsible for taking our loved ones’ lives. I can’t stand even a sip of alcohol, especially anything with grains/hops, as my neck goes tight.
Worst of all, I suffer from up to 8 cluster headaches a day on top of all these other issues. It’s not something I can control, even with migraine meds. My body can’t handle going back to the way things were before I found this tree. Life was already so miserably difficult. There were days I wished I wasn’t alive because of all the suffering – those who have cluster headaches know what I mean. Now to imagine my life going to go back to hell makes me have little hope for my future. How am I supposed to cope with that? Now, all I can think of is moving to a different country so I can stay alive. I have a wife and kids to be there for. 30 days is not enough time for me to properly prepare for living in a different country. It’s not fair that one person in our government can decide the fate of millions of people without any ability for the people to comment. There’s no way in hell this proposed ruling should even be able to go through, even if it meets some technical criteria. It’s inhumane, and it’s MURDER.
Does the DEA read what everyone is saying here?
I was speaking strictly pain management perspective, my own and others I’ve talked to. Obviously there are many, many benefits to using Kratom responsibly, as indicated by your post. I’m ok with regulation of Kratom. But there is a desperate group of chronic pain sufferers who will do anything for relief.
I fear that many chronic pain sufferers will turn to fentanyl instead of black market kratom. Obviously the price of kratom will skyrocket if a ban goes through. One kilogram of fentanyl can supposedly be imported from China for $5k and apparently this is enough for around 500k doses.
Thanks for replying to ‘anonymous’ Staci. I agree with all you said.
I’m a chronic pain sufferer myself, and hell yeah it crosses my mind to ‘look’ in a direction that IS illegal, because I do suffer, that much! ( I don’t know where the street is, though)
Then, let’s not lose sight of the facts. No matter for ‘which’ ailment’ a person suffers with, Taking Our Herb Away ONLY CAUSES Desperation!
Is Our government so willing to see 100s of Thousands of Desperate people? They seem oblivious to it all!
It freaks me out just knowing a mob will rule over Kratom, (innocent herb) just as it has for all other pain medicine. For Christ sake, FIX this before it ‘goes there’ !!!!
But there those who will so this ban serves no one but big Pharma. A patent has already been applied for so big Pharma can produce a synthetic with God knows what in it and rape the citizens of this country once again. Remember what they did with the epi pen.
Or is it more about pushing this new nose spray wonder drug up our noses so once again big pharma makes a huge profit, they took away the pills so they can push the nose spray after we all hit the street looking for relief, odd there’s NOT a shortage of heroin…follow the money..
Hi please don’t take away this miracle leaf.. Regulate it do what you have to but please for the love of God and the people of America keep it legal… It has saved my life from pill and alcohol addiction I have happy kids a happy husband and I am kratom is the cause of that and so much more. My family is finally free from worry..
The Elephant in the Room here is that recreational marijuana use is now legal in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. On November 8th, California, Arizona, Nevada, Maine, and Massachusetts voters will decide on recreational use. Medical marijuana is already legal in about nearly half of the 50 states. Canada is currently working on legislation to legalize recreational weed in 2017.
The continued growth of marijuana legalization is bad news for the DEA, since it will put many of their colleagues out of a job. Making Kratom a Schedule I drug provides the DEA with a new opportunity to justify their continued employment. In 2015, the DEA’s special division called the “Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program” conducted thousands of marijuana busts and seized over 4.2 million marijuana plants within our nation’s borders. However, the state California accounted for well over half of the seized plants (2.6 million) and arrests (2,230 citizens). But by 2017, it could be entirely legal to grow unlimited marijuana plants both indoors and outdoors in huge states like California, which would presumably lead to huge cuts in employees and financial resources for this now-unneeded program.
Outlawing Kratom provides DEA officials with an easy way to instantly turn millions of hard-working Americans into felons, and provides them with literally thousands of potential leads for suspects, since there are thousands of retail stores, websites and wholesalers across the nation who have been openly selling kratom to their customers.
Many of these businesses have the word “kratom” in their name, making it simple for the DEA to conduct some basic google searches on September 30th to line up some potential suspects. A few days later, they can arrest some non-violent Americans for the possession of kratom, throw them in jail and pat themselves on the back for a job well done, while heroin floods our city streets and opiate pills are ravaging our rural communities.
It’s obvious that the DEA cares more about their future job security than the health of their fellow Americans. The suggested ban on kratom is deceitful, shameful and wrong.
Don’t forget the new nose spray that the president just put a bunch of $$ on the table for all the heroin overdoses. I read that the dea has a huge shortage of employees,, this kratom was doing the job the dea, docs and rehab facilities has been unable to do.. slowing the opiate epidemic, of course the adulterated heroin/fentanyl was a necessity, to incite fear and panick so the nose spray could be justified..
I am a far healthier individual when having a mug of kratom tea a day than I am without it, and I have blood tests and medical records to prove it. I’ll live without it, but I will have to go back on legal prescription pills that have serious side effects. Please do not make this mistake. Kratom can probably be abused like anything else but it is doing wonders for my physical and mental health. To ban this would be tragic, and would be evidence of a DEA that has concerns other than public health that are driving decisions. Absolutely tragic if this goes through.
The Florida Drug and Law Enforcement Agency issued a report in February 2016 that specifically addressed Kratom. The report contained two important conclusions. The first is that “a review of available law enforcement and laboratory sources in Florida demonstrates that Kratom does not currently constitute a significant risk to the safety and welfare of Florida residents.” The second important conclusion is that “According to the Florida Department of Health (DOH), no pervasive health issues have been attributed to the ingestion of Kratom products in Florida.”
Kratom is also recognized as a National Health Medicine (NHM) by Canada.
Why do the police in Florida and the scientists in Canada feel that kratom poses no problem to their fellow citizens, while the DEA calls it an “imminent health hazard” ?
Here is the LINK: http://speciosa.org/official-statewide-intelligence-drug-report-kratom-and-the-impact-to-florida/
I use Kratom to manage my pain from a broken spine. My primary care doctor and my surgeon both refuse to refill my prescription of oxycodone after 2 short months. I was forced to find an alternative. They both said they couldn’t due to “DEA regulations”. I didnt break an arm or a leg I broke my SPINE!! I have 2 young children I am trying to provide for but how can I if in in crippling pain 24/7? It’s impossible. Kratom is all I have to deal with this and now the DEA wants to take it away. I will not be able to play with my children,pick them up,or care for them because I’m in too much pain. It is ludicrous what the are to to US citizens!
I take KRATOM for my rheumatoid arthritis and it helps me tremendously with the pain and inflammation (without the side effects I have previously encountered with just about everything else I have been prescribed). One of the many benefits I have noticed since I switched to kratom is the FACT that I have been sleeping through the night and I no longer wake up with my joints on fire.. I am allergic to nsaids and tylenol so basically-im screwed. I am 40 years old so without this miracle plant available I forsee a future of sleepless nights, unnecessary suffering, depression,anxiety attacks,isolation and missed opportunities with my children. Missed soccer games. Missed family gatherings. Missed dates with my husband, even my dog will suffer from me being unable to take him on walks… I hate to be so negative here but it is so heartbreaking that so many people are going to suffer .. the DEA is SO wrong in this decision. So many people will be forced back to the dangerous street drugs that they are trying to stay away from in the first place. There will be lives lost and it will all be because of the DEA.bullshit…
Agreed. It IS bullshit what they are proposing. This is America-while we have many people who now can legally puff away on weed yet they want to make me a felon. That is WRONG. We are contributing members of society who our job is to raise our children and get something out of life. Taking kratom away will make many of us go back to wishing for death. I think the big elephant in the room is people will smuggle it into the country and nothing will change. There are ways to get things into the country and you have to be smart about it. I get requests daily from overseas people asking me to buy their products. I don’t see it changing even if the law is made to stop it. Some people will continue doing whatever they were doing before. They can’t watch 300 million people at the same time so this law is STUPID. and lining pockets.
There is no reason why hundreds of thousands of Americans who purchase kratom should be turned into criminals by the end of the month. Why create a black market?? There is no kratom public health crisis today. There needs to be a open discussion where studies and tests could be done openly and the Kratom users welcome this.
I think it is safe to say that there is more than one elephant and they are of the same genus: corporate. The corporatization of the United States is leading to the moral degradation of this nation. What does a corporation do when something gets in the way of its greedy monopolization and exploitation of resources? This very issue is a prime example. Not only are corporations gaining the rights of the citizens, they are TAKING the rights away from citizens.
If this issue would be looked at with common sense and logic it would be easy to see there is no cause for this emergency scheduling. There are patents for kratom & numerous studies proving there are medicinal benefits. It’s been used safely for centuries.
The alleged deaths associated with kratom showed other drugs were also in the system- that would be like someone testing positive for fentanyl but blaming the death on the glass of milk they drank that morning. It’s ridiculous.
Our country is broke & our prisons are over capacity. It makes NO sense to turn thousands of productive, tax paying, employed citizens into felons over a tea leaf that has done no harm. It’s been life saving for thousands of people.
The DEA is out of line on this. They do not exist to make up laws, they are supposed to enforce them. Due process exists in this country to protect the people from misguided laws like this. It is imperative that this emergency scheduling it slowed down so there is time for actual research on kratom based off science. Thousands of lives will be impacted.
Ethan Nadelmann’s TED talk really explains how this DEA decision to ban kratom will only grow the black market! Another very sad day in the USA!
https://www.ted.com/talks/ethan_nadelmann_why_we_need_to_end_the_war_on_drugs?language=en
Thank you for acknowledging the DEA for their over reach in this matter. It is very suspicious to me that they are conducting this without public comment or factual information. All of the statistic they are providing are skewed to make it seem as though kratom is dangerous, when in fact it is the a very safe alternative to harmful drugs and pharmaceuticals. Why are they so eager to ban this? There have been zero proven deaths with kratom ALONE as the responsible agent. The 15 deaths that they are claiming all had other harmful and strong drugs in their system. And this kratom plant has been around for thousands of years being used for therapeutic reasons in the Eastern part of the world. Please stop them from carrying out their plan, which is a blatant over reach and takes no account of our constitutional rights.
I also think the DEA is attempting to schedule kratom solely to protect their jobs. They need a new black market due new marijuana laws passing frequently making it legal in many states. If they create one for kratom (which I would not be part of. If it is outlawed I will no longer use it), they are essentially protecting their jobs.
The empire we live in, known as the United States is consistently making decisions that do not have the best interests of the public, and this is just another example of that. Kratom is the best alternative to prescription opiates. It also greatly helps recovering opiate addicts, as it greatly helps curb the withdrawal symptoms. What the DEA is doing is disgusting, and it’s obvious, the big Pharma and their lobbyists ate behind this move. We have seen time and time again big pharma does not have the public’s best interests in mind either. They only care about securing record profits at the cost of human lives.
THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS! The DEA’s using the excuse of “Well, heroin users and opiate users are using kratom instead” – well, that is a “NO CRAP, Sherlock!” comment! They are using a harmless, NON-ADDICTIVE, NON-HARMFUL herb to stop their life-threatening addictions. I’ve used kratom for years now for pain management, and am off opiates completely which I had been taking for years for back issues/spasms/pain, and they were getting less & less effective until I was taking several pills a day, and they began having very little effect on my pain. I began using kratom at the suggestion of a friend, and it changed my life! Now I can take Tylenol and a little kratom tea, and no more pain! I also have a great side effect of no more sneezing my head off during allergy season too. You know, I ran out of kratom for a couple weeks because my supplier was out of stock, and guess what? I had NO WITHDRAWAL Symptoms! Kratom is so harmless, that you couldn’t get high on it if you TRIED. It’s much too expensive to try to use illicitly. You get nauseated instead, and no ‘buzz’ etc. from what I am reading. Also, there has never in the history of mankind been a single overdose on kratom alone. Every overdose case was a person that had many other illicit substances in their systems as well. Putting kratom on a schedule 1 along with heroin is asenine. It’s going to put all these addicts back on heroin and opiates illegally, and put people like me right back on pills again, just to become addicted. Read the research that’s been done already! Look at the science, and then try to justify banning kratom. The DEA is obviously oversteppng its bounds, and quite suspiciously, I might add…. Could it be the pill companies are scared they may be out money??? I agree with Anonymous above from 9/15 that it is a WASTE of American Public tax dollars chasing down a harmless herb that has no interactions with medications, no addictive qualities, no opiate qualities, and is helping people get off harmful substances!
I also agree that the DEA needs to chase another demon since marijuana is becoming legalized – why not go after kratom? Hmmm… Food for thought.
This whole ban is infuriating. The DEA claims that kratom has no medicinal value just like marijuana. Why then is there a synthetic form of TCH (Marinol) that is somehow legal and used in the same applications as medical marijuana would be? This whole issue lacks credibility. Snopes did a wonderful breakdown of how ridiculous the DEA claims are. Definitely worth a read! http://www.snopes.com/kratom-banned-by-the-dea/
This ban in this severely limited time frame will cause much undue suffering with regards to the opiate addiction epidemic it is supposed to address. Users who have weaned themselves off of opioids will more than likely have to go back to suboxone and methadone, two much more dangerous and addicting options. Unfortunately, the waiting list for these options can be up to a year, because federal regulations state only a certain number of patients can be treated per doctor. This ban is more likely to CAUSE a public health crisis than prevent it, as so many people who have found a safe treatment option will be left in the cold, often with nowhere to turn to but the black market.
The DEA’s “imminent health hazard” is a simple leaf which has no interactions with medications and no opiate “high.” Someone should study those of us who depend on this leaf because every one of us is different. If just one person related to the DEA was dependent on kratom, this whole ban would disappear. I don’t believe anything can truly replace kratom. I’ll try to find other supplements but I’ll worry for those who can’t. Most importantly for me, I will loose faith in those federal organizations who are supposed to “protect” us. I pray the CRE will be heard. I pray the President will intervene. Most of all, I just pray for all of us. I’m trying to stay positive, but will our voices really be heard?
I feel like I am in a most oppressive government. It is still hard for me to believe and unfathomable that the DEA can take away our rights in a snap of a finger with no good scientific justification. Their reasons for doing this are based solely on anecdotal evidence. Calls to poison control and deaths that involved Kraton but most likely were not the cause – at least without more research how can we possibly know?
I am so disheartened by this pending decision.
I use Kratom for extreme panic attacks. It is truly unbelievable how much it has helped me. I am in my fifties and in my thirties and forties I had disabling panic attacks. I don’t even know how it works – I just know that it does and I have suffered no adverse effects. My physicals come out perfect and I have no health issues other than these panic attacks that are completely controlled. I have tried plenty of different Pharmaceuticals before I was introduced to Kratom and guess what? None of them worked except for the ones that zonked me out so badly that I couldn’t even function. I either got to not function by panic attacks or by being a zombie – the choices were not good. Now I am able to lead a productive life finally and am told I will be a felon if I continue this productive life with no good scientific backing just because the DEA said so. I thought I lived in the United States of America a Democratic Society.
I apologize I did not even address the issue at hand which is an ensuing Black Market. Isn’t it funny it’s an even occur to me. Why? Because I am a law-abiding citizen and have never used the black market for anything.
But, as I think about it absolutely it could easily develop very easily considering that we border two countries that allow Kratom. I definitely agree it’s one more unintended consequence of banning this plant.
Or is it unintended? I have never believed in conspiracies but I am rethinking my ways.
It seems to me that America is undeserving of the title “Land of Freedom” now, when one government agency with no oversight can arbitrarily decide to ban something they have allowed for years in a few weeks time, and to top it off, make it’s hardworking citizens class one felons overnight. Canada is more deserving of the title.
The only danger of Kratom is what the US Government causes if it’s banned.
The DEA needs to keep Kratom and its alkaloids legal. If they make it illegal this will create a black market for it, cause people to turn to heroin and other drugs, take millions of lives. Do they not care about their Veterans? Because millions of Kratom users are Veterans. People with pain, anxiety, depression, and many other ailments and diseases use this safer alternative. He pharmaceutical industry is unfortunately greedy and only cares about money not saving lives. This is our country not theirs! Let’s take it back! https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/please-do-not-make-kratom-schedule-i-substance
It’s absolutely insane to ban a plant with such astonishingly weak evidence that it’s hurting anybody. This is, very clearly, the work of special interest groups, and this is exactly the type of thing that erodes confidence in our government. I’m proud to see so many people getting involved in the process and fighting for their right to choose what they put in their body.
Even if Kratom were schedule 3 to 5, a black market will still exist. Scheduling Kratom is akin to scheduling coffee. Imagine having to go to the doctors office to receive a prescription for coffee? How ludicrous is that? It makes absolutely no sense. Who is a doctor to decide whether you should drink coffee or not? I assume they have to check your blood pressure and the doctor will decide whether you’re allowed to drink it?! Let’s be real. People aren’t going to go to the doctors office to be prescribed Kratom. Who is a doctor to decide whether you should be allowed to drink Kratom (or coffee)? Liberty and freedom should exist in the United States of America. This is the land of the free. If Kratom requires a prescription, Consumers will just easily buy it online through the black market instead. If Kratom is scheduled, the DEA will indirectly increase funding to terrorist and criminal organizations, while causing irreparable financial, mental, and physical harm to the American people. Regulate and tax Kratom, but don’t schedule it.
A plant being placed in to the black market. While i believe there will be a market for Kratom, it is only to the detriment of her users.
The DEA will successfully create a black market, criminals, and the ensure the ingestion of unverified and potentially harmful substitutes for kratom will increase ten fold.
In the past, there were forums where vendors were rated on the quality of their product, now there will not be.
What a shame.
The FDA and DEA are making a huge mistake by banning kratom. I find relief for my IBS and joint pain with kratom. I have friends who stopped Alcohol, suboxone and even adderall with Kratom.
Banning kratom will only cause deaths from opiates to rise. With kratom unavailable many people will end up relapsing returning to a black market of opiate drugs. The DEA can’t even handle its current opiate epidemic has it as Oxycontin alone has killed 15,000 people and heroin is all over our streets in America. I believe that the biggest risk to the health of the American people is actually the DEA and not Kratom.
And yes there is a huge elephant in the room!!!!
I am a 10 year veteran of the United States Navy. I consider myself a patriot and a woman of integrity who has lived an extremely honorable life. I am insulted that the tea I choose to take occasionally for anxiety and depression has painted every day honorable veterans and citizens as common drug users and criminals! I choose a harmless therapeutic tea to take the edge off when needed, like most coffee users do, and live a very functional life. The DEA is not appointed by the people and this country is supposed to work for it’s people. How can such an ignorant government organization have that much power. They shouldn’t. Facts or science do not matter to the DEA, this has been proven for years. How are they not obligated to the same checks and balances of all other branches of government? This is a gross abuse of power manipulated with half truths and blatant lies. Kratom is not addicting or I would not be able to use it only as needed on occasion. It is not anymore addicting than an urge for a cup of coffee or a warm blanket. Addiction runs in my family and I know I’m not immune from it. Also, my husband has used it every day for the past 4 years to manage chronic back pain from a severe injury that had him on prescription opiates, until he found Kratom. Since then, he has lived an extremely functional life and plays with our kids and is present in a way he was never able to be before. Kratom should not be regulated anymore than coffee is and certainly not become a felony! I feel like I’m in a ridiculous dream. Some irresponsible people saw that it could help with opiate withdrawal so they marketed it has a legal high, this doesn’t make it true and I don’t understand why we would ever have to explain that to a government organization. I also can’t believe that we would ever have to explain that just because someone dies with peanut butter and prescription drugs or illegal substances does not mean they died because of peanut butter! There has no been one death associated with kratom alone, that is one of the gross manipulated lies the DEA is trying to sell. Monster Energy drinks and 5 hour energy shots should be scheduled first because they are far more dangerous and have been verified as the result of multiple deaths in this country! If Kratom is heroin then coffee is crack! That’s how logical the DEA is. I hope the CRE is successful in at least getting the DEA to move Kratom to a regular scheduling process because I know, when given the chance, cooler heads will prevail and the scientific data will prove that Kratom is safe and should only be regulated as a health supplement! We are not criminals!
September 16, 2016 at 12:56 pm. It would be pointless for me to list the 31 pharmaceuticals that I have experience with, because we all know that the entire focus here is to keep all of us, law abiding citizens, on as many of those big money making meds, as possible. Money is the name of the game. The greedy, selfish individuals that profit from us as long as they can keep us UNhealthy, will have to answer for their actions one way or another. It would take me hours to list all of my diagnoses and most of them have already been addressed in previous comments. I accepted years ago, that my daily life would consist of unrelenting pain, due to an S1 to T9 spinal fusion. But what I had not accepted and desperately longed for was my mental health and emotional state. I wanted to know what “normal” felt like. I wanted to be and feel normal. After years of anti depressants, anti anxiety meds, sleep meds, etc. left me in a coma and my 4 children almost lost their Mother, I’d had enough. I chose, without any help, to discontinue every single one of them. I believe I was actively taking 12 different ones at the time. For 6 years I just existed, literally. 2 years ago I began my quest for a more natural way of living and discovered Kratom. For the first time in my 50 years, I feel and I am, normal. The past 2 years have been the most enjoyable and fulfilling years of my life! My only regret is that my children missed out, all those years, on the “normal” Mom I am today! Shame on the DEA! What has happened to MY great country that I once was so proud to live in? What about MY rights and MY freedom? Why isn’t it MY choice to do and treat my body as I wish? Basically, what it boils down to is, the greedy, conniving politicians, pharmaceutical companies and government officials, actually own MY, this, body that I’ve been living in! I’m saddened and filled with grief, knowing this is the country I’m leaving to my children. I’m a disabled Mother, Grandmother, Daughter, Sister, Aunt and my name is Phyllis. Please help stop the ban on Kratom
The proposal to schedule kratom alkaloids is an unconscionable act which will lead to much human misery. It will lead to death, suffering, and to the expansion of organized crime when it creates a new black market. Currently we have peer groups to vet vendors and it is working well. If it goes underground all transactions will be far less transparent, increasing the risks for consumers. Please do not rush into this decision. Kratom is very mild and safety has been established by long-term use over hundreds of years. There is no reason to rush to judgment.
I can’t say I’m not concerned about a black market, especially living in a southern border state. Many kratom users are like myself; never been a criminal and not planning to start now. Others aren’t so lucky and will easily slip back into a criminal lifestyle to meet their needs after not legally being able to do so with kratom. Will there be a kratom black market? I have no idea. In many parts of the country, I suspect instead that the pill and heroin trade will get a deadly boost.
Growing up close to the boarder, I’ve noticed a “what happens in Mexico stays in Mexico” attitude. Many law-abiding citizens in their 30s and 40s tell stories pf drinking the night away in the club in Tijuana at 16-17 or seeing what can be found in the farmacias. The neighborhood moms would carpool to TJ to get their phen-fen (banned diet supplement) in the 90s. This was all in a pre-911 world, but I could see people traveling to Mexico now to get kratom, since it’s legal there. Instead of spending their money with a tax-paying stateside vendor, as they can now. Chances are their money will be fed back into the cartel economy, further supporting the deadly drug Market. Just another way this ban causes more harm than good.
I will purchase however I can find it. This is America. I have the right to put whatever into my body. No court can charge me with a crime. Also this is a health crisis. We have people dead from OD from unknown substances. The DEA needs to deal with this and leave my leaf alone. I will not stop possessing kratom even if it’s banned. Many people still partake in cannabis despite that being illegal. And no one cares. This entire issue is all because some big money people stand to loose tons of money because people are smartening up and not spending money on overpriced useless rehabs. Now that most users are online they have heard about kratom. In five years everyone will know what kratom is. I will continue to fight for our right to consume kratom.
We have more deadly things to stop like research chemicals that come from overseas and people who purchase these are taking a deadly chance that it may kill them as often it comes with no instructions. Sadly the world is becoming a nanny state and people are demanding everything comes with directions. We need to keep kratom legal so we don’t create another black market.
Banning kratom will only make criminals out of average Americans who work and raise their families. Please help us keep kratom legal!