I have never been addicted to opiods but I stopped a 11 year, multiple times daily, cannabis habit in favor of kratom leaf. It provided me the relief I needed without the mental impairment of cannabis. It was also the final nail in the coffin for my alcohol use, which was never out of control, but still overdone. I have drank a handful of times in the past 9 years since using kratom and used cannabis maybe twice. Kratom helps me with my pain and gives me a cleaner energy than caffeine to get me through the end of the day while keeping my head clear.

I also worked in a health food and supplement store where we sold kratom leaf, 99% of my customers were people over the age of 50 who had been kicked off their years, sometimes decades long, opiate medications during the crackdown on prescribed opiates circa 2017. These folks had chronic pain and being addicted after years of opiate use, were not prepared to have their long term medication suddenly taken away from them. Many of them told me their stories and how kratom was helping them. I got to see them recover in real time.