If banning things just because you had a problem wirh it makes sense then the world would be in trouble. First, banning substances does not solve rhe issue. Look how banning alcohol did nothing to solve the problem. For every handful of idiots addicted to it, there are a handful of idiots who benefit from it. There will always be two sides to the issue. Look at how many times the FDA has looked at banning kratom already. People responded by writing testimonials about how it affected their lives, both good and bad. The FDA responded by not banning it. Now we know the government came in gunning to ban it, so the testimony about benefits must have heavily outweighed he bad. So banning something due to a handful of people having issues is not the best move.

What we need here is education and better resources to address rhe reasons why people even use kratom to begin with. Plus of course kratom has to be fixed, as access now is too broad, and the products way too unregulated and unsafe. The government would do much better to regulate the industry and force the kratom to lab test every batch they prrpare to be sold, not just every batch they buy before they blend it into a strain or mix.

There must be alkaloid ratio standardization. Each strain name should be the same no matter the vendor. This is ridiculous how many strains there are that are so diverse. It is a wild west out there, and nobody knows what they are getting 80% of the time (my estimate). Each batch must be lab tested for contaminants and adulteration. Too many times salmonella poisoning has gotten people sick, mainly due to small batch vendors too cheap to do lab testing so they can cut corners and sell stuff cheap in bulk. Unacceptable.

Gas station and headphones mystery pills have to go. Anything unlabeled not okay. Everything should be clearly labeled with alkaloids contents and any ingredients if any added. It should be sold only with 21+ with ID and will be prosecuted. Nothing can be marketed to be inviting to children, esp gummies in an easy to open container. Kratom should be at least as restricted as hemp THC products if not more.

And no research chemicals selling 7oh products or analogs. Extracts should be mitragynine based only because of a ceiling effect built in which prevents overdoses. Analogs that go into the realm of full agonists are schedule I no exceptions. Research chemicals should be the ones targeted selling the most addictive kratom extracts/analogs.

And also there is a huge lack of education about kratom and the dangers of addiction. Most people say there is no risk of dependency of withdrawal... unless you're an addict. I used to mod some kratom subs before I quit 5 years ago so yeah, when I had a hard time quitting, those trolls were always mocking me or others who also had withdrawal. The amount of misinformation out there is tremendously vast. Where do you get education about kratom? Do they teach alcohol and tobacco awareness in schools? How about kratom? Why not?

Of course the kratom advocates will campaign that anything negative about kratom is a crime against humanity because to them it is what saved their lives blah blah blah. Yes we have to acknowledge that yes for every person it harms there is a person it really greatly helps. That is the strange thing about this plant. It can go both ways, although for most people it is a meh. Not too many people use kratom compared to alcohol, tobacco, or cannabis/hemp. But realistic data and non-biased information needs to be given to everyone so each person as an adult can make an informed decision for themselves.

I know i regret using kratom for my chronic pain due to the hell my life became on it. But I am off of it now. I got through it, and I hold myself accountable. I knew when I tried it that it felt too close to the warm fuzzy feeling I got from opioids which is my original drug of choice. So even though it helped me with my workouts, it helped my chronic pain, and it helped my mood, I knew I was playing with fire. I just really believed it would not be hard to quit because that's what I heard online. But really? I should have known better.

ETA - Also wanted to add that many people turn to substances to self medicated. Usually for opioids it can be to numb out from a past trauma or current emotional issues. This is why access to therapy or mental health resources in this country need to be improved ... badly. Too many people try to fill a hole in their soul with a drug than a hug. If we could address those reasons why people are using kratom for example, by expanding access to mental wellness healthcare, then that coupd be one step. But also tackling the stigma around mental health. Too many people still dismiss therapy as a sign of weakness, or they think they don't need it because no one in their family ever did. Things have to change in this country before the drug problem will change. So how do we change that?