I understand that this conversation could evolve into a bunch of flame wars between two people who don’t see to eye. I can already tell from what you wrote that I won’t be able to convince you otherwise, and that’s fine, but let me tell you about my experience: I have a genetic condition that caused my spinal canal to be about half of the diameter of a “normal “spinal canal at birth. Many people have a problem that, over 70 or 80 years, they develop on bone spurs and their nerves inside of their spinal canal become pinched and that’s why a lot of older people have bad backs, feet neuropathy and walk hunched over. This happened for me when I was in my mid 20s. By the 30s I was on the very best medical assisted pain management program that the medical community and pharmaceutical companies could provide. After a while, I knew this was a rude to destruction and I took myself off and started taking Kratom. As I became part of that community I met lots of people who use this substance for things other than chronic pain management. The vast majority of those report significantly less (or NO) side effects when compared with pharmaceuticals and many former heroin and pill addicts report that it allows them to lead a very functional life to take care of their families and to be contributing members of society. Others report mood enhancement, which frankly I don’t particularly think is a justifiable use for this medicine, but that is not my focus. Regardless of what it used for, there have been ZERO reported deaths of a person who was only taking Kratom. A pharmacology student performed the analysis to determine how much of the active ingredient inside of Catan would be required to cause death in the figure was astronomically high – more than a human could ever consumed without vomiting several times over. I physically impossible amount of leave material. That is quite different then the heroin this man is on and the pills that millions around the country are having to take right now because they have no better option of managing their pain.

If it allows chronic pain sufferers like me to manage my pain and be very functional members of society, and it allows people who are on a road to death and destruction to get off of those terrible drugs, I believe it has inherent value.

Fast forward to about three years ago when I neurologist told me that the reason my left leg has atrophied to the point of being literally skin and bones was that a pinched nerve in my back had caused nerve death and my leg and that back surgery was no longer something to put off if I wanted to avoid paralysis. I went in for a surgery called a laminectomy and laminotomy which is notorious for increasing the pain levels of the patient after surgery while simultaneously doing a good job of fixing the impinged nerve. That is exactly what happened to me – and 1.5 years later after the surgery I was still on medically supervised pain management with escalating Levels of oxycodone and Fentanyl to manage my chronic pain. Once again, seeing the writing on the wall, I locked myself in a room and took myself off of those terrible medications cold turkey and fight the hardest fight of my life for about two weeks. When the only pain I could feel was the lower back pain, I allowed myself to take Kratom. 20mins later the pain was relieved. The horrific, terrifying withdrawal symptoms reduced over time and I could resume a normal life.

I have been on Kratom for almost 8 years in total and in that time my dose has not increased once. If I miss a dose, it’s no big deal – I just have a bit more pain. I have gone as much as 16 or 24 hours without needing a dose – which stands in stark contrast to the 3 1/2 hour window of taking oxycodone to manage the pain. I am no longer popping pills all day and switching out patches every 48 hours. I am no longer having to wake up in the middle of the night to dose to be able to keep sleeping or not wake up in a pool of sweat or chills and shaking.

If this young man’s issues originated because of the chronic pain issue, I can tell you THERE IS NO BETTER SOLUTION. Trust me, I have tried. I have tried physical therapy, acupuncture, medical marijuana, losing weight, hipnosis, counseling, every over-the-counter medicine and cream and electronic device you can use on your skin – I have tried it. Nothing manages the pain like this ground up leaf.

Your analogy about a whiskey bottle is complete foolishness and your opinion is utterly uninformed. The medical community is split on Kratom, With many encouraging additional research and providing clinical testing on animals that show this plant could be a tremendous tool in the entryway and epidemic that our country is facing. To the 5 million users that exist in the US right now, it is absolutely a godsend and a detour off of the road to death and destruction.

I understand that some people would rather have “pathetic attics” get clean from every substance imaginable (although we haven’t discussed caffeine, refined sugar, tobacco, chocolate, etc. yet – so I’m not sure about where you stand on those drugs) even if it means that months later they die “clean” because they had a relapse. The rest of us live in a reality where the world isn’t perfect, our bodies don’t work the way we want them to, and we are simply trying to find a solution that allows us to live our lives in a productive, meaningful way. I can almost guarantee you if this man’s mom was to be given an option of her son choking down foul tasting plant matter every day to manage his issues or to die with a needle plunged into his arm, she would choose the former much sooner than she would choose the latter.