As a child I witnessed addiction firsthand as my father was a severe alcoholic which eventually led to his early death. I am hypersensitive to addiction and would not tolerate it in my household.  My husband has safely and responsibly used Kratom for the past 7 plus years. It was recommended to him by a friend that saw how much pain he was in.  Thank goodness!  Neither of us are a fan of taking prescription pain killers on a daily basis.  Those are the real gateway drugs!  Kratom has helped him with horrifying bone on bone knee pain (both knees).  Our surgeon told him that most people with his x-rays come into his office in a wheelchair.  That is how bad his knees were.  But the surgeon told us to wait as long as we could because my husband was only in his late 40's at the time.  He inherited his bad knees and did physical labor most of his life.  Kratom helped him get through life with less pain so that we could save and plan for much needed knee surgeries.  He has since had double knee replacements and now strictly uses Kratom to get a good night's sleep.  Helps him so much!  You should be focused on how to help people acquire and safely use Kratom instead of trying to ban it.  But it is a NATURAL plant, and the POWERFUL DRUG COMPANIES own our government, so unfortunately, I get it.  Such a shame!  Do the right thing! KEEP KRATOM LEGAL! Maybe someone in your family could benefit from Kratom? Thank you for your time and consideration.