I am a 45-year-old mom from New Jersey. I have been suffering from back pain in one form or another for 15 years. I have tried physical therapy, exercise, TENS units, epidural and other steroid injections, acupuncture, medication, chiropractors (briefly), and massage. I've had CTs and MRIs. I've seen half a dozen doctors. While they think they know the source, nothing has helped resolve the pain or issue in those 15 years. Except kratom. I tried it out of sheer desperation in a lot of pain, every day. I would wake up in pain, suffer pain after trying to clean or do work around my home, play with my kids, and go to bed in pain most nights. Until kratom, I was pretty sure that was going to be my life. Chronic pain, no answers, no help. When I tried kratom as a last resort, I didn't expect the complete relief of my pain to the point I was in tears. It was like a miracle. For the first time in years, I could actually do things without hurting constantly. I have been using it *as needed* for at least 7 years because it works. Just like I drink coffee every day because it helps me wake up and it's enjoyable to drink, I take kratom in pill form and marvel every day at how a little leaf could be such a wonderful thing for pain sufferers like me.

PLEASE do not ban it in your state. PLEASE do not take it away from people like me who have found it to be the only answer to pain besides opioids.

Because I've been there. I took opioids for years because I had to work and couldn't do so in pain. I had no choice. Guess where it got me? In withdrawals when I was cut off by a doctor with no alternative, no taper. I would gladly stay on kratom as it has no overdose potential and is not making me a drug-dependent zombie. Opioids/painkillers are no longer an option for me. Being a constipated zombie with a glazed-over look in my eyes, people noticing how out of it I am on painkillers? No way. Never again.

I would fight tooth and nail to keep it legal, render its sale and production safe at every level, and make it available to the adults who choose it to help with many debilitating and chronic conditions. It's not just for pain sufferers. It's for alcohol dependence, withdrawals from opioids, PTSD, anxiety, depression, and Parkinson's disease, and there are probably more applications it hasn't even been studied for yet because it is, for some unknown reason, demonized. You cannot overdose on kratom. You gauge your level and that's what you take, once or twice a day. There's no reason to overuse it. It works so well on a daily basis that it would be counterproductive to abuse it. How do you get more pain relief without feeling high? And you don't get high. I've been taking it responsibly for 7 years or more, because nothing else works, literally, and I have never had to use more than my allotted amount based on my height and weight and the strain of kratom I use. It is impossible to abuse something that doesn't give any other euphoria than having no pain where there once was pain. Please understand that those who use this leaf, a natural leaf, are not abusing or hurting themselves. It's as natural as drinking coffee or taking St. John's Wort or ginkgo biloba.

I would also like to say that if this is banned in your state, many, many people will have nowhere to turn. They will have to use illicit drugs or go back to the opioids kratom was helping them remain free from. They will become zombies chemically and psychologically dependent on drugs that are also very limited in their prescribed amounts and will probably have to live in pain again. I can only imagine that many of them will not be able to take it anymore. I understand limiting opioid prescription and use, because that absolutely has the potential to be abused. But taking something away from people that isn't being abused, is safe, has science backing its use and safety, it will leave many with no other choice. I don't know what I would do. I have to be here for my kids and my family, but being in chronic pain every day will be miserable. I might be bedridden for much of my time because what I could do when the pain was gone, I will no longer be able to do without giving in to the agony. Your back is an integral part of how you move, sit, stand, and lay down. Without pain relief for that, I'm very close to crippled. I'm only 45 years old. I am not overweight or out of shape. But for some reason, my back didn't get the memo and it's been a problem that threatens to shut me down every day without kratom. I am thankful every day that I found it. I am grateful every day for those who sell it so I can use it. I am immensely grateful to those who grow it overseas and distribute it to America legally. Please do not shut down businesses that safely operate and employ so many people. This means jobs, it means a living, it means a lot to those who need kratom.

I am hoping my words and the words of others like me who speak passionately and with years of safe use of kratom behind us will reach those who need to hear it. Listen to the AKA and other organizations who have researched, drafted legislation, worked tirelessly to ensure that kratom remains legal and safe and isn't sold to those who are underage or incapable of making that decision for themselves. We are capable, though, and we know what we're doing. That's why you're seeing so many responses that may seem desperate and upset at this proposed ban. It means an end to something that is close to a miracle for those who need it. Please do not take that away based on false information. The science speaks volumes. The faithful users who are still here to speak about kratom speak volumes. Please listen and understand. A ban, instead of the KCPA or legislation to make sure it is safe to buy and use, will have a ripple effect that could not possibly be foreseen and will affect so many lives and livelihoods. Please reconsider this. Please target only those substances that are proven to be unsafe and have abuse potential. We are begging. Thank you for your time.