I sm a 32 year old surveyor and veteran who would like to share my experience with kratom and how the plant saved my life. Through much of my 20s, I was addicted to heroin. After finding kratom I was able to quit and now have over 6 years clean from opiates. Kratom gave me back control of my life when I thought all was lost. I pray my story imparts the value of kratom, and why it's consumers need protection, not criminalization.

I use kratom often to control back pain resulting from a 20ft fall. The relief it brings allows me to work a job I enjoy. Kratom is the only effective pain relief I've found other than prescription opioids, which I avoid due to my former addiction. Losing safe access to kratom would leave myself and thousands of others suffering in pain and increase the likelihood of turning to illegal drugs to find relief.

Kratom made the withdrawal from fentanyl-laced heroin manageable, helping me to endure them. It also reduces the urge to use, helping me stay clean. Rehab and all my other recovery attempts failed, but kratom didn't, allowing me to overcome my addiction. If I had not found kratom, I'd still be in active addiction, or dead from an overdose. For me kratom literally saved my life.

While taking kratom, I have never been fired for being intoxicated at work, stolen from friends and family, or woke up sick from withdrawals. All of these regularly occurred when I was using heroin. Kratom has never caused me to overdose while I experienced 3 overdoses on opiates. 2 of those would've been fatal if I was not administered narcan swiftly. Kratom saved me from being just another causality of the opioid epidemic.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) reviewed over 100 studies and surveys from 2018-2021 to assess the abuse potential of kratom. Some of their key findings include:

• Kratom use is primarily for health benefits rather than recreation or chasing a high.

• Long-term users show no significant differences in many physiological measures compared to non-users.

• Substantial evidence supports the use and efficacy of kratom in treating opioid withdrawal symptoms as well as other disorders.

• Evidence suggests the risk of death from using kratom is at least 1000 times lower than morphine-like opioids.

The NLM recommended kratom remain unscheduled and available to consumers due to the low risk of abuse and overdose. Instead, regulating kratom to minimize the risk of contaminated or adulterated products was recommended.

Kratom consumers biggest risk comes from the possibility of contaminated products due to the lack of purity standards. People must scrutinize vendors or risk buying unsafe products. Majority of vendors test their products and sell only quality kratom. Sadly, some only care about profits and don't test their product. Some even actively lace their kratom to increase weight or potency. Batches tested from such vendors have been found to contain high heavy metal levels, non-kratom plants, and/or synthetic drugs. 

This adulteration is potentially deadly. Majority of deaths associated with kratom involve mixing kratom with much more potent substances. Designer drugs that are significantly more potent and deadlier than kratom are typically found. Many of these drugs can't be found with standard tests which often leads to falsely blaming an overdose on kratom. 

Banning or criminalizing kratom would label thousands of people criminals for seeking relief. Additionally, it would fuel the opioid epidemic by prohibiting a promising treatment for opioid addiction. I hope you are able to see the value kratom has to offer and will stand against any ban attempts. Instead focus on protecting those who choose to consume it and encourage studies examining the medical benefits of the plant.