I’m a 64 year-old retired US Navy veteran E-6/PO1 and worked in the the engine rooms which were at the bottom of the ships I served aboard so a lot of climbing up an down ladder ways for all those years which contributed to my back issues. However even after my retirement from the US Navy I continued to be actively employed as a production manager in the rail industry in Western Kentucky thanks to what I consider my miracle plant called Kratom. I had been prescribed pharmaceutical such as opiates for over twelve years for back issues. When the CDC published its new prescribing guidelines I was treated like a criminal being forced to do urinalysis, pill counts, and conversations with my doctor and nurses about the potential of addiction.  I felt like I all of a sudden my medical team thought I was trying to get opiates for a “high” or to sell them on the street. As a responsible adult and a Navy veteran with twenty years of service, this became embarrassing and frustrating the longer it went on. I had enough of jumping through hoops to get what was prescribed to me by my physician but I knew I needed an alternative because I couldn’t, after all those years, stop cold turkey after having been prescribed those pills for so many years. My body and mind were basically dependant on the opiates and I knew the withdrawals were going to be awful. I also knew I would still need something for the pain from back surgeries so I started looking for natural alternatives. I then came upon Kratom and at first, I was skeptical that a leaf from a tree related to the coffee family was going to do what the opiates had in regards to pain relief had been doing all those years. However, I was wrong and Kratom not only helped me function but it did so by lifting the brain fog I had been living with all those years. I was clear-headed again as well as becoming more active and able to enjoy those everyday family activities.  I was playing with my grandkids again, walking my dog, and doing yard work. My energy level was once again back to how I felt in my earlier years before being prescribed pharmaceuticals. I’ve been opiate-free for over seven years now. I only purchase my Kratom from vendors that are GMP compliant, and follow the DSHEA Act guidelines, and are trustworthy. The small minority of backyard vendors adding things to Kratom, which I don’t agree with, and Kratom should only be allowed to be sold unadulterated and in its natural form. Kratom has helped many people in so many different ways. All I ask is that the people wanting to ban Kratom stop and listen and most importantly follow the science. It’s literally a miracle plant.