I'm sure people like their kratom leaves; they provide a mix of stimulant and opioid - like effects. People have been using the stuff for hundreds of years - usually people in southeast Asia who have tough, physical jobs. Using the stuff for recreational or quasi - medicinal purposes is rather different. Now that kratom has gone mainstream in the USA, the problems are getting more attention.

As is usual with herbal products, there's no telling what people are actually buying due to the absence of regulation. Herbal products also have no requirement of proven benefit. The problem is that as doses are pushed higher and higher, the likelihood of problems becomes higher as well. Liver failure and stupor have been caused by kratom, especially in higher doses.

For those of you using kratom, please don't think that because the product comes from a plant that you should be confident that it's safe. Deadly nightshade and digitalis are from plants and they will consistently sicken and kill you with high enough doses. Combine that with a lack of dose or potency information due to the herbal status of the product and you have no way to  manage what dose you are getting. I wish this situation was different, but these are the inconvenient facts.

In order to protect kids from this stuff, in my opinion it's best that it's regulated. We have only so many tools to do that, Schedule I status is one of those and it seems like a good idea to me.

I found this paper instructive: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7556/jaoa.2012.112.12.792/html