Hey there my friends, and thanks for listening. I have been a kratom advocate and user for over 10 years. I was there during the 2016 import ban scare, and suffered the market turning into chaos. But the dust has settled, and the people won their right to consume a plant. Again. For now. There will always be those who try to ban plants, and it is up to us to keep each other informed. I realize this podcast will not cover all the information one might want to know, but I tried to include that which I find relevant. I hope you enjoy, and if you have anything to add or questions to ask please join the discussion on discord here: https://discord.gg/r4x3Z9cG2J For those asking about my store it is here: https://www.carposbotanicals.com/en/ Have yourself a wonderful day. For those who want to read it, below is the letter I sent to my congress people and the FDA during the 2016 ban scare: ----------------------------------------------------------- The DEA’s Ban on a Miracle Plant; Kratom (2016) I am writing this message as a matter of urgency. I hope that you will take the time to read this, as the future of our people is the most pressing issue we face. As you may or may not be aware, Mitragyna Speciosa (otherwise known as ‘kratom’) which is a tree leaf from Southwest Asia, is about to be banned by the D.E.A. Why is this a matter of urgency? Because the decision to place another plant into schedule 1 as an absolute absurdity, and it will no doubt cost lives and health of our citizens, not to mention billions lost in potential tax dollars, potential revenue for businesses, vendors, and the cost to punish and incarcerate productive citizens for consuming a well-known natural substance with a long history of safe use. Millions of people out there have found kratom to be an alternative to the harsh addiction to opiates, yet kratom itself is NOT an opiate. The DEA has clearly misstated this fact, and seem unable to explain their reasoning to the people they serve and protect. I realize that the hype surrounding this subject has caused a lot of confusion, and I would like to attempt to clear it up. Opiates such as morphine, oxycodone and Vicodin are regularly prescribed for pain. In fact, statistically over two million Americans are addicted to prescription opiates. Those who take kratom are often just trying to ease their pain without depending on synthetic opioids or opiates. Most are just trying to live a healthy productive life without pain, and that should be a right nobody can take away. Between 1999 and 2014, 165,000 Americans died from prescription opiates. At some point, we have to step back and look at the facts, and listen to the people. The doctors. The scientists. These people we are supposed to trust. The D.E.A. is making a hasty move in banning kratom “to avoid an imminent hazard to the public safety” A handful of deaths attributed to kratom turned out to be nothing of the sort. And this is the basis for the ‘emergency’ ban. Some were on antidepressants (which clearly state suicide as a side effect) It would be like testing a drunk person after a car accident, and if they had a coffee they must have died from the caffeine. Sounds ridiculous? It is. So much more than I could express. But yet they refuse to provide a list of the toxicology reports. Without deaths, WHERE is the danger? The threat of this herb does not even compare to the 38,329 heroin overdoses that occurred in 2013 alone. Or the 16,651 Pharmaceutical based opiate overdoses the same year. As a person that has suffered from sciatica for several years, I have had at times excruciating pain that made me wonder whether life was worth living. The most intense pain I could ever imagine, my wife having to help me into the bathtub. I thought I would never recover. Having no health insurance as an entrepreneur, and fighting for my sanity and health, I discovered kratom, and it changed my life. I was not only able to face the pain, but it helped me with my social anxiety and allowed me to work as a carpenter, doing what I love. This was a miracle to a man who loves his family, and would prefer to find a less addictive pain killer than opiates. I never thought this medicine would be taken from me. Besides being a wonderful pain killer, many do not realize the additional benefits of this amazing plant, which is in the same family as coffee (Rubicae) It also have anxiolytic and antidepressant effects. What are the top three issues facing our mental health in this country? -Addiction -Depression -Anxiety Here we have a plant that can help all three, and we are placing it on a list of drugs that are considered dangerous. What is going on here? Is it mere ignorance. We the people deserve transparency in our government, and it seems as if the DEA is saying they don’t care. They even went as far as to say ‘Public opinion is not necessary” What does this say about the rights of the people? Do we matter at all anymore? They are saying that it is not ‘researched’ enough, yet there are thousands of supplements on the market that cause tens of thousands of hospital visits each year. Singling out one such as Kratom, merely because of the media hype, is very short-sighted. This ban will only serve to weaken our already precarious addiction crisis, sending millions back to opiates to ease their symptoms. Is this acceptable? Kratom, unlike opiates, will not cause respiratory depression, a leading cause of opiate deaths, and one cannot overdose on the plant. This alone makes it an amazing tool that can really assist without the dangers of these dangerous compounds. Kratom, unlike opiates, cannot be overdosed on, making it a great alternative to pharmaceutical opiates that can be not only addictive, but kill 16.000 a year here in the US annually. Kratom, unlike opiates, is not processed and refined. This is the reason the DEA fears it, and claims it cannot be regulated due to different strengths. Many do not realize that this is precisely what makes it so great. Each strain has unique characteristics, like cannabis, and can be used to treat different ailments, mainly pain, anxiety and depression. Kratom, unlike opiates, cannot be patented. This leaves the pharmaceutical industry at a loss for profiting on it, which causes vested interests in keeping it illegal. This may not be the case, but there is good evidence that the opiate industry has an interest in making kratom illegal due to its interference in ‘traditional’ treatments. This issue is very important to people who either cannot afford pain medication, do not want to BE addicted to them, or have found kratom helps them function in the world. The claim that there is ‘no scientific literature’ is completely false. This plant has been studied for decades, and the components are well known. This is nothing like the ‘research chemicals’ which have been flooding the streets, and I believe it is unfair to lump them together. There are hundreds of years of use and documentation behind kratom. Yet public opinion is often swayed by bold media claims which often hold no real weight. People are trying to help themselves, and want to live a pain free life. It seems obvious to anyone who is paying attention that the drug war has been an utter failure. We the citizens who pay the bill for these agencies deserve better, and the DEA has not fulfilled their obligation to protect the people. Billions of dollars are being wasted fighting an enemy that will never be found. The best protection is education, and finding alternatives to prescription medicines if we so choose. Ludicrous does not even begin to express our feeling about this failure to reason. I hope we can see what is at stake here before it is too late. It seems they are bent on making kratom as dangerous as Heroin, and that makes no sense to any of us. If you have any influence whatsoever, I urge you to speak out and stop this madness before millions all suffer because of it. We are strong together; the people. Have a wonderful day…..
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