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I’ve been a follower and student of medicinal plants long before I was a hippie fighting for the legalization of marijuana in my teens. I was young “in search of self” and my reasons for legalizing pot were, admittedly far from altruistic. Since watching my dear Mother die of Leukemia (and more likely the chemo treating it), I learned from finding marijuana for her what a miracle herb it really is, and how terribly lies ruled the day before the medical community and science learned what it could really do. Never in a million years did I think I would find myself forty or so years later in the middle of a near-century old battle that began in Thailand regarding a plant called kratom. Kratom is a most interesting medicinal leaf that has been studied extensively in S.E. Asia as having numerous health-providing properties such as being heart-healthy, lowers blood pressure, boosts the immune system, and is a tonic giving the overall feeling of well-being. For me however, a person who had no choice but to take opiate drugs for severe chronic pain, I was particularly excited to think that there might be a legal herb on the market that killed the pain better than morphine or oxy meds. And imagine my surprise to discover that for me, it was about as “addictive” as a strong Starbucks; and no wonder as it is in the coffee family. I have a strong feeling that if an herb or medicinal leaf has been proven not only safe but healthy, the government really has no place whatsoever in it. I will acquiesce that there might be a place for government regulation in the case of young people who might abuse it, use it with other (real drugs) which some do etc. But for anyone who is looking for a recreational herb they are in for a great disappointment. In spite of the rumors that kratom is euphoric and/or hallucinogenic, I can only imagine the amount of the herb that would have to be taken, and I’ve never taken even close to that amount. By the same token, that much Lysol sniffed is not just as addictive but deadly. Nobody has ever reportedly died or even od’d from kratom, yet many unethical rehabs have adopted it, just like they did marijuana in the 1930s as being as dangerous as heroine and/or cocaine. They’ve deemed it so a bit too early as Thailand is going to be using it to get addicts off of drugs, in the same fashion that many naturopathic md’s use kudzu for alcohol withdrawals. In addition, the first large scale U.S. study, conducted in January at Ole Miss showed “Great promise for addicts”. Most people who have been following this unique healthful medicinal herb know that Thailand didn’t ban it because it was dangerous, quite the contrary. They banned it in 1943 for interfering with their own legal opium sales; as most citizens preferred to heal pain with a cheap/or free leaf from a tree than a deadly opiate drug. There was, like in the U.S. with pot, sadly an ethic reason for demonizing and finally criminalizing kratom. In the U.S. marijuana was banned (and scheduled as a Class A DRUG not unlike heroine and cocaine) by America’s first drug czar, a bigoted man who wanted badly to make a name for himself. He came up with a story that Mexicans were importing it into America, luring American women to smoke it, and raped them. Within a few years doctors, media etc all felt pot smokers were equivalent to serial killers; in fact they were thought as such. Ironically , most of Thailand’s kratom grows in the southern part of the country, where the largest population is Muslim. Since it is against Islam to drink alcohol, many decided to learn to mix drinks without alcohol using kratom (which can have a bit of a buzz, but nothing much stronger than a few expressos. Again, the laws were made to criminalize the poor minorities, and pot was criminalized for that same reason, and many,many more African American (mainly males) ended up in prison; many still there, for possessing pot. Thailand realized every reason to criminalize the herb was/is criminal, and there is much science proving it quite safe, hence the reason to decriminalize it. This will be good for many reasons. Lee will take drugs; and meth is becoming a problem in Thailand. Most can be easily weaned off meth with kratom. Keep in mind; no matter what you hear kratom is not a drug, it is a plant. It sometimes attaches to the mu opioids of the brain, but then again so do fatty foods, cheese, dark chocolate, coffee and many other foods. The coffee served in AA meetings is more addictive and dangerous than the kratom from which they are attempting to heal many of their members. Don’t get me wrong. AA saves many lives, but when it forms emotional opinions based on what “they think”, they are dangerous. It’s not a drug, is as habit forming as coffee, and saves millions from opiate drugs. AA and rehabs would do best to do what they do best. Help addicts of drugs get their lives back; and leave kratom alone except in those rare cases where someone has taken enough to become addicted. But that is so much, it would have to be rare. That same person is likely to get hooked on Lysol. Really. I have to wonder if Thailand is simply going to decriminalize it, or control it as they do in New Zealand as a substance for many situations, mainly pain. Though that is better than criminalization, it is still unfair, given it is an inexpensive plant that grows all over the southern part of the country and is usually free or close to it there. In other words, this herb may be putting a lot of people in the rehab business out of business, and frankly I believe they are intimidated by it, hence demonizing it as an “addictive drug” so they can help people off of it (and of course more importantly keep their jobs). But science is way ahead of them. In many cases addicts no longer need recovery groups or rehabs. They simply need to learn how to use kratom responsibly, and they will be clean, usually very soon. My opinion, for what it’s worth is to salute the brave heroes who work in drug and alcohol rehab because it is not an easy job and they save many lives. But when they start deciding “everything is a deadly drug” because a few teens abuse it, exactly like marijuana, they are extending the suffering of those who use it responsibly and that is, in my opinion a terrible sin. Kratom has helped tens of thousands if not more in America and Canada get off of prescribed opiates without a minute of withdrawal; and continue to be a strong pain relief for those suffering. The best news is, unlike opiates, there is a threshold; in other words the patient does not have to take more and more and more for it to keep relieving pain. For most, the amount they find works the first day they use it, is about the same amount they use 10 years later to relieve the pain. And even better there is no fuzziness, dizziness, etc. That has been my experience. I am sure others have had other experiences, both positive and negative. But nothing has shown me any proof that I am doing damage to my body by choosing nature to heal my monumental pain. On the other hand, using opiates was a short road to a fast death. Thank God for kratom. Rick London is a popular offbeat cartoonist who founded offbeat cartoons and funny gifts. He is an outspoken activist to keep the analgesic herb kratom legal which is keeping people off of opiate drugs. He claims the mostpotent kratom anywhere comes from a S. California-based firm called Kratom-K.com. He likes not only the quality but the price plus customers get another 15% off the already low price when they type in the coupon code "Kratom" at checkout when you place your order.
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