The Food and Drug Administration launched the latest attack on Tuesday in a drawn-out war between regulators and patients over the safety of a popular herbal supplement called kratom, branding the plant a dangerous drug.
“Compounds in kratom make it so it isn’t just a plant — it’s an opioid,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb declared in a statement.
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Kratom is a life saver. I have used kratom for years to help with my pain. Recently i was involved in an almost fatal accident involved hitting a tree at a very high speed. Ive been in bed 6 weeks thinking i was going to die because the hospital refused me an mri. During these 6 weeks ive been red rudden not being able to move my neck with so much pressure in my head. No pain medication would even relieve any pain. Kratom was the only thing that gave me relief. Finally got a doctor to order an mri in 2 days. I would of never lived this long without kratom.
I’ve been on “disability” for decades, for both physical and mental illnesses. Since discovering Kratom in 2014, I have started to live again! I COULD return to work provided that Kratom remains legal – and if someone was willing to hire a 60-year-old with no recent work experience. I’m also a recovering addict, abstaining from alcohol and drugs – drugs that have negative side-effects, change who I am, and/or are addictive; Kratom does not fall into any of those categories.
I’m guessing – just a guess – that Kratom WILL become illegal when the big Pharmaceutical companies find a way to synthesize the active components of this natural (miracle) plant.
Big pharma doesn’t want Kratom because it works and is taking from their profits. BS is what it is. Trying to put it in the hands of the gov is never a good idea.
This is ridiculous and another way for the government to control us!! It HELPS people..I haven’t heard any negative remarks about KRATOM…OK 44 PEOPLE DIED but from other things combined..not kratom alone…if the FDA CAN NAME ONE MEDICATION OR ANYTHING FOR THAT MATTER THAT HASN’T KILLED SOMEONE FOR SOME REASON OR OTHER THEN THEY MAY HAVE A POINT BUT THEY CAN’T!!! If it’s a good thing svc people have more quality off life leave it alone!!!
My husband was abusing norco for about 4 years. He finally got so crazy I didn’t even know who he was anymore. Fits of rage, complete personality change. Made me feel unsafe around him at times being he was so out of his mind. It was terrible and about ended our marriage. As I was literally walking out the door to file for divorce he agreed to quit. Which he actually did. Things went back to normal and he once again became himself. About 6 months later he started taking kratom as its “just an herb, a plant”. That was about 2 years ago. He is once again a crazy, angry man I no longer recognize. I yet again fear for my safety as he’s a weirdo again. Incredibly similar, about exact to his behavior while abusing the norco. Kratom is no different. It wreaks the same havoc and addiction as the prescription pain killers and is simply a legal substitute the addicts can go to. Anyone on it will disagree and defend it to the end but that’s just the addiction talking. No different than the prescription pain killer addicts. They deny deny deny as well. My husband denies he’s addicted to these or that becoming addicted is even possible. Yet he pops these by the handful like candy daily. So while kratom may help some if used short term and properly they need to be regulated as other drugs are. If they leave these unregulated they may as well make all prescription pain killers OTC as well because there is no difference that I can see.
People are not happy !!!! If people intend to escape their minds they are going to..but taking away something that helps for pain without making me vomit or any other horrible side effects like DEATH!!!
This is plain to see. There is no way it can be denied …if this happens it will be an abuse of power. God knows you don’t want disabled veterans to have any peace only toxic mind numbing psychosomatic drugs designed to literally take your life away. I know it’s true because I was one of the “lab rats” Even after telling my dr lyrica gave me night terrors she said I has to continue taking it if I wanted to continue to receive treatment…it ended up sending me to the hospital with anaphylactic shock..then she said I could stop taking it but night terrors wasn’t enough of a reason. This drug has been approved. That is ridiculous. Dr are not required to receive nutrition training …meanwhile sugar is mimicking fibromyalgia in my body..seriously MR GOVERMENT SIR YOU NEED TO FOCUS ON THE REAL PROBLEMS INSTEAD OF TRYING TO TAKE PEACE AWAY FROM OUR VETERANS AND DISABLED PEOPLE..AND GIVE A LIFE LINE TO ADDDICTS!!!! JUST DO IT!! And don’t take as long as you did with the TYLENOL WARNINGS ETC.
I’m so sorry that happened to you, but thank you for sharing it here. People are ignorantly blissful too often when it comes to the pharmaceutical industry, the FDA, and the approved drugs that actually do damage. This drug is a safe alternative for so many dangerous medications out there, even something like Lyrica, which you don’t hear a lot about, but still, it proves the point perfectly.
If the WAISMANN comment or the page it cites appeal to you, PLEASE read the Waismann home page, which is http://www.opiates.com (don’t let the generic sounding web-page name confuse you). Waismann appears to be an expensive, for-profit DETOX CENTER, which also offers addiction treatment as an optional add-on. Detox is not treatment, and Detox without treatment very rarely works to cure addiction.
The Waismann TREATMENT options offered are:
1. psychotherapy (not psychiatric care by an MD)
2. yoga
3. accupuncture
4. massage therapy
You can also get a mani-pedi or play billiards.
They claim tremendous positive results for their DETOX program, but I could not find any information on the success rate of their TREATMENT program. Anyone could get a high DETOX success rate if they padded their spare bedroom, supplied it with water and some food, put a lock on the door, and checked in on their customers now and then. Addiction TREATMENT is the hard part.
In any case, I would not assume that Waismann employees are experts on any medication-assisted addiction treatment program. They certainly have the motive to knock any such treatment, or the medications used.
The war on Kratom is pushed by Big Pharma. In particular the billionaire
Sackler family – the owners of Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin.
Kratom is actually helping people break their addiction to Oxycodon – the main ingredient in OxyContin.
The REAL reason for the FDA’s attack on Kratom is because safe and nonaddictive Kratom helps free people from the highly addictive and toxic Oxycodon. Basically Kratom threatens Purue Pharmas profits. This is all about money, not public health.
Anyone know of any scientific studies on Kratom, either “Is it safe?” or “Does it work?”? Double blind controls or not.
Alcohol is legal but they are fighting Kratom and Marijuana. This country is messed up. If the government can’t make big money on it…they don’t want it.
Kratom got me off heroin , suboxone and saved my life. No Kratom and it’s back to opiates which I don’t want to do. I went through many rehabs and only Kratom helped me kick. It’s a shame. I guess pharma companies and the government wants us on opiates