Kratom: A Threat To Public Health

Based on the research I have presented in this paper, I believe it is reasonable to say that kratom presents very little (if any) threat to public health and safety and there is a lack of sufficient evidence, historic or scientific, to show that kratom presents significant danger despite many years of widespread use. There is not a kratom epidemic. Scheduling kratom under the CSA would only serve to, ultimately, drain resources from enforcing current drug laws in regulating much more dangerous substances, the use of which kratom currently serves to mitigate. Scheduling kratom would most likely result in people going back to more harmful substances. The abuse potential for kratom is equal to or less than that of many substances the DEA has abstained from scheduling (such as nicotine), many of which are eligible for scheduling. Public interest is best served monitoring kratom as a dietary supplement. [Pinney, CSA 8 Factors]
Opiates have served as an invaluable tool for anesthesia and pain management for millennia, and perhaps kratom will be the next improvement to build upon. The future of kratom is uncertain, and there is still much that is unknown about it. The DEA awaits the FDA’s findings to make a final decision [Cerbone, Kratom Controversy], and advocates will continue to fight for the right to use kratom, but regardless, kratom research will continue, and, I believe, kratom will prove its worth medically in more ways than