What makes me angry about all this is the way the DEA can interfere with the scientific method. The DEA can strangle research because of a lack of research; cannabis has been stuck in this idiot cycle now for upwards of half a century. It is supremely unproductive, wasteful in both a financial and human sense, and ultimately fails because plants dont care if they're illegal; they'll continue to grow somewhere (with Kratom, this is SE Asia where it's use is as common as coffee, even when countries like Thailand attempted to ban and destroy it) If Kratom becomes inaccessible in the US, the current opiod epidemic will become worse. And not only that, but people will go to prison and have their lives ruined by possessing Kratom. I wonder what the minimum sentencing will be for possessing the plant. Can growing it be considered a felony? What if I think the plant makes a nice hedge?

I've heard too many anecdotes from well-adjusted ex-opiate users regarding the value of Kratom. Also, I fundamentally do not trust any research the DEA produces, since their continued existence is owed to their ability to pervert the scientific method using political power and vestigial "tough on drugs" thinking.