I am a recovering heroin addict and recovering alcoholic. I was able to kick both habits without supplementing anything. There are those that aren't as fortunate, though. My case wasn't courage or strength, don't get me wrong, I just hated myself so much that I quit dope cold turkey after locking myself in my basement for seven days.
Anyone who claims that the illegalization of Kratom, or the scheduling of both major alkaloids, will get them back into using harder opioids/opiates is choosing the wrong platform to campaign with. Unfortunately there are those that will go back due to this, but threatening the DEA with relapse is only going to make them ecstatic. State funded rehabilitation centers have always relied on 'repeat customers' to help them stay open. This is not true for all, it is certainly true for some.
I became a kratom eater due to chronic pain from Pre-Parkinson's Neuropathy, or so said the neurologist, who I believe made that diagnosis up. But without a doubt, I've been in immense pain for over ten years, and Kratom has helped keep that +10 pain down to between 0-3. It was a life saver simply because the chronic pain was becoming severely psychologically damaging that I was harming myself in ways outside of picking back up.
I did wish people talked more about the antagonistic properties, or the fact that, when taken all alkaloids in account, can effect both Delta and Kappa areas as well. I was fortunate enough to go to the D.C. Rally, living not too far away. And with everyone who spoke, the two people who meant the most were a woman speaking on her suicidal depression, and the benefits of Kratom in the phyciatric field, in the area of depression and anxiety. The second, though, was a war veteran and spokesperson for those recovering from PTSD. While the scientific community are making strides at conquering PTSD (like the trails of therapeutic MDMA dosing), these men and women have to deal with it the best way they know how. And this individual spoke on behalf of only himself that Kratom lifted him from a deeply dark place and showed that, though not a cure, there is some light available, enough for him to get through each day knowing there will be a next. These two speakers showed that there is much more to this plant than a quick cure for dope sickness. Yes, it does that as well, and had I known in retrospect, I'd have used it to get off Suboxone years ago when I took that route. But with all eyes shifted towards it helping opioid addiction, I believe that there are other areas that need to be looked at.
No, I have never believed that a group of collective people, in solidarity (whatever that may mean to you), can change an outcome. The DEA, unfortunately, is under the Executive Branch, allowing it more power than its original purpose (Or so says the Senator's Secretary that I spoke to), but the people who called in for an extension may have fundamentally helped. Senator Hatch can take most of the credit, though. I just know that I called Senators and Representatives in 26 different states, some over voicemail, some to the Secretaries, and now we have the said extension and an open window for public comment. Did the people do this? In my opinion, probably not. But like someone throwing a brick through a window, it doesn't have any purpose other than to make a very loud noise. And the people made a loud enough noise to warrant the people with power to listen and take action.
