Once again, humans have taken a relatively benign plant and concentrated &/or synthesized its components for monetization, resulting in harmful products that unfairly indict the original plant...
I quit thinking natural plants were benign when, in my 20's, I developed a habit of eating dried opium pods for a couple of years. I became a true zombie, wanted to sleep all the time. In order to wake up for work and school, I had to go to bed as soon as I got home around 5 pm and wake up at 5 am. I finally decided to quit and was so sick that I was totally nonfunctional for a full year. My life came to a complete dead end from that. I eventually recovered, but ended up starting a career at 28 when I could have started at 22. 6 years gone from having to totally start over at community college when I had gotten into a really good university after high school. I've also messed with kratom, of course, because I'm an idiot, never concentrates, just the leaf, and have barely avoided having my entire life blow up in my face again. Maybe it's the kindling effect from my previous habits, but I have a super hard time not escalating my dose to crazy levels and then have to go through wicked withdrawal to get off it.
To me, these plants are anything but benign. I know, they don't to it to everyone, but for a lot of people, they totally short circuit our brain chemistry and take total control of our lives. Even with years of being clean, it is very difficult to avoid the allure of just getting a little during times of stress or hardship and then inevitably getting dragged back into hell.
I'm sure it'd be even worse if I was ever dumb enough to try a 7-OH vape. Even with my experience, I don't think it should be banned. People should be free to make their own choices, and some people can use it responsibly. Ideally, I think decriminalization with rational regulation would be the best way to go.
