Isn't it strange that the FDA and CDC have only recently found the herb Kratom associated with a few of the 1.3 million cases of salmonella infections our U.S. population experiences annually? Now, when they don't have a scientific leg to stand on, they claim to be finding salmonella in kratom -- after at least 17 years of kratom use by millions of Americans! Amazing how that happens!
I've had salmonella and it was pretty easy to tell where I got it. It appears quickly after you consume something containing the bacteria.
Obviously, I survived without medical help. But, isn't it odd that the FDA & CDC are putting so much effort into finding reasons to compel kratom vendors to "voluntarily" pull their products off the market, when there is an opioid epidemic that is killing approximately 90+ people a day, that was essentially created and continued by the prescription of drugs the FDA approved and thought were just fine?
I've had a lot of kratom over the past five years and I've never had a case of salmonella from it. I've never heard of anyone else that had, either -- and I listen for those things. So, it's very suspicious, just now, when the FDA wants the DEA to declare kratom a Schedule 1 drug, but they can't prove it's any more dangerous or addictive than nutmeg, that an outbreak of 24 cases of salmonella are claimed (with little direct proof) to be caused by kratom consumption?
How Convenient!
The lie that kratom is mainly a "drug of abuse", spread by the FDA and DEA for years, has led to many people using kratom improperly, and getting nauseous, which also furthers their agenda to show that kratom is a "dangerous opioid". Many substances, when abused due to faulty information, are dangerous. That should be no surprise for a public health agency.
My point is that there is a double standard at play here. Synthetic OTC drugs such as acetaminophen are consistent killers, as are tobacco and alcohol -- all regulated by the FDA -- but no big stink is made about these deaths because the decision-makers have received their "cut" and powerful, well-funded lobby groups defend them.
The FDA has had years to sit down and work with the kratom vendors to constructively assure that their products are as safe as can be, but they would rather find any excuse to cause localities, states, and the DEA to label and treat kratom as a Schedule 1 drug, with no consideration of the benefit it is providing for millions of Americans.
Unfortunately, this dispute seems to be "all about the money" and not about the right of Americans to obtain affordable natural and objectively safer herbs to improve their health & wellbeing.
When will Congress redirect the FDA and CDC priorities to serving the needs of the American people, rather than pleasing powerful industries?