So kratom was allowed in Thailand (a bastion of science and good research, snark) in the 1940s?

Dean, I think you misread. Kratom was banned in the ’40s because it was cutting into the opium tax.

*danderous*?? It does not depress breathing like any other opiate/opiod. Dangerous? How? Can one overdose on it? I’ve heard tell that nausea kicks in way before any toxic dose is attained. I was trying to point out that scheduling the herb would halt research around it to provide a safer pain killer.

I guess you think *cannabis* is dangerous also.

Pretty indicative of Western Culture to look for a short cut cure to what is , IMHO, a deeper angst than either psychology OR chemistry can “fix” [see what I did there?] The present ‘crisis’ re opioids feels a bit like “OMG its white folks dying!” and rather ignores A] the crack epidemic amongst non whites for a few decades there B] the toll that booze takes [ more than all other illicit drugs combined last I looked] and C] we just might be seeing “a whimper, not a bang” response to all those living quiet, desperate lives….

In my 12 step group I call addiction a “rational response to an irrational universe” So. The past Week: A video of the POTUS from his days in Wrestlemania II. Best Korea pummeling the Pacific Ocean with another missile , the Phillipines enacting a law demanding enthusiastic singing of the national anthem and the NJ gov sitting his Bloaty McBloatface on a deserted beach as their govt shuts down…. ‘splain to me exactly WHY I should quit ingesting insanity producing chemicals?
[and yeah- I’m 20 yrs clean now . BFD]

I stabbed my finger once. Actually nearly tut the tip of the finger off. I stuck it back on and it reattached but it;s a bit misshapen.

And I didn’t die.

Odd that.

Uh, you ever heard of nicotine patches, JDK?

Tell me what, while I look for that book, you pick up a medical textbook on addiction physiology (pick opium if you like) and ask yourself how all these people who studied this for a century could have got it all wrong. Especially after all those trials and cases.

Because it’s either that or you have it wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ7J7UjsRqg

Opiates are truly physically addictive. How one gets to using an opium derivative (including heroin), how one deals with any ensuing addiction, probably how likely one is to become addicted or the speed of that process, may be related to the psychology or psychiatry of the situation.

As Wow points out, one can not make a simple sentence then substitute all the different drugs and things and have the sentence remain accurate or true (if it was to begin with).

Marijuana is almost all mental addiction.

Tobacco is a physical addiction. It’s nearly as addictive as heroin. The problems much less because smokes are fairly cheap and available just about everywhere.

And you know what a big reason for alcohol (and other substance) abuse is? Poverty and a crappy job. Escape the shithole your life is in by getting blasted. That and shagging.

There is nothing nefarious with the plan to put it through real tests, especially since there is nothing past anecdotes (read, stories and/or rumors) of its efficacy. This notion that “natural” items have been proved to work because they’ve been used for a long time is foolish, and dangerous — as foolish as the “big pharma” conspiracy crap.