OPINION:
The Food and Drug Administration wants the Drug Enforcement Agency to outlaw 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, a natural compound from the kratom plant used to manage chronic pain and other conditions. But the move wouldn’t just be misguided; it would destroy lives.
For me and thousands of other Americans, this is about whether we’re allowed to live without constant and debilitating pain.
Before 7-OH, my life was a loop of hospital visits, failed physical therapy and prescriptions with terrible and scary side effects. My days revolved around trying to prevent yet another flare-up. I wasn’t living; I was surviving as a prisoner to my chronic pain. I tried every “home” remedy, but nothing worked long-term.
In 2022, I was sat down and told I physically “couldn’t handle” my job. It was humiliating, devastating and at the time, true.
But then I found 7-OH. I expected it to be another disappointment. But the first day I took it was the last day I had an uncontrollable flare- up. After nearly two decades, I could take care of my kids, cook and even exercise again — all in the same day. I’ve enrolled in classes and started preparing for a new career. For the first time in years, I’m not just enduring. I am living, finally unshackled from the limitations to which chronic pain kept me chained.
Ban 7-OH, and that’s all gone. I’ll be shoved back into the same broken system that already failed me or forced toward far more dangerous options. And it won’t just be me.
I’m not asking for special treatment. I’m asking for the right to make my own choices about my health. If the government truly cares about people like me, it will keep 7-OH legal for adults, regulate it responsibly and let us live our lives.
BRANDI LANE
Kansas City, Missouri
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