The US House of Representatives just passed a bill called the “SITSA Act,” (which I will be linking in this journal) that is aimed at expanding the disastrous Drug War and vastly increasing the items on the list of Controlled Substances. It also gives sweeping enforcement powers to the Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. If passed, many currently legal substances, most of which are harmless, and some of which are highly beneficial, would be made illegal and punishable like any other drug. I am attaching the letter I wrote to my senators that clearly outlines my stake in this issue. I strongly advise everybody to contact their state senators and plead with them to reject this bill. Even if you don’t agree with my personal reasons for wanting it killed, increasing the size and scope of the War on Drugs is something everybody should want to avoid. It has been not only colossally ineffective, but it has been extremely expensive and has resulted in the incarceration of MILLIONS of non-violent offenders, sometimes for years or even decades in states with mandatory minimum sentences. Please, for the love of all that is good in this country, contact your senators and kill this bill.
P.S. Just to drive home how important this is, the new enforcement powers given to the Attorney General would make it feasible for the Federal Government to prosecute people for marijuana even in states where it has been legalized.

https://twitter.com/Albeon_Draken/s.....35282320773120

Bill:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th.....ext?format=txt

Letter:

Hello Senator,
I am contacting you out of concern for the SITSA Act that was just passed in the House of Representatives. The act would likely result in Kratom, a plant in the coffee family, to be scheduled as a controlled substance. The FDA has falsely been calling Kratom an "opioid" despite the fact that it does not have any opioid compounds in it. The plant does have some alkaloids that have SOME of the effects of opioids, notably analgesia, but it does not exhibit any of the respiratory depressing effects that make true opioids so dangerous. Many people, myself included, use Kratom as a safe, legal means of pain relief. I suffer from chronic pain. Over-the-counter medications like Acetaminophen and NSAIDs have little effect on me at safe dosages, and cannabis makes me violently I'll. Also, at 30 years of age, I am deemed "too young" to be offered more conventional pain management, as if the young are incapable of feeling pain. Right now, Kratom is the only thing that works for me. I know that my situation is mirrored by thousands of others across the country. Should Kratom be scheduled, I would find myself in the unenviable position of either seeking Government-funded disability to cover my greatly reduced capacity to work, or to seek a cure through more illicit means, such as heroin, a thought that frankly terrifies me. I firmly believe that making Kratom illegal will exacerbate the current opioid crisis, as those who use it to treat their chronic pain or to prevent relapse into their opioid addiction will be left with no recourse but illegal drugs. I therefore beg you to do everything in your power to try to block this bill in the Senate. Thank you for your time.