Well, in a few days it will be Sept. 30 and what some of you may know, and most likely many of you will not, is that the Drug Enforcement Agency has banned kratom and classified it as a Schedule I drug, the same classification as heroin. 

Now, I personally never bought kratom and have only read a few of the negative effects, though none comparing to that of heroin. My issue is how has the DEA been able to ban yet another product people bought and yet so many other violent crimes have little alteration for their consequences?

If anyone remembers, in July of 2012, many of the chemicals in bath salts were made illegal. I know that the reasoning of this made sense, distinguished sons of high governmental officials have died from a bath salt overdose. 

It’s the aftermath of using officials to crack down on those who may try to use kratom or distribute it that concerns me. 

For example, I worked at a gas station that sold bath salts. The day before they became “technically” illegal, the owner did exactly as he should have. He took the product off the shelves and destroyed it all. The next day, the police raided the gas station looking through the entire store, including any nook and cranny that may have been blocked and they found nothing. The news stations were outside, cameras rolling, and in all honesty, as most mainstream media does, were hoping for the worst, that the owner would get busted. I truly believe that they were disappointed that he wasn’t , and this didn’t make for a good “story,” a whole other issue in itself. 

I understand why some, key on some, drugs are illegal. I mean they don’t call it dope for nothing. But, at the end of the day, I would much rather have people buying kratom than going to find heroin in an area of town that they may never return from. 

Also, if the DEA keeps banning every little thing that may cause a side effect, then people are going to do the only thing they can do. Either start smoking more cigarettes or buying more alcohol.  

Cigarettes aside, in some instances alcohol is worse than some of these supposed dangerous chemicals that are being banned. And yet, once you’re 21, alcohol is starting to be the only thing one can get without having to worry about being arrested and ruining the rest of their life. 

For me, let people do what they want to do in their homes as long as they aren’t harming other people. Let them go buy “banned” chemicals, I’m okay. Better than all the people that buy alcohol from various gas stations and then open it on the way to their car or leave their house to get more. 

Plus, I would much rather the money used for any type of governmental agency be used for other purposes than cracking down on people who may have kratom after Sept. 30.

Find a way to use those resources to make the punishment of those that commit rape and murder much worse. Those police officers that may search houses for kratom, have them go and stop those people stalking other people outside their houses. Work towards stopping human trafficking over a ban on kratom. We have more important issues in this world than working towards banning chemicals that may cause a tad bit of internal damage and the people using these chemicals, I am sure they know the risk. I’d rather hear on the news that we saved five people from the bonds of sex slavery over hearing the news say that 20 people were arrested for the possession of kratom which will only increase the population in an already overpopulated prison system.