Please do not ban kratom in Virginia. It is common sense that it helps with a multitude of issues, and is a safer alternative to prescription pain killers and opiates. It does not cause respiratory depression, and there is much less risk of overdose from kratom, unless it is combined with other substances.

Instead of outright criminalizing this natural substance with thousands of years of safe history, the state government should be looking towards doing studies to make it's use safer, and to help more people with chronic pain and substance use issues. 

It would be incredibly irresponsible to ban this substance in the midst of an overdose crisis that is killing thousands of Virginians every year. If you ban this substance, you are actively putting a gun in the hands of millions of people and pushing them into an unregulated black market. 

Do not make the same mistakes that were made decades ago with cannabis. You see how long it took to turn back on that right?