I'm writing to keep kratom legal. I have used this amazing plant for almost 10 years. Because of this plant, I no longer had to receive prescription pain medication for my degenerative diac disease, which has left me with multiple herniated discs in my lower back. I was having to have my nerves along my spine burned, so my brain would not register the pain, as a preventative to surgery because I was in my very early 20s when this injury was found. As a now mother of two in my mid thirties, if I weren't able to use kratom to help with my pain I would have to resort back to prescription opiates and back surgery, which compared to drinking a cup tea in the evening and not affecting my overall life at all, to having to rely on pain medication and also hopes that I would Even have access to it, would be a much worse option in my mind. Please consider how many people are able to live a normal functioning life because of this plant and not having to rely of strong pharmaceuticals or worse surgery, simply to continue on with a somewhat normal life. I absolutely despise opiate medication as I have seen what it can do to people who don't abuse it, how easy it is to abuse, and how incredibly easy it is to have a prescription for a long time and then have it taken away abubtly and the person in pain and forced medical withdrawal having to resort to other options to simply live.