I came across kratom in my outdoor decorating business seven or eight years ago. I am not pro drugs per se however I did grow up in the '80s during the say no to all drugs era. I've seen first-hand what drugs like heroin and alcohol can do to people. I luckily do not have any dependence issues or addictions towards substances in general. However, I have witnessed my share of people who suffer from addiction to alcohol and opiates who have received benefits from kratom. I personally use it only as a tool for hard work. More or less like a cup of coffee. Although it's effects are different from caffeine. For me it is beneficial for long duration endurance work and has helped me grow my business and my productivity with certainty. I have never used it to any degree of developing great tolerance and would be very disappointed if it was criminalized. Where are all the statistics of horrible things happening to people from kratom? I use kratom about 60 to 90 days a year. Maybe a total of three to five grams a day. Once I stop, there is a few day where I notice a little drop in my moods while my body recalibrates. Within a week everything is back to normal. I also experienced this when I cut back on caffeine. The compounds in Kratom aren't that different from caffeine and alkaloids that are in coffee. Until there are statistics supporting serious societal issues like what's going on with fentanyl and what has happened in the past with methamphetamine, crack and cocaine, criminalizing kratom in Virginia is an unnecessary overreach in government power.