Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Health Professions
 
Board
Board of Pharmacy
 
chapter
Regulations Governing the Practice of Pharmacy [18 VAC 110 ‑ 20]
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6/5/24  8:47 pm
Commenter: Brandon Lanier

Please keep kratom legal and safe
 

My name is Brandon Lanier and this is my kratom story. In 2001 while serving in the United States Army Special Operations Command at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina, I was injured during a deployment to Egypt while preforming a night time Airborne Operation. I had the wind taken out of my parachute by a Cherry or new paratrooper and it didn’t reinflate until I was a few feet off the ground. I injured my knees and back and was eventually medically discharged a year and a half later. In that year and a half I was prescribed Tramadol, Vicodin and Percocet often at the same time. When I got out I stayed mentally and physically in pain and was very addicted to pain killers. Losing my dream of becoming a Special Forces Operator was crushing me. I was a functioning addict for a very long time but my mental state declined pretty bad over the years and the doctors had me on about 60 pills a day. Tramadol, Vicodin, Ritalin, Clonopins, Wellbutrin, Prozac, Prazosin, and Rexulti as well as a trial injection once a month. All these meds caused me to go into a severe psychosis. At the time I was in and out of the mental ward. My last trip in I had 9 rounds of electro convulsive therapy which erased at least a decade of my memory. When I got out my cousin, who was also a paratrooper in 82nd Airborne Division and is also an ER Nurse, had destroyed his knees and back as well while serving and he had found something that saved his life so he wanted to share it with me. He sent me a small bag of kratom tea. I took it first thing in the morning when I woke up the next morning. Within 15 minutes I knew I was never going to need to take another pill ever again. I stopped all of them that day five years ago and have never looked back. I was 100% on my way out before this life saving tea was introduced to me. This tea is a true miracle. Our community is a miracle. Through it I have learned so many other natural ways to heal. It is a true blessing. 

CommentID: 225509