Most modern nations accept opiate substitution therapy (OST) as the most effective way to treat opiod addiction. The entire premise of OST is that you substitute a bad opiate for a "less bad" opiate - and Kratom is looking like one of the best "least bad" candidates we've ever seen.
Nobody is delusional about the effects of Kratom or downsides - all drugs have downsides. I've never seen it mentioned or recommended outside of opiate substitution and for opiate addicts - it has no value as a recreational drug.
Your first paragraph I completely agree, Kratom is promising to be safer than the leading opiate substitution medicines (ie methadone)
But
> it has no value as a recreational drug.
is completely wrong. See the erowid page [1].
Some of the positive effects (Simultaneous stimulation & sedation, Feelings of euphoria, Useful with physical labor,
Low doses can result in a lasting "glow" in some people, increases sociability and talkativeness) have high recreational value. Personally I find it great as an alternative to harsher stimulants for getting a lot of work done.
You're right - it's not "no value" it is "little value" - altho of the people I know who have used kratom to get off stronger painkillers all referred to a natural tapering effect that kratom has where you don't want to keep taking it outside of withdrawal
Seems that for some people the downsides of kratom outweigh the positives outside of treating withdrawal.
Do you think it's the Subutex and Methodone manufacturers using legal muscle since they can't patent and monopolize this alternative? Reckitt Benckiser, maker of Suboxone has fought hard against generics being available.
I will save my criticism of the moral implication of such a position because the English language doesn't provide me enough words to express it.
Think if Reckitt had any sway they'd want loosening of the restrictions on doctors to prescribe suboxone. Currently only 10,000 of the 800,000 doctors in the USA are prescribing suboxone - wait lists are long and the per-doctor cap is rising very slowly.
Yeah, those restrictions are a completely insufficient response to the growing problems.
I had a friend fighting heroin addiction live on my couch for a year while I tried using my money and time to help him through.
The biggest problems (now we are getting off topic) are
* lack of recovery groups for atheists. The conventional twelve step programs claim they'll work for atheists but the act of faith plays such a crucial and fundamental role, that someone who is faithless really won't work in the program.
* an unspoken internal conflict of process. Institutions of rehab strongly disagree on methodology and there's this culture where most seem to have one elaborate and very specific process. Using multiple resources can be mutually exclusive and impossible.
* rehab in general is structured terribly. The reality is that someone serious about recovery ends up living with a bunch of strangers who may not be. It's like a zombie movie, one bad apple can spoil the bunch. There has to be a better way.
* a lack of reliable or convenient access to medication. These people know how to get street drugs. When they have to travel 30 miles and show up between 6 and 7:30 am to get methadone while heroin is an SMS away and gets delivered, there's a problem.
>Nobody is delusional about the effects of Kratom or downsides
Not true. There are many articles being written in the same spirit as the Washington Post. They are using a headline to discourage caution because something is a plant - that's false and delusional.
Nobody is delusional about the effects of Kratom or downsides - all drugs have downsides. I've never seen it mentioned or recommended outside of opiate substitution and for opiate addicts - it has no value as a recreational drug.