An audio version of this interview can be found here. Dr. Marc Swogger is an associate professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Swogger is a social scientist and psychologist who studies substance use. He has co-authored multiple studies on the individual and public health effects of the use of …
Interview with Marc Swogger, University of Rochester social scientist Read More »
My guest is Andy Knowles. He is a Chief Gunners Mate who was recently kicked out of the United States Navy after a 15 year career, just for using kratom. Andy lives in Jacksonville Florida with his wife Stephanie. This is his kratom story… Music: Brendan Behan ” Who Fears to Speak of Easter Week …
16. The Navy’s Issue with Kratom… with Andy Knowles Read More »
My guest is Melody Woolf from Kalamazoo Michigan. Melody suffered from a number of conditions that gave her excruciating chronic pain including fibromyalgia and spinal stenosis. She was mostly home-bound and had to use a wheelchair, walker, and opiates to get her through the day. She discovered kratom six years ago and now walks, bikes, …
12. Learning How to Walk Again: Melody Woolf’s Kratom Story Read More »
UPDATED 3/5/2020***This post will be updated as kratom legislation develops With the new year comes new state legislative sessions. On the negative side, there are a few kratom ban bills. But more states are considering a Kratom Consumer Protection Act. I compiled this list of active state-level kratom bills to make my own research less …
Democratic State Senator Ronald Young has introduced SB147, a bill that would ban kratom in Maryland effective October 1, 2020. In a call to action surrounding a January 22 judiciary committee hearing on the bill, the American Kratom Association posted an easy contact form to help put Maryland residents in touch with key lawmakers. Maryland …
Bill to ban kratom to be considered by Maryland Judiciary Committee Read More »
Kratom consumers are being threatened in Mississippi. A task force made up of law enforcement officers is lobbying county and town councils in an effort to ban kratom. They are called the Lowndes County Crime and Addiction Task Force. Their efforts have resulted in bans in dozens of towns and counties, mostly in Northeast Mississippi. …
Last week on his podcast This Life You Live, celebrity addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky called chronic pain patients “borderline druggies” for seeking medical treatment in the form of pain medication. Not surprisingly, this angered thousands of chronic pain patients who are now struggling to receive proper treatment from their doctors in the aftermath of …
Dr. Drew trashes chronic pain patients as “borderline druggies” Read More »
In a recent article published in International Journal of Drug Policy, leading kratom researchers called on the FDA, DEA, and legislators to keep kratom legal, as placing kratom on Schedule 1 would impede research and cause damaging public health consequences. Authors included Chris McCurdy, Andrew Kruegal, Jack Henningfield, and the late Bonnie Avery (who passed …
Leading Kratom Scientists Call on FDA, DEA to Keep Kratom Legal Read More »
There is a pattern in American history of fear-based, reactionary policy to new drugs entering the culture. It goes like this: A fraction of the population starts to use the drug. The media hears about it. As comedian Gilbert Gottfried said of the media, “their job is to make a mouse fart sound like it’s …
