America faces an opioid crisis: 78 people die daily of overdoses, which is four times as many as in 1999. That means that alternatives for pain that don’t have the same risks are urgently needed. And the possibility that kratom might help people leave their addictions behind makes it seem even more promising as a target for research. So many researchers are wondering why the DEA has chosen Schedule I, instead of a less-restrictive classification. "By restricting our research really you’re restricting the potential for discovery of compounds which could benefit patients who are severely ill," Mehta says.

On September 30, the plant, Kratom, which has been consumed in Southeast Asia as a tea or powder to remedy pain is going to be listed as a Schedule 1 drug because they (DEA) has linked 14 deaths related to it since 2014. Do you see the hypocrisy there? More people have died from pharmaceutical sponsored Schedule 1 drugs on a daily basis but since they're probably being paid off, let's make this plant illegal. The DEA or this administration needs to do what it promised years ago and wake up to alternative medicines.