As 23ABC News has reported previously, the DEA has added kratom to their schedule one list of classified illegal drugs.
Kratom is derived from a plant that is native to Southeast Asia. The tree has bitter leaves that are consumed later on in either a pill or powder form. People use it for a variety of reasons such as mood uplifting, fatigue, pain, and has been said to serve as an alternative for heroin addicts.
Tommy Marsh is a father who lives in Bakersfield. He struggles with severe back pain due to his osteoporosis and sciatica. He had been taking prescription medication for about 10 years, until he had become resistant to the drugs.
After consultation with his doctor, Tommy decided to follow the route of kratom on his own. He says there is no cure to what he has now, but kratom has made the pain tolerable enough for him to be able to play with his eight-year-old daughter, something he wasn't able to do before.
Tommy has been taking kratom for 3 years now and says that the complications he has had before like kindey stones, are all but gone.
When he heard the DEA was going to be making kratom illegal. He couldn't believe it.
Tommy says he is scared looking into the future because he thought he had finally found a remedy for his pain. He knows his decision to continue taking kraptom is not an option for him after this month, because it will be considered a felony.
He says that he is already looking into other options in order to live with the pain. The only thing he knows for a fact, is he isn't going backward in regard to his pain.
