I’m a US general surgeon and I believe it would be a good idea to make Kratom illegal

I’ve been a surgeon for nearly 10 years at a major hospital in the US. <br><br>I also work closely with various emergency departments in my district (I live in a major US city). <br><br>Over the last 4-5 years I’ve seen Kratom abuse explode. I have personally done over 1000 operations on kratom addicts where their small bowel and colon have rotted from the inside out due to Kratom abuse. <br><br>The operations are horrific, the bowel is black and rotted and it smells like death. We have to remove large sections of bowel because of it. I’ve had Kratom addicts die on the table during the operation. <br><br>I’ve seen Kratom addicts end up with permanent bags because their small bowel is dead and was removed. <br><br>I’ve seen a Kratom abusers bowel rupture on the table during an unrelated surgery. The patient died because of it (the patient didn’t inform us of their Kratom abuse). <br><br>I’ve seen Kratom addicts require permanent feeding tubes because their bowels are dead. <br><br>I’ve seen kratom addicts have to have their anus removed because their rectum rotted and we couldn’t fix it. <br><br>I have literally seen thousands of kratom related cases coming through the ER. Most of these people end up dying or having a permanent disability from their Kratom abuse. <br><br>There is a Kratom store on every corner here because of unregulated advertisements. Children can buy it (and do) with no restrictions. It is a terrible, Satanic drug that should be banned. <br><br>I have reached the point where I think Kratom is as bad (if not worse) as Meth. <br><br>Kratom is the devil’s drug.<br><br>Edit: 1. I am not the poster above this is my first post. <br><br>2. I am NOT saying that everyone who uses Kratom will have this happen to them, but from my experience, it appears nearly all chronic long term abusers end up have serious problems.