Until recently, I had never heard of Kratom, a non-controlled herbal supplement being used as an opiod alternative for pain relief. But it seems that Kratom overdoses have caused more than 100 deaths over about the same time as vaping has been linked to 52 deaths.
Interesting that Kratom flies well under the radar, while vaping remains in the spotlight. Could it be because none of the big organizations attacking vaping have a financial or other vested interest in Kratom? Where is Big Tobacco when you need them?
P.S. Caffeine overdoses have also caused more deaths than vaping. Things that make you go, “Hummm.”
You are missing a great deal of the Kratom situation, then. Google is your friend. The FDA has been engaged in an escalating full fledged war upon it for some time now. The most authoritative source on Kratom (who is not aligned with the FDA and it’s minions) is:
Jane Babin; Ph.D., Esq. J.D., Univ of San Diego School of Law; Ph.D., Molecular Biology, Purdue Univ:
This commentary summarizes animal toxicology data, surveys and mortality data associated with opioids and kratom to provide a basis for estimating relative mortality risk. Population-level mortality estimates attributed to opioids as compared to kratom, and the per user mortality risks of opioids as compared to kratom are provided. By any of our assessments, it appears that the risk of overdose death is >1000 times greater for opioids than for kratom.
“The FDA Kratom Death Data: Exaggerated Claims, Discredited Research, and Distorted Data Fail to Meet the Evidentiary Standard for Placing Kratom as a Schedule I Controlled Substance”, Jane Babin (Mar 2018):
I think you’re missing the point the OP made, which is you don’t have to do a web search for all the attacks on vaping. Those are ubiquitous and virtually impossible not to know about. Everywhere you go, people of all ages and from all walks of life “know” that vaping is bad, dangerous, unhealthy and overall a public health crisis while at the same time, Kratom…isn’t that the planet Superman is from?
@Redcrown - duplicitous government and their propaganda arm duly noted!
I think it’s even crazier that all the deaths I know of involved vaping counterfeit thc carts, and outside the legal states everyone else loves attacking weed, but they continue to focus on vaping…to me that’s the biggest sign of fuckery in the whole situation
Raven-Knightly: You are correct, I’m missing a great deal of the Kratom situation. But as SthrnMixer said, that’s my point. I scan Yahoo news daily, a little bit of CNN, plus my local newspaper and TV station news, plus a small number of other special interest sites. That’s certainly what could be called the “50,000 foot view”, but I suggest it’s the view of the vast majority. Vaping news is in my face daily, while Kratom only recently showed up in one article.
Sources in defense of vaping have done a good job of suggesting a conspiracy theory that says the anti-vaping thrust is largely political and financial. Big tobacco and the states reaping the benefit of the old tobacco settlement have a lot to lose as vaping cuts tobacco sales. Organizations like American Cancer, American Lung and Tobacco Free this-and-that would likely go out of business if vaping wiped out smoking.
Nobody has such high stakes in the Kratom situation, yet Kratom appears to have a public health risk greater than vaping. To me, the relative lack of attention seems to support the conspiracy theory.
Indeed it is a shocking outrage that “two or more people” would endeavor to shuck and jive us to death in the naked interests of “master players” manipulating/exploiting the populace. Agitprop: arguably not “journalism”.
Be the first on your block to goose-step all the way to the cafeteria together with the Chemical Statist Moral Ninnie Bot Marching Band. Heaven forbid that children would grow up to think for themselves ! So very lame.
