stories

I am a 32 year old single father of two wonderful children, and I was an opiate addict for 15 years. They were the hardest years of my life and left me with crippling anxiety and depression. I was a functioning addict for many of those years, able to keep a 3.8 GPA in high school which earned me a spot in the National Honor Society and I had plans to become a writer and a professor. My dream was to share my love for history, literature, and poetry with my students in the classroom and people all over the globe through my writing. I grew up in Southwest Virginia which, as many of you know, was ground zero for the opiate epidemic in this country. I tried OxyContin for the first time at 14 years old and was quickly hooked, as were almost all of my close friends. We were operating in a world which we were far too young to comprehend the profound danger we were in. To the people around me I was a successful and bright student with a world full of possibility within my grasp. But inside I was quickly becoming a hopeless addict whose main agenda was to find my next fix. I graduated high school and was accepted to multiple universities and colleges, enrolling at Old Dominion University, and it was here that my life quickly began to unravel. Drugs became my sole priority, people that I knew and loved started to die or go to jail. I withdrew from school and transferred to a college closer to home, but this only made things worse because opiates were everywhere in the Roanoke Valley. Heroin and fentanyl started to emerge on the scene around this time and the government had cracked down on prescription opiates, so I quickly transitioned into a full-time heroin addict. Over the course of the next ten years I would overdose around 7 times, crash multiple vehicles, and go to jail multiple times. I also started to try and get clean around this time; I just knew I had enough and didn’t want to die like so many of my friends and acquaintances. I tried inpatient programs, suboxone, and methadone programs, all of which failed; I always ended up using again. I started using kratom around this time and finally found something that allowed me to live a fairly normal life, although I had become overwhelmed with anxiety and depression due to years of opiate use. My mind felt like my greatest enemy, which was incredibly disheartening because my mind had always been my great escape—the intellect which had provided me with so many opportunities as a young man had turned against me, filling me with depression, regret, and an inescapable anxiety which made each and every day a waking nightmare. My family wasn’t enough, my beautiful children weren’t enough; I was living in a world of dull black and white, all the vibrant color of life had faded away. I would always make it six months or a year or two with kratom, but would inevitably relapse, burning whatever progress I had made to the ground. It was during a relapse last year that I became aware of 7-hydroxymitragynine. I decided to try some and it has been one of the best decisions of my entire adult life. I am able to function each day without all the depression and anxiety, able to live a life without the constant craving in the back of my mind for opiates. 7-OH has been a miracle for me, and for my family. I am that happy-go-lucky young man again, full of life and wonder at the world. Motivated to chase my dreams again for the first time in over a decade. My love for life has been restored. I’m writing again, pursuing my hobbies and passions again, living a productive, healthy lifestyle. I have regained my life and sense of self. All these things seemed unimaginable just a few short years ago. How could something that has had such a positive impact on so many people be a bad thing? 7-OH may not be for everyone, and that’s fine, which is why education is so important, but for people like me, whose lives were destroyed by opiates, 7-OH and kratom offer a crucial, life-saving alternative which has the potential for harm reduction like we have never seen. How many more hundreds of thousands of lives need to end needlessly before we recognize alternatives like these are not just important—they are essential.

My name is Niko Hasapoglou, and I am writing as a proud, tax-paying Floridian, a husband, a father, and a small-business owner. I am urgently calling on you to stop the prohibition of 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) in Florida, and instead, pursue sensible regulation, not criminalization. 7-OH literally gave me my life back. For chronic neck pain and carpal tunnel, I rely on it daily in a maintenance regimen that allows me to be fully present at home and at work. It empowered me to finally escape the cycle of prescription pain medications—a victory that had eluded me for years. For more than a decade, I struggled with kratom, which brought severe side effects—vomiting, stomach distress—and ultimately ceased to work. In contrast, 7-OH has reliably managed my pain without adverse health effects. It’s not exaggeration to say that it restored my quality of life. Criminalizing 7-OH will devastate everyday Floridians like me. Regulation is absolutely warranted to ensure safety and consistent quality. But making responsible users into criminals is not the answer. At the Tampa press conference, I was alarmed to hear no accurate, fact-based information about 7-OH presented—even though it boasts a far superior safety record compared to kratom, and has contributed to reducing deaths during the opioid crisis. It’s deeply disheartening that this decision seems based on incomplete or inaccurate data, especially when over one million Americans use 7-OH responsibly—including tens of thousands right here in Florida. We deserve truth, not fear. We deserve regulated access, not prohibition. Banning 7-OH threatens lives, undermines our well-being, and ignores the community that relies on it. Kratom sickened me, opioids can kill, but 7-OH helped rebuild me. Don’t take away my chance for a normal life. I urge you to protect the Floridians who count on 7-OH, and please opt for regulation instead of outright prohibition. Thank you for your time and consideration.

I never set out to become dependent on opiates. It started with an injury — the kind you think will heal quickly — and a prescription that seemed harmless. The pills worked at first. They dulled the pain, made me feel like I could function again. But they also started whispering promises: just one more and you’ll feel okay. Weeks turned into months. My tolerance climbed. I wasn’t taking them for the pain anymore — I was taking them because my body demanded it. And when I tried to stop, the withdrawals hit like a freight train: chills, muscle cramps, restlessness, and a crushing depression that made every hour feel like an eternity. I didn’t want this life. But I also didn’t know how to walk away from it without drowning in withdrawal. That’s when I heard about kratom. At first, I was skeptical — another plant claiming to help? But I was desperate enough to try. I read everything I could, and one name kept coming up in the research: 7-hydroxymitragynine. It was described as one of kratom’s key alkaloids, interacting with the same receptors in the brain as opiates — but without the same destructive spiral. I found a reliable source, started low, and waited. Within an hour, I felt… normal. Not high. Not sedated. Just… human again. The aches quieted, the restless crawling under my skin eased, and for the first time in years, I thought: I can do this. It wasn’t magic. There were still rough days, and I had to be careful not to swap one dependency for another. But 7-hydroxymitragynine gave me something I hadn’t had in a long time — breathing room. It softened the withdrawal’s claws, gave me the strength to face each day without the pills that had held me captive. Months later, I was completely off opiates. The fog had lifted. My energy returned. I could laugh again, make plans again, live again. Kratom didn’t just help me quit — it helped me remember who I was before opiates. And for that, I’ll always be grateful. -Sean

I’m 34 years old, but I feel like a hard 70. I had a posterior spine fusion from C2-T3 on June 19, 2024. I’m on the books for another surgery in August, fusing T3-L1. Needless to say, Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is PAINFUL! Pain management is honestly a nightmare. I was never even prescribed a medication; instead, I was made to do injections. Those injections never helped me, but they made my doctor plenty of money. I stopped going to pain management completely! I call myself a “couch-nurse” because I am an LPN, but the pain is so severe that I cannot work right now. I’m hoping this next surgery stabilizes my spine so I can return to work. Without 7OH, I only looked forward to sleeping. Taking 7OH gave me hope! Finally, my pain level was down to a manageable amount!

I had back pain unresolved by prescription meds, ie Oxy, Vicodin and such. So a friend of mine recommended trying Kratom. I found the taste horrible (powdered leaf) but the pain still was less after a few scoops of powdered red. Specifically 1886 Red. I started building an immunity to it, so I increased to five scoop. Scoops = the little plastic scoops they include in the bottle) For a time as unpleasant the taste, it knocked out the pain. I started with a google search for concentrated Kratom. And finally arrived at 7OS. It was great. Improved pain relief. It was so concentrated,(powdered leaf), it took 3 days to finally exit my system. I read the warnings and considered the klonopin I was prescribed for RLS, and through testing arrived at a 50 mg tab in the morning and a 50 mg tab + my 2MG of klonopin at night. I have been able to stick to it for the last 6 months. I have been continuously experimenting with vendors and flavors. But what works for me, might not work for you, so the story is just my experience with it (condensed). I have read all the horror stories along the way, and practicing some self control has worked for me. Good luck on your journey.

My name is Haley Pryor, a 27 year old women finishing college and working full time to create a better life for myself and my loved ones. Years ago, I was nowhere near the well rounded and functional young American that I am proud to be today. I fought a long battle with addiction as well as severe anxiety and depression. My problems with addiction began when I was only 17, after taking opiates for the first time as prescribed by my doctor for a procedure. Traditional treatment methods were tried extensively, however I was met with stigma and lack of understanding from the medical community. My family was scammed by a predatory rehab that was more interested in making money than getting people help. The state detox was poorly run, dirty, and underfunded. Suboxone gave me unbearable side effects, and methadone is too difficult to access since I can’t make it to wait in line at a clinic every morning and keep my job. Thanks to 7-hydroxymitragynine, mitragynine, and kratom, I have found a comparatively safe, non toxic, and effective alternative that allows me to lead a healthy life. I believe adult Americans should have the right to use informed consent to choose what we want to put in our bodies. 7oh has shown to be non toxic and has helped so many people rid themselves from dangerous opiates such as fentanyl. 7oh is a brilliant form of harm reduction for those of us who are unable to use traditional MAT medications. Please do not take this from us.

7OH has been a life saver for me. I am a chronic pain patient, and with the climate of our healthcare system and indoctrinated doctors, they treat you like a criminal because you want to live a pain-free life. It’s truly a sad thing. They make you feel like you’re on probation with monthly visits and urine screening, and God forbid you need your dose higher! Then you’re an addict in their eyes. With 7OH, I am able to live a completely pain-free life. I’m able to work, play with my kids, and go hiking! If they take 7OH away from us, there are going to be millions of people just like me who will have to go back to prescription pain pills or, even worse…the streets. Overdose cases have plummeted since people have switched to 7OH; people have been able to get off hard drugs and even quit alcohol. -Jay

My story begins in 2017 when I was 23 years old. I had just graduated from college, got engaged, and then in August of that year my father passed away suddenly. It put me in such a dark place mentally and emotionally that when around the same time my doctor prescribed me Oxycodone for my scoliosis/back pain I got hooked. Of course eventually the scripts were not enough due to tolerance and I’m sure you know how the rest of the story goes. Fast forward years later after overdosing on Fentanyl EIGHT times and going through multiple detoxes the smoke shop where I bought my vape stuff told me about 7OH. I tried it and have not used street drugs since (coming up on two years now). The best part about 7OH is that unlike prescription opioids I have not had the need to increase the amount I take since I started. For some reason tolerance has not been an issue for me and therefore it’s an affordable way to manage my back issues alongside chiropractic care and a workout regime. My job is very physically demanding and if it wasn’t for 7OH there is no way I would be able to do the work I love. I’ve never had an adverse reaction, medical issue, or side effect from 7OH and I buy from reputable vendors that provide lab reports. I’m begging you to not ban this substance. Alcohol causes far more harm to people compared to 7OH and taking it away would lead to a multitude of deaths. 7OH saved my life and if you can continue to allow it hundreds of more lives will be saved everyday. -Patricia

I never set out to become dependent on opiates. It started with an injury — the kind you think will heal quickly — and a prescription that seemed harmless. The pills worked at first. They dulled the pain, made me feel like I could function again. But they also started whispering promises: just one more and you’ll feel okay. Weeks turned into months. My tolerance climbed. I wasn’t taking them for the pain anymore — I was taking them because my body demanded it. And when I tried to stop, the withdrawals hit like a freight train: chills, muscle cramps, restlessness, and a crushing depression that made every hour feel like an eternity. I didn’t want this life. But I also didn’t know how to walk away from it without drowning in withdrawal. That’s when I heard about kratom. At first, I was skeptical — another plant claiming to help? But I was desperate enough to try. I read everything I could, and one name kept coming up in the research: 7-hydroxymitragynine. It was described as one of kratom’s key alkaloids, interacting with the same receptors in the brain as opiates — but without the same destructive spiral. I found a reliable source, started low, and waited. Within an hour, I felt… normal. Not high. Not sedated. Just… human again. The aches quieted, the restless crawling under my skin eased, and for the first time in years, I thought: I can do this. It wasn’t magic. There were still rough days, and I had to be careful not to swap one dependency for another. But 7-hydroxymitragynine gave me something I hadn’t had in a long time — breathing room. It softened the withdrawal’s claws, gave me the strength to face each day without the pills that had held me captive. Months later, I was completely off opiates. The fog had lifted. My energy returned. I could laugh again, make plans again, live again. Kratom didn’t just help me quit — it helped me remember who I was before opiates. And for that, I’ll always be grateful. – Sean

My name is Electra. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia since I was 19 years old. I have had spinal issues since I was 16 from abuse and my medical diagnoses are Lumbar radiculopathy, Inflammation of sacroiliac joint, Myositis, Lumbosacral spondylosis without myelopathy, Spinal stenosis of lumbar region, Intervertebral disc disorder all L4-S1. As well as mild broad disc intrusions at L4-L5 and L5-S1 descending into the right S1 Nerve Root at L5-S1 Level. I also suffer from Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, generalized anxiety, Borderline Personality Disorder and a misplaced jaw. I also currently have tricompartmental osteoarthritis on both my left and right knee. About 4 years ago I also unfortunately acquired Complex Regional Pain Syndrome which is actually the most painful disorder in medical knowledge at a level 46/50 on the McGill Pain Scale. This is just simply everything I’ve had currently tested and most chronic pain doctors don’t take me because of how complex my situation is. I suppose I can understand to an extent but this shows you that care within the chronic pain field is near and far between and the FDA actually prohibits their doctors to provide adequate pain management because they can get into legal repercussions. My original doctor of 12 years told me with a severely frightened expression. The only form of opiates I get for all of this is 30mg Tramadol. Despite my doctor knowing this does nothing to help me because I verbally tell her every month I see her. And because of opiates, chronic pain patients cannot reach to alternative methods like cannabis or they will be dropped as a patient. 7oh has made me be able to go out on dates with my children and my husband. To enjoy vacations and shopping. Heck, to even be able to take a shower standing up — which a lot of people don’t know is actually a wonderful privilege. If 7oh were to be banned, my health and my ability to live a normal life would no longer exist.