Drug Policy Liars Hurt Public Health And Safety, Kids

Hysterics and emotional performance do not help addicts.

SAM made a ridiculous fallacy on twitter:

Here is why this claim hurts evidence based policy decisions and damages SAM’s credibility:

• Kratom: ~5,200 detections (“involved”) in CDC SUDORS data across partial jurisdictions (32–43 states) 2020–2024. Most cases are polysubstance—fentanyl/opioids present in the vast majority. Pure kratom deaths are rare (earlier data: only ~7 of 152).
• Crack/cocaine: 3,466–6,057 cocaine-related deaths reported in just 25 major metro areas 1983–1988 (JAMA 1991, DAWN vs vital stats). National totals were low thousands/year at peak; total U.S. drug overdoses then were ~6k–10k annually vs ~80k–110k today.

“Linked to” = detected on tox, not primary cause. 1980s testing was spotty. Crack epidemic brought massive violence/addiction in cities. Kratom deaths remain a tiny share of current overdoses and are overwhelmingly tied to other drugs.

The SAM stat cherry-picks scope and ignores causation/context.

Kratom carries risks (dependence, especially extracts), but equating it to crack ignores the data.