Making kratom a Schedule 1 drug serves to punish, not protect

The Iowa House of Representatives voted largely along party lines to ban the plant-based stimulant, kratom. The bill would classify kratom as a hallucinogenic Schedule I controlled substance, making it illegal to possess. A first offense would be a serious misdemeanor; a second offense would be an aggravated misdemeanor, and a third offense would be a class D felony. I voted “no.”