Kratom actually does not cause respiratory depression and there is doubt the powdered leaf (not concentrate) alone can causes death. It began to be used in place of opium in Malaysia starting in 1836. [1]

It has already been on the market in the US for many years. It was researched by Smith, Kline & French (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline) and one of its alkaloids was patented in 1963. [2] It is aiding people in quitting opiates/heroin and is much easier to withdraw from.

Companies sell it as botanical specimens, soap ingredients, and generally label it as not for human consumption and consumers understand what they are getting. There has not been a problem, aside from the contamination with O-desmethyltramadol and consumers mixing drugs. In fact, the CDC reported only one death in six years involving kratom, as well as paroxetine and lamotrigine. There are 16 deaths where kratom has been found in autopsy reports and 14 in the scientific literature. [3]

Regulation is important. Users should be able to know that the product they are buying is safe and would probably like to know the alkaloid content, the same way marijuana strains are tested. Schedule 1 is not appropriate for this plant. It is going to encourage synthetic alkaloid production. In fact, PZM21 is being synthesized to be able to curb addiction without respiratory issues. [4] While this is great for addiction treatment, it is unfortunate that kratom will not be available for those who use it in place of opiates.

If you are interested in the research that is available, someone has uploaded it all here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B_SMhCuwVcKjZWxS...

1. http://gradworks.umi.com/15/87/1587128.html

2. https://www.google.com/patents/US3324111

3. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2016/09/01/the-deas-...

4. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/natu...

In case it gets removed, here are individual links to the research:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23725528

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23024321

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20869223

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23846544

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24314525

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25216455

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25616583

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25825913

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3419199

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22133323

https://www.google.com/patents/US8648090

https://www.google.com/patents/US8247428

https://www.google.com/patents/US20100209542

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268515893_Marketing...

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268183866_Molecular...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10428019

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3202507/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22018854

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18482427

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11419-009-0070-5

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25950592

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19536806

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19294483

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17882605

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25081682

http://gradworks.umi.com/15/87/1587128.html

http://www.americankratom.org/science