He discovered the herbal product when he couldn't find relief from doctors and while waiting for surgeries. Scared at first, he "started small", but then took more until his pain went away.
"It was like a miracle," Deaver said. "I could sleep. I could function.
"I just don't know what I'd do without it."
This week, investigators found packaged kratom in the possession of two deceased University of Mississippi students. Although their deaths were not attributed to kratom, officials are now issuing warnings about its consumption. [ed. See the connection? Me neither.]
For years, anti-kratom advocates have pushed for bans, and in some countries, like the UK, it's illegal. But Kratom is not regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration and is legal in some states, including Mississippi.
Here's what we know about it:
What is kratom?
Kratom is a tree that is native to Southeast Asia in countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
It's been used for centuries for its stimulant properties, grounded and consumed similar to tea.
As its popularity spread around the globe, it entered the US market as a supplement around 2016.
"That's really where the problems began," said Dr Shane Speights, dean of the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University.
In the US kratom is mostly sold in highly concentrated forms either via pill, powder or liquid, Speights said.
It's also widely available - found everywhere from convenience stores and petrol stations to vape shops.
Also, because of the supplement classification, kratom products are not federally regulated.
"There's no way to know exactly what you're getting," Speight said. "You could go and create something in your basement, market it as a supplement, and nobody's really going to check and see what's in it."
What is kratom used for?
Kratom is often marketed as a safe, natural herbal supplement that helps with pain management, anxiety and depression.
In lower doses, its stimulant properties create a "caffeine-kind of buzz", Speights explained.
Because of its opioid-like effects, it has also been used with the goal of curbing addictions to actual opioids like fentanyl.
Those properties stem from the way the plant's compounds - like 7-Hydroxymitragynine - activate various hormones, including dopamine.
Image: Getty
[ed. More DEA stupidity. They've made it nearly impossible to get pain relief prescriptions from doctors now so people are turning to supplemental alternatives. However, anything that has an "opioid-like" effect is considered suspect by the DEA and proposed for regulation under the same Scheduling category as heroin, LSD and fentanyl (Schedule 1) - even if there's no, or little health evidence to support it. The same thing is happening with tianeptine, an anti-depressant that's been marketed in Europe and Latin America for decades (and also conveniently described as "gas station heroin"). Why not just put all gas stations under Schedule 1 restrictions. The DEA "whack-a-mole" strategy has never worked in the past and will never work in the future. The more you restrict something, the less oversight you have, the more impediments to scientific research you create, and the more opportunities for new markets to arise that are frequently worse (eg. fentanyl). For the same reason that we've been forced to remove our shoes at airports for years (because of one creative shoe bomber), various beneficial drugs are being restricted for everyone because of a few abusers. Insanity. See also: Rights and Reason Project.]
