USA TODAY

Letter to the editor:

I’m a 46-year-old mom who recently started using kratom for back pain. It has worked so well, I haven’t taken a pain reliever since.

In researching kratom, I learned people use it for addiction recovery. So I quit drinking. Since I’m not drinking anymore, I’ve been able to focus on my yoga practice. The studio I practice at needs more teachers and I’ve enrolled in a course to become one. Kratom has set me on a different path. From chronically pained and alcohol-dependent, to yoga instructor.

Read more:Herbal drug kratom linked to almost 100 overdose deaths, CDC says

Now, kratom has downsides like anything else. It can be habit forming. But it has not been the main cause of death for over 100 as USA TODAY would have you believe. In the 91 cases where kratom was in the person’s system, other drugs were present in all but seven. On the other hand, hundreds of deaths can be attributed to aspirin every year. Many positive things carry risk. I think the benefits of kratom outweigh the risks.

Jennifer Cornforth; Kilauea, Hawaii

Ensure car safety with help from the DMV

Letter to the editor:

USA TODAY’s article “Car dealers won't fix fatal flaws,” on the failure of used auto dealers to fix safety defects before sale, highlights an important problem — there are millions of vehicles on the road with unrepaired safety defects. But our industry needs help in making sure owners know the vehicle has a lurking safety problem.

By law, automakers must fix those cars for free, and we willingly meet that obligation. The problem is that owners are not required to bring their cars in for repair, and when a used car is sold, the new owner may be unaware that the safety defect exists.

Related:You elected them to write new laws. They’re letting corporations do it instead.

As USA TODAY points out, used car dealers could be required to repair safety defects before selling them (it is illegal for our dealers to sell a new car with a defect). But many cars change hands in private transactions. Therefore, the best solution would be for Departments of Motor Vehicles to be required to refuse to register a vehicle with an outstanding recall until it is fixed. This benefits not just the new owner, but also any passengers in the car and other drivers and pedestrians sharing the road.

Also, when insurance companies send premium notices and invoices to their insureds, they should identify any outstanding recalls. The auto industry has developed a new tool that identifies the recall status of any vehicle. It’s free and can be programmed to produce the information in a matter of seconds.

Automakers want to fix defects. But we need help in finding and warning owners who may not be aware.

Rick Schostek, executive vice president of Honda North America; Torrance, Calif.

Ignore term, age limits. Let voters decide.

House Democrats recently met with Speaker Nancy Pelosi to discuss term limits for leadership positions. Comments are edited for clarity and grammar:

We do have term limits. The voters. If the voters in my state don’t have a problem with someone serving until they are 90, that’s up to us. Not anyone else. You could also make the argument that some people shouldn’t be serving at 50 while others can still be valuable at 80.

— Andy Hapka

Term limits should not be based on age. But the Supreme Court needs limits just like the executive branch! Fresh ideas and new ways of approaching issues are needed, and we need to eliminate the attitude of entitlement.

— Larry Holland

Talker:Impose term limits on our leaders, on the basis of age

Yes and yes to age restrictions and term limits. Two terms max for all representatives in government, not just at the federal level. And once you’ve done two terms, you can’t jump to another branch and do two more.

— Michael Quinn

Term limits mean we always have people with less experience, so that’s not a good idea. We complain when people stay in office, and assume that it results in corrupt politicians, but really we should be making the corruption illegal by stopping corporations from being able to donate to politicians at all.

— Mark Langman

That’s what the electorate is for. I would set term limits for judges and other offices for which the person isn’t elected but is appointed.

— Matthew Radican

Much respect to our elders, but the age limit is a great idea, as well as term limits regardless of age. Congress will act more often for what is right for the country, instead of focusing on keeping their jobs for as long as they can.

— Tom Lillis

So you want to further restrict the rights of voters? They don’t have to elect people for more than two terms. They do not have to elect them after a certain age. They choose freely to do so.

— John Adams

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