October 12, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ANALYSIS: REPORTS OF NEW YORK AND FLORIDA “KRATOM DEATHS”
ARE UNSUPPORTED BY FACTS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – October 12, 2017 – Medical examiners and coroners in two New York and Florida deaths erred when they attributed the cause of death in both cases to the non-opioid, coffee-like botanical kratom, according to an independent analysis issued today by a molecular biologist and lawyer.
The report commissioned by the American Kratom Association (AKA) is available online at http://bit.ly/KratomAnalysis.
The new analysis debunks false claims about kratom made in connection with the deaths of police Sgt. Matthew Dana in Tupper Lake, New York, and Christopher Waldron in Hillsborough County, Florida.
The report by lawyer and molecular biologist Jane K. Babin, PhD, molecular biology, Purdue University, and JD, University of San Diego School of Law, concludes: “Both of these cases appear to add to the long list of mistaken, inaccurate, and now discredited reports implicating kratom … Because so many questions surrounding Sgt. Dana’s death remain unanswered, any reasonable person should refrain from drawing conclusions on the role of kratom or mitragynine in his death until full autopsy and toxicology reports are made available to the public ….”
In shifting to the Florida death report, the Babin report concludes: “[T]here is precedent for the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner getting it wrong in high profile cases. It singled out a more controversial substance (cocaine) as the cause of the heart disease that killed OxiClean pitchman, Billy Mays, despite finding painkillers, anti-anxiety drugs and alcohol in his system at the time of his death. A second autopsy, commissioned by the family, demonstrated that ‘the autopsy specimens and findings were not consistent with the cardiac conditions normally observed in a person chronically using cocaine’ and concluded that cocaine was not the cause of Mr. Mays’ death. Based on the totality of circumstances, any reasonable person could be confident that kratom did not kill Christopher Waldron any more than cocaine killed Billy Mays.”
In discussing the Dana and Waldron cases in more detail, Dr. Babin noted: “Let’s first look at the death of Sgt. Matthew Dana of Tupper Lake, New York. Death from hemorrhagic pulmonary edema (HPE) is rare and has never been reported in conjunction with kratom use in humans or animals. In this case, the coroner and medical examiner erred in not analyzing blood for substances other than opioids and narcotics including cocaine and anabolic steroids, which could have caused the death. Medical literature does provide links between the use of anabolic steroids and hemorrhagic pulmonary edema. No such literature exists to link kratom to that condition.”
Dr. Babin continued: “The second case involved Christopher Waldron, Hillsborough County, Florida. Waldron died with mitragynine, a potentially toxic amount of citalopram, and cyclobenzaprine (which is contraindicated in combination with citalopram) in his blood. Both of these prescription medicines contain specific warnings required in FDA labeling that, if used in combination, can cause coma and even death. Mr. Waldron also had left ventricular hypertrophy, an enlarged liver, and thyroid disease, which may have contributed to his death.”
Babin’s specialty areas include biotechnology, molecular biology, biochemistry, immunology, pharmaceuticals, genomics, pharmacogenomics, proteomics, and related law.
Toxicologist Karl V. Ebner, PhD, consultant, KETox Forensic Toxicology Consulting, Okemus, MI., said: “While I did not author this report, I have had the opportunity to review it. And what I see here are very troubling indications that these deaths may have been incorrectly attributed to kratom in the face of other causes, including possible anabolic steroid use in one case and contraindicated prescription medication(s) interactions that could kill on their own. These families are owed the best evidence about what happened to their loved ones, not what would appear to be some conclusions that are incompletely supported by the current evidence.”
Dr. Ebner was formerly forensic toxicologist, Toledo Metro Drug Unit and senior scientist, Abbott Laboratories. He is the author of depositions, reports and opinions in numerous drug- and alcohol-related legal cases.
Dave Herman, chair, board of directors, American Kratom Association, said: “Last year, the DEA tried to demonize kratom. In 2017, the kratom community finds itself in the same situation all over again: a new year … and a new unwarranted attack on kratom. This time, we are being told that two deaths were supposedly the result of kratom use. Let me be very clear about this: We do not believe that kratom caused these deaths. That’s what the science tells us. And superficial and less than thorough examinations and suggestions to the contrary – as in these two cases – do not change the facts. Given that there are millions of kratom consumers in the U.S., if this botanical was dangerous it would stand to reason that there would be thousands … or even tens of thousands of deaths … and that is absolutely not the case.”
The Babin report is far from being the first analysis to dismiss the notion of kratom posing a danger to consumers. According to a comprehensive analysis issued in December 2016, kratom has not been linked to any known deaths and has little potential for abuse and dependence – as low or lower than such widely used (and federally unscheduled substances) as “nutmeg, hops, St. John’s Wort, chamomile, guarana, and kola nut.” (See http://bit.ly/Henningfieldreport and related comment letter at http://bit.ly/akacomments.)
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October 9, 2017
STATEMENT ON STATUS OF SUSAN ASH
WITH THE AMERICAN KRATOM ASSOCIATION
Susan Ash, founder of the American Kratom Association (AKA), has recently made public statements that have created confusion among AKA supporters regarding her current status with the organization.
Ms. Ash served as a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the AKA from its founding in 2014, and continued until she submitted her resignation both as Chairman and as a member of the Board of Directors on May 25, 2017. Ms. Ash communicated this resignation in writing, and attributed her resignation to negative comments and accusations of financial mismanagement by several critics that appeared on various social media platforms.
In a public announcement of her resignation made on May 26, 2017, Ms. Ash stated that:
"AKA has been focused on a transition to a management team and board with the skill set needed to manage a growing nonprofit engaged in a major issue area. We will be announcing those changes in the coming weeks. I am convinced that this is the right move to make for AKA and kratom. I am going to continue to provide my advice and counsel, even as others take over the reins of running the organization.
I can be more effective as an advisor and board chair emeritus of the American Kratom Association than I can as the board chair and as a board member who is responsible for the day‐to‐day running of the Association."
Upon her resignation and these public statements, it was incumbent upon Ms. Ash to relinquish control over AKA resources, follow Board directives and seek Board approval prior to taking actions or making commitments on behalf of the AKA.
Ms. Ash was then offered a paid position to serve as the National Spokesperson for the AKA on the premise that the allegations about financial mismanagement with AKA funds were untrue, a position that Ms. Ash staunchly asserted.
Immediately following Ms. Ash’s resignation, the AKA Board of Directors conducted an internal review of the financial records of the AKA. The purpose of this financial review was to (1) validate Ms. Ash’s claims that there were no financial improprieties during her tenure as the Chairman and Board Member of AKA; and (2) to fulfill the AKA’s fiduciary duty to donors to maintain the financial integrity of its expenditures.
The AKA is a 501(c)(4) tax‐exempt entity and is subject to strict financial control regulations issued by the IRS. As the original founder of the AKA, Ms. Ash is considered by the IRS to be a “disqualified person” – a status that triggers additional restrictions on the financial transactions with that individual and the AKA.
The preliminary financial review identified significant discrepancies and missing records in financial documentation for compensation and expense reimbursements paid to Ms. Ash over a
significant time period. Several of the expenditures are substantial, and have raised significant questions as to whether they were appropriate for reimbursement from donor funds. A formal request was made to Ms. Ash to provide receipts and justifications for expenses to allow for the financial review to be completed, but Ms. Ash has been unwilling and/or unable to provide the necessary receipts and records to justify these expenditures.
As a result, the AKA Board was forced to suspend Ms. Ash from any role with the AKA given her unwillingness to provide the requested documents and records. As an alternative to formally producing the requested documents, and in compliance with IRS regulations, the AKA requested Ms. Ash provide a “Professional Opinion Letter” from a qualified attorney or Certified Public Accountant with expertise in relevant tax law to certify that if the compensation amounts to Ms. Ash were challenged by the IRS, it would “more likely than not” be upheld in court.
Ms. Ash has declined to provide the requested documents and/or to provide a “Professional Opinion Letter.” Given these actions by Ms. Ash, the AKA is unable to complete its financial review of AKA expenditures during the period that Ms. Ash served as Chairman and as a member of the Board of Directors, or to validate the appropriateness of some of the expenses reimbursed to Ms. Ash. Instead, Ms. Ash retained an attorney and threatened litigation against the AKA.
In response, the AKA has retained legal counsel, provided on a pro bono basis, to work with Ms. Ash's attorney in a good‐faith effort to negotiate an amicable separation and secure the necessary financial records to document compensation and expense reimbursements made to Ms. Ash. The AKA has respected these negotiations without public comment, but Ms. Ash has persisted in public statements, including statements made on various social media platforms, contesting the facts and circumstances surrounding her formal resignation from the AKA Board of Directors and her service as Chairman.
For context, Ms. Ash has made various claims, both in private and public, that AKA is “her organization”; that she resented not being included in Board meetings after her resignation; and has challenged decisions made by the AKA Board of Directors without her participation or approval. All such statements are in direct conflict with IRS regulations regarding governance decisions by a qualified non‐profit entity and appear to be attempts by Ms. Ash to circumvent her resignation. Moreover, after her independent, publicly announced decision to step down from a leadership role in AKA, Ms. Ash now claims that she was forced out.
As a part of the separation discussions, the AKA requested that Ms. Ash relinquish the control over the AKA bank accounts and its PayPal account. These accounts were initially established by Ms. Ash on behalf of the AKA in her role as Chairman, and each was opened using the federally‐ issued AKA Employer Identification Number. Ms. Ash was the sole signatory on these accounts, but she has refused to comply with the request to transfer control of these accounts to the Executive Director of the AKA. In addition, the AKA learned in the past few weeks that the AKA
PayPal account password has been changed, and AKA no longer has access to funds in that account.
The AKA Board of Directors has established new accounts to ensure all new donations to the AKA are properly received and recorded, and expenditures are made in full compliance with IRS regulations governing the conduct of a non‐profit entity. Donors are advised to use the current accounts for all donations, and are asked not to submit donations using links to previous accounts over which Ms. Ash maintains sole control.
This statement is being provided to allow concerned supporters of the AKA to understand why actions that have been taken were necessary. It is our hope that Ms. Ash will refrain from any future public comments, and allow a final conclusion to be reached on the outstanding issues and controversies surrounding her association with the AKA.
The AKA Board of Directors will continue to diligently fulfill its fiduciary duties to the AKA and its supporters, and will strictly adhere to all regulations in the governance of the AKA, while vigorously supporting the right of Americans to choose Kratom.
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October 6, 2017
Kratom Warriors:
“New York Policeman dead from “kratom overdose.”
“Florida man dead from “kratom intoxication.”
“Illinois legislator files bill to ban kratom.”
Those are the headlines dominating the news about kratom, and from what I have seen, it may be just the beginning.
Make no mistake, the FDA and the DEA couldn't ram through an unfair emergency scheduling of kratom in Washington D.C., so they are now waging the war against kratom at the local level - state by state and county by county.
And now we are seeing attempts to ban kratom in Illinois and Rhode Island!
The DEA and FDA regulators hate the fact the American Kratom Association has won in the Congress, won on the science, and won in the court of public opinion – all in the fight to keep kratom legal.
But this fight needs to be ongoing. I am writing today, right now, to ask for your help.
The AKA can win when we have the money and resources to fight back.
It is a fact that it takes money to hire lobbyists. To hire scientists. To hire public relations experts.
And now we need to hire forensic pathologists and toxicologists to conclusively show how flawed the autopsies and toxicology reports are regarding the deaths these enemies want to blame on kratom.
I simply cannot say it any more plainly: We desperately need your help to fight back.
I am asking that you dig as deep as you can to make a contribution to the AKA for the fight we have ahead of us.
It truly is the "Kratom Legal Defense Fund".
I have spent most of the last 10 days talking nearly nonstop to reporters explaining the truth about kratom.
But the battlefield keeps expanding, and that’s why I need your help.
Your contribution will make a real difference in our war to keep kratom legal.
Consumers have a right to make their own choices about their health and well-being.
And I will not rest until the last battle is won.
Will you consider two requests?
I hate to ask for money, but it is the only tool we have to win this important struggle against the DEA and the FDA.
First, please make the biggest contribution you can afford right now.
Click on this link, and do all you can:
https://www.americankratom.org/donate
When you make a contribution, I will immediately get an email telling me you are behind me in this fight.
I need my email account to be overloaded with so many contributions it will literally swamp my account.
That is how important this is.
Second, can I ask you to consider signing up as a monthly contributor.
With the state legislative session starting up in just over 60 days, I know our enemies are priming the pump to get as many states to ban kratom as they can.
I need to do battle toe-to-toe in every state these enemies want to pick the fight. I will not be able to do that without you standing shoulder to shoulder with me.
Together, we can win this fight once again.
You can decide to stop the monthly contribution commitment whenever you have to, but for the next few months we need every dime we can scrape together to fight this battle.
These are desperate times, and without your help we will be very vulnerable - we cannot afford to give up a single inch.
I need to raise $35,000 from this email.
That’s more than we have ever raised in a single email.
But I know we can do it!
So, please, click on this link and make the most generous contribution you can.
https://www.americankratom.org/donate
The Kratom Nation is being tested like never before.
Join me today to take on this important battle - together we are unstoppable - #iamkratom, #WeAreKratom, #teamAKA, #AKA.
Sincerely,
Dave Herman
Chairman of the Board
American Kratom Association
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October 4, 2017
Dear Kratom Community,
The AKA has engaged an expert research team and is requesting your participation in a survey to provide information about kratom use in the U.S. This survey is completely anonymous, and the information collected in the survey will be analyzed in combination with all participant responses.
Please click the link below to take this survey. It should take about 10-15 minutes to complete.
Thank you for considering participating in this survey.
http://survey-d.researchnow.com/survey/selfserve/53b/1709217?list=0&c=2
Thank you,
American Kratom Association (AKA)
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October 3, 2017
Kratom Warriors:
When the DEA announced their withdrawal of their Notice to schedule kratom on October 13, 2016, they invited public comment on whether kratom should be scheduled or not, with a deadline for submission of comments by December 1, 2016.
Among the 23,000+ comments that were submitted to the DEA, there were approximately 1,175 commenters who self-identified themselves as doctors, scientists, veterans, lawyers, or law enforcement officers.
If you are one of those doctors or scientists or lawyers willing to help pro-bono, I hope you will take the time to read this email.
The FDA and the DEA have not stopped their war on kratom, they have just shifted the battlefield. As of today, we have seen two suspiciously similar reports on deaths that a Coroner in New York and a Medical Examiner in Florida claimed to be the result of kratom overdose.
A news reporter disclosed to the AKA that the Florida Medical Examiner admitted that he had talked with the Coroner in New York to discuss the use of kratom by the police officer who died in that town.
There was no discussion about the use of injectable anabolic steroids by the decedent in New York, and the possible association with hemorrhagic pulmonary edema from the use of such steroids.
Neither did the Florida Medical Examiner discuss the two prescription drugs that were found in the blood toxicology report of the decedent in Florida, one an antidepressant, in the other a muscle relaxer, both of which have warnings on their FDA required labels that they should not be used in combination because to do so could cause death.
No, it appears that these two so-called medical professionals jointly concluded that the blame lies with the consumption of kratom by these two individuals who died, despite the fact that there is no scientific evidence that corroborates any kind of causality as they are now claiming.
The American Kratom Association has always believed in the importance of science within the fight to protect kratom. During this fight, science has been on our side.
Science has proven that kratom is not dangerously addictive and, unless mixed with a toxic doses of some other foreign substance, is not a threat to someone's health.
Your support of kratom is why I am writing today to ask for the help of every doctor and scientist – and any former medical examiners -- who could help us evaluate the contradictory and seemingly unsupported conclusions of these two public officials who want to blame kratom.
At the AKA, we are organizing a committee of scientists, doctors, and former medical examiners who can help assess each one of these cases as they emerge.
And we need some attorneys who can advise us on how to demand and get needed documents from these pubic officials who refuse to produce documents.
We would like experts who can volunteer to help us evaluate these reports and collaborate with other professionals. It is critical that we all work together.
Frankly, I need your expertise to help set the record straight. I do not anticipate it will be a heavy lift, but your advice and counsel in a conference call with other professionals would be invaluable to us.
If you can volunteer, please send me a note at dave.herman@americankratom.org.
The opponents of kratom are marching forward with a clear message, and it's vital we push back.
#iamkratom, #WeAreKratom, #teamAKA
Sincerely,
Dave Herman
Chairman
American Kratom Association
September 20, 2017 - E-mail from Laughing Lion Herbs (Kratom vendor)
Is Kratom Overdose Responsible for Sgt Dana's Death?
By now, most of you have heard the reports that came out several days ago that Sgt. Matthew Dana died of a hemorrhagic pulmonary edema (blood in the lungs). The coroner overseeing the autopsy declared the death a "result of kratom overdose toxicity".
While LLH and our families send our utmost thoughts and prayers to Dana's family and friends, we strongly believe that there is absolutely no evidence for this declaration. The American Kratom Association, now run by the very capable Dave Herman released a statement today that we wanted to share with you. The full article is available here. Please take 2 minutes to read it now!
The LLH family wishes to thank the AKA and the BEA for their work in supporting the Kratom industry! We also believe that not only is Kratom going to remain legal in our country, but that it will soon become either self or government regulated! This is the best possible scenario for us! While we prefer self-regulation, even government regulation would legitimize Kratom as an herbal supplement enabling us to finally expand our customer base to those wishing to consume Kratom as well. (AS you all know, we cannot condone consumption at this time).
As we continue to march towards the bright future that Kratom has in our Country, please do not ever hesitate to ask questions of us! We cannot answer all of them, but we will always do our best to be there for our extended LLH Family... YOU!
The statement released by Dave Herman of the AKA (retrieved from here):
By DAVE HERMAN
Chairman of the American Kratom Association
The recent media reports on the accidental and unexplained death in New York of Tupper Lake police Sgt. Matthew Dana, who suffered a hemorrhagic pulmonary edema (blood in the lungs) that caused this fatality, have sparked a national controversy.
Sgt. Dana had been promoted to his current rank last year for his outstanding efforts supporting the department's narcotics investigations to rid Tupper Lake of its drug problem, and his death is a loss to that effort.
The American Kratom Association (AKA) certainly extends condolences to the Officer Dana's family, and we recognize the sensitivity of the controversy that has emerged on whether kratom is properly characterized as the cause of his death.
The current controversy focuses on statements released by Franklin County Coroner, Shawn Stewart, that claim Sgt. Dana's death was the result of an overdose of kratom, based on the toxicological reports that confirmed the presence of mitragynine, an alkaloid of the kratom plant.
AKA is strongly committed to the responsible use of kratom by consumers, and supports appropriate manufacturing standards to assure the safety of kratom products that are available to consumers.
The AKA is equally committed to holding government regulators strictly accountable for fair and accurate reporting on the safety of kratom, and reports they may make on claims of adverse events or deaths associated with its use by consumers.
In Sgt. Dana's autopsy, Coroner Stewart openly admits that the fact that Sgt. Dana used kratom, combined with reports from the DEA's efforts to list kratom as a Schedule I controlled substance last year, guided his conclusions.
There are two important considerations every reasonable person should make before leaping to any unfounded conclusion that the use of kratom by a consumer necessarily led to a fatality.
First, respected scientists have concluded that health care professionals often incorrectly use the term "overdose" as a cause of death when many substance-related overdose deaths involve combinations of substances such as alcohol, sedatives, and opioids and it is not often clear which substance should be listed as the primary cause of death (Gudin et al., Rudd et al., 2016; Ossiander, 2014).
That is the mistake the DEA made in its initial claim of "kratom exposure" being responsible for as many as 30 deaths globally.
In fact, after close examination of medical records, toxicology reports, and autopsies, not a single one of those deaths was caused by a kratom overdose.
Second, there are a number of other physical conditions and disease states that may contribute to deaths associated with drug administration that could be overlooked or ignored in an autopsy.
In the case of hemorrhagic pulmonary edema, there is little scientific evidence that kratom alone could cause this condition unless there were other unknown or unreported underlying contributing lung or cardiovascular health issues experienced by the person who died, or if other substances were ingested.
Finally, there is a possibility that the kratom used by Sgt. Dana was adulterated or spiked with a dangerous contaminant without his knowledge.
For example, the nine deaths referenced by the DEA and incorrectly attributed to kratom, actually involved a lethal dose integrated in a mix of substances that included the opioid analgesic Tramadol (O-desmethyltramadol), and possibly co-administration of other drug substances that made this drug cocktail deadly.
Television and crime novels have glamorized our nation's morgues, leaving the misimpression that every investigation is conducted by highly-trained medical professionals using the most sophisticated tools available in 21st century science.
Simple mistakes, including failures to consider the decedent's medical history, the circumstances surrounding death, and the environment of the death, have each contributed to past errors in attributing a death to an overdose when no pathologic evidence supports such a conclusion.
James R. Gill, the Chief Medical Examiner at the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner, in an article published in 2012 in the Academic Forensic Pathology International, cited one of the "greatest mistakes that a forensic pathologist can make with toxicology is opining on the cause of death based solely on the drug concentration without consideration of the entire case." (http://www.afpjournal.com/Article/2012-0228)
Kratom has been proven to be a safe botanical used by consumers for centuries, and it is the very lack of using competent personnel and equipment in investigations on the cause of alleged overdose deaths that has led to numerous inaccurate and erroneous conclusions by law enforcement agencies, including the DEA.
The AKA supports the conclusions of the research Jack Henningfield, Ph.D., one of the world's leading experts on addiction and substance abuse, in his Assessment of Kratom under the CSA Eight Factors and Scheduling Recommendation (November 28, 2016), where he concluded that "Placement of Kratom in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is not warranted from a public health perspective and is more likely to cause public health problems that do not presently exist."
Importantly, Dr. Henningfield also observed that, "To date, in the US, there have been no confirmed reports of death that can be considered "causatively" due to kratom overdose. How many, if any deaths, are "probably" classified as kratom poisoning deaths is not clear. This is consistent with the far larger and longer Southeast Asian experience of very few serious adverse events. In both the US and Southeast Asia, the low toxicity of kratom is in striking contrast to the experience with opioids."
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August 28, 2017
Kratom Warrior:
This Thursday, the American Kratom Association (AKA) will deliver its statement to the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis.
This date is significant for two reasons.
First, it's the anniversary of the official Notice of Intent for the Emergency Scheduling of Kratom that was issued by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that ignited the grassroots movement that ultimately led to the unprecedented withdrawal by the DEA of its scheduling action against kratom. What has transpired over the past year has been truly historic in changing the trajectory of the attack on kratom by Washington bureaucrats.
I am very hopeful that you will join me, if you have not done so already, as a co-signer of this official AKA Statement that asks the Commission to take positive steps to validate the experiences of thousands of Americans on the value of kratom in opioid addiction withdrawal, and the use of kratom as an alternative pain medication therapy that helps them completely avoid the use of chemically formulated opioid medications.
If you have already joined on as a co-signer to this Statement, please accept my gratitude. And please, encourage your family and friends to take this important step in affirming their support for kratom and its beneficial impact on the opioid crisis that is facing America today.
You can forward the link to them, or you can both co-sign and forward the link:
Click here to co-sign the AKA Statement to the President's Commission on Opioid Addiction
As of right now, we have 4,925 co-signers to the Statement to the President’s Commission. I know that we can get that number up to 6,000 co-signers.
Will you help?
We only have 48 hours to accept new co-signers, so please act immediately.
Second, this statement is critically important for the kratom community to turn the corner on the negative attacks by the FDA and the DEA against kratom. Signing this Statement will make a real difference, and it will help to end the demonization of kratom by these faceless Washington bureaucrats.
As always, we are grateful to the Kratom Warriors for being engaged in this battle.
On another very positive note, the AKA has collected over 25,000 signatures on our SITSA Petition, and I know that will make a huge difference as we continue to fight this horrendous overreach by the Attorney General that threatens to criminalize the distribution and consumer use of kratom.
If you have not yet had the opportunity to sign the SITSA Petition, you can do so at the following link:
Click here to sign the SITSA Petition
I am proud to be part of a movement that includes so many folks dedicated to preserving our rights to make our own decisions about our health and well-being - #IAMKRATOM, #TEAMAKA
Thanks for all you do for kratom,
Dave Herman
Chairman
American Kratom Association
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August 22, 2017
Kratom Warrior:
On August 31, 2016, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) rocked the kratom world with their now infamous Notice of Intent for Emergency Scheduling of kratom as a Schedule I controlled substance.
That was truly the day that the federal government declared war on kratom -- and war on every one of us who believe that consumers should have the freedom to make their own decisions about how to manage their health and well-being.
But the truth is, the DEA and the FDA picked a fight with people who were unwilling to be trampled upon by the unfair and arbitrary criminalization of kratom and of the basic freedoms we have every right to enjoy.
The attempt to schedule kratom ignited a grassroots movement that continues to this very day, and I am pleased to report that we are growing stronger and stronger in our continued fight against the demonization of kratom by these federal bureaucrats.
On August 31, 2017, I intend to deliver a statement to the Presidential Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis asking the government to recognize the numerous studies that show kratom can be used as an alternative pain management option, but kratom can also be a potentially effective "Reverse-Gateway" out of opioid addiction.
I am hoping that you will sign up to be an official co-signer on the American Kratom Association Statement to the Opioid Commission.
Please click on the link below and review the Statement to the Commission. If you agree with the Statement, and I hope you will, then I need you to add your name as an official co-signer of the statement.
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE STATEMENT TO THE OPIOID COMMISSION
I am hopeful that thousands of Kratom Warriors will join me in this bold statement by the kratom community - that we endorse research into the positive effects that kratom can have in the lives of people who might currently be trapped in a cycle of opioid addiction.
And we need to boldly state that we continue to support the right of every consumer to have the freedom to use kratom as part of the management of their personal health and well-being.
When I asked for your support to oppose the dangerous overreach by the Attorney General in the proposed SITSA Act that poses a real threat to consumer access to kratom, the kratom community responded.
We currently have more than 24,000 signatures on that petition, with more adding their names every day.
Thank you to each of you who have added your name on that petition.
While we have only about one week to gather signatures for this AKA Statement to the Opioid Commission, I hope we can collect a significant number of co-signers.
And I would ask you to invite as many of your friends and family members who agree with our position to also co-sign the Statement.
We can celebrate August 31, 2017 as the anniversary of when the kratom community took a stand for freedom.
We have been unyielding in our defense of our freedoms, and we have been joined by Members of Congress; leading researchers and experts in product safety and addiction; lawyers; law enforcement officers; and veterans of our Armed Forces; all who have stood firm and defended our freedom to have access to kratom.
We forced the DEA to rescind its Notice of Intent to schedule kratom.
We made our defense with good science and the personal testimonials from tens of thousands of kratom users who reported positive results from using kratom.
And today we have an arsenal of personal testimonials and research that support the premise that kratom can be an effective alternative pain management option for people who otherwise have to rely upon opioid medications.
We repudiated all the lies that the FDA told about people dying from consuming kratom; the "flooding" of calls to Poison Control Centers; and the significant number of adverse health effects of kratom consumption.
The AKA, with your help, commissioned the 8-Factor Analysis by the leading expert in safety and addiction issues on drug products, Dr. Jack Henningfield, that uses the very same literature and data that the FDA would be required to use in producing their own statutorily required analysis before anyone in the federal government could propose to schedule kratom again.
I would be honored if you would join me as a co-signer of the AKA Statement to the Presidential Commission on combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis.
Our collective voices will make a difference in Washington DC and across the states in the country who currently have bans on kratom.
I am proud to be a part of this kratom community, and I am honored to count you as a friend in this fight to protect and preserve our freedoms to use kratom as we see fit.
Sincerely,
Dave Herman
Chairman, American Kratom Association
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August 18, 2017
"OPERATION CHOKE POINT" ENDED
Policy ended that targeted legitimate business within the kratom community
WASHINGTON, D.C.///August 18, 2017/// Yesterday, the DOJ announced the ending of the Obama-Era program called "Operation Choke Point." This program had attempted to cut off sources of credit for businesses targeted by the department, including many working within the kratom industry.
Dave Herman, the Chairman of the American Kratom Association (AKA) stated, "We have been working with lawmakers for months to discontinue this program due to its impact on those within the kratom community. We felt that this was significantly hurting legitimate businesses across the country. We are encouraged by the actions of the DOJ."
Over the last several months, experiences started to surface of many kratom businesses and consumers having their credit card transactions restricted.
"The AKA is hopeful this will be a major step in restoring the freedom of access to kratom for consumers from legitimate businesses," Herman continued.
According to Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd, "All of the Department’s bank investigations conducted as part of Operation Choke Point are now over, the initiative is no longer in effect."
The AKA would like to thank Senator Orrin Hatch (UT), who has been a champion for kratom and the rights for individuals to make their own decisions about their well-being, for his efforts in ending Operation Choke Point.
==============================================================
August 17, 2017
FROM THE DESK OF
DAVID HERMAN,
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Kratom Warriors:
In Washington DC, the Congress has left for their summer recess, but that does not mean that the attack on kratom by the DEA has stopped in any way.
Our lobbying team has been working feverishly to protect kratom from the latest threat in the form of the SITSA Act.
The broad expansion of the powers of the Attorney General and the DEA that will be given under SITSA to schedule substances they don’t like is clear and disturbing. The controversy among some is whether the SITSA Act would give the DEA the power to schedule kratom under the new "Schedule A."
Because the language is overly broad and vague, there are some who believe -- even in our own community -- that SITSA will only apply to "synthetic analogues” of already controlled substances.
The American Kratom Association (AKA) put that question to the test with one of the most respected law firms in Washington DC who helped us defeat the emergency scheduling order of the DEA last year.
Their conclusion: The SITSA language, as currently drafted, will allow the Attorney General and the DEA to schedule kratom, if they choose to do so, using the justification they provided in the emergency scheduling order they were forced to withdraw last year.
The AKA then asked Dr. Jack Henningfield, the author of the 8-Factor Analysis that stopped the DEA in its tracks when they tried to schedule kratom last year. Dr. Henningfield agreed with the law firm analysis.
The truth is, the current language in SITSA would present a threat to kratom being scheduled by any overly aggressive Attorney General or DEA Administrator.
This is not an exaggeration, hyperbole or scare tactics - this is the strong opinion from our team of experts.
Under the current Control Substances Act (CSA), the DEA has to conclusively demonstrate that a substance they seek to schedule has to pose an imminent safety threat to the public, and that the substance they seek to schedule is dangerously addictive.
The CSA requires the DEA to prove that threat and addiction level of any substance they propose to schedule with scientific studies that the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agrees, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Health and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institutes on Drug Abuse (NIDA), justifies that scheduling.
If consumers disagree, there is a procedure of judicial review and Public Hearings to challenge the DEA scheduling action. The current process provides some level of checks and balances to an overly aggressive government.
Under the proposed language of SITSA, no scientific studies are required, no substantive review by HHS or NIDA, and there is no judicial review allowed to challenge any decision by the DEA to schedule a substance into Schedule A
I spent my professional career as an investment banker and every single decision I made was based upon a risk assessment to determine whether I could trust the people I was dealing with.
I will candidly admit that I do not trust the DEA to make the decision about whether to schedule kratom when there is no scientific review by HHS, NIDA, or the right of a citizen to challenge the scheduling action in court.
But I have also heard those who honestly believe that SITSA will not apply to kratom because it is not a “synthetic analogue.”
Even though “synthetic analogues” is the language that is contained in the title of this proposed legislation, that is not what the language of the proposed bill actually says.
So I decided to test my theory about whether SITSA would allow the DEA to schedule kratom, and therefore whether the DEA can be trusted or not on this issue.
With the approval of the AKA Board of Directors, we instructed our Washington lobbying team to ask for a simple amendment to SITSA.
The amendment would basically provide as follows:
“Nothing in this Act shall be construed to permit the Attorney General to schedule a natural botanical substance, including any constituents, compounds or extracts of a natural botanical substance. Should the Attorney General determine that any natural botanical substance meets the criteria for scheduling under Title 21 U.S.C., the Controlled Substances Act, such scheduling shall be proposed under that authority.”
If the claims by the supporters of SITSA are true, there would be no objection to specifically exempting natural botanical substances from the provisions of the proposed SITSA bill.
But apparently the DEA does object.
I was informed that the DEA "does not want any restrictions placed on their ability to take dangerous drugs off the streets".
That is just classic Washington doublespeak.
If what the DEA wants is the authority to go after synthetic analogues of already controlled substances, they should have no problem with exempting natural botanical substances from SITSA.
But it appears the DEA desperately wants to call kratom a dangerous drug and have the authority to ban it when given through SITSA.
If the DEA wants to claim that any natural botanical substance poses a public health safety risk, or is dangerously addictive, they can still use the CSA to do just that.
That's why I do not trust the DEA when it comes to kratom.
And neither should you.
That's why we are going to keep up our aggressive fight to protect kratom from being subject to scheduling in SITSA.
That's why we built a team of experts - including a top law firm, the preeminent scientist in the dietary supplement safety and addiction area, and a top lobbying group.
I say "we" because we truly have done this together.
And I have to ask you once again to help with a contribution so that we can keep this team working for us to stop this power-grab by the DEA in its tracks.
I can also tell you that the AKA has already begun face-to-face discussions with state legislators in Alabama, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Arkansas about repealing the existing bans on kratom in their states.
Not promises, empty rhetoric, or just sending general letters to state legislators.
The AKA has conducted face-to-face meetings where we are getting commitments to repeal the bans on kratom. We are excited about the progress our team is making on these state bans.
We will not stop until we have completed those discussions and secured commitments from legislators in all of the states that currently ban kratom to sponsor repeal legislation or assist with medical and pharmacy boards to remove kratom from their controlled substances lists.
When we have had the opportunity to explain in depth the 8-Factor Analysis by Dr. Henningfield, these state legislators are listening. The science is on our side.
At the AKA, we will continue backing up requests for donations with real, concrete results.
We desperately need your help to keep the pressure on and protect our freedom to make our own decisions about how we manage our health and well-being.
Please send your contribution today at www.americankratom.org/dontate.
In addition, I want to let you know that I will be sending another Alert to you early next week on an exciting and important initiative to address the role that kratom can play providing real help in addressing the opioid epidemic in America.
Watch for my email on this new initiative to arrive Monday or Tuesday.
Also, if you have not yet done so, please sign the petition to the US Senate and House opposing SITSA. If you have signed it, get every friend and family member to sign it too.
Here is the link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AKASITSA
The great news is that we currently have 23,155 signatures on that petition.
Every kratom supporter needs to sign this petition so that when Congress reconvenes in September, we will deliver a powerful, united message from the kratom community.
It is about our freedoms, and our right to make our own decisions on using kratom without unfair interference from the DEA or the FDA.
So please, click the following link and make as generous a donation as you can to this effort. We need your support now more than ever.
www.americankratom.org/donate
Working together, we will win - #IAMKRATOM, #WeAreKratom.
With gratitude for all you do for keeping kratom legal,
Dave
===========================================================
July 13, 2017
Dear Fellow Kratom Supporter:
I am writing to give you an update on the status of the SITSA Act and the legislative "markup" that was held by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on July 12. Frankly, while we made substantial progress with some of the key members of this Committee, we have yet to secure approval of amendments that are desperately needed to protect the rights of consumers to make their own choices about their personal health and well-being.
I know that there are some in our community who personally believe that the SITSA Act will not apply to kratom, and that the Attorney General will never abuse the authority granted in this legislation to attempt to schedule kratom, and therefore remove it from the market.
Respectfully, I strongly disagree with this point of view - here is why:
• There is no disagreement that the SITSA Act grants broad new authority to the Attorney General and the DEA to make decisions about products that the government wants to ban by placing them on this newly created “Schedule A.”
• In my discussions with our champions in the Congress, the experts on our legal team who have a broad background in FDA and DEA scheduling issues on substances and compounds, and Dr. Jack Henningfield, who is the pre-eminent leader in the field of addiction and safety for dietary supplements; all are in unanimous agreement that the language in the SITSA Act is too broad, grants too much authority to the Attorney General and DEA, and gives far too much discretion to regulators to "overreach" and use this new statute as the basis for potential banning kratom from consumers.
• At the heart of the issue is the definitions of what a "synthetic analog" are. The title of the SITSA Act specifically states it as the "Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act of 2017, or the SITSA Act." But then the bill purpose clearly says the Act is intended to "clarify how controlled substance analogues are to be regulated." It is not limited to “synthetics” at all. It is a trick regularly used in Washington DC to use hyped-up bill titles, that have no effect of law, to mislead people about what the true intent and actual effect of the language of the bill will be in their lives.
• If we fail to challenge this broad language, and to actively advocate for amendments to limit the application of this legislation to botanical plants, including kratom, we would be guilty of advocacy malpractice.
• The American Kratom Association is unwilling to put the freedoms of our supporters at risk in the hope that the Attorney General, the DEA, and other local law enforcement officials will act responsibly.
Allow me to be clear - the AKA Board does not object to the right of any advocate to disagree with what I have just outlined as the reasons why the AKA is aggressively attempting to persuade the Congress to enact limiting amendments to this overly broad legislation.
However, I admit to being deeply disappointed when I learned that a newly-formed kratom advocacy group sent a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Goodlatte and conveyed the support of the kratom community for the SITSA Act. By doing so, their letter materially misled the Committee about the substantial concerns that are held by tens of thousands of kratom supporters and AKA advocates who do not agree with their point of view.
While it may not have been intended, this letter created confusion among members of the Judiciary Committee and their staffs, and served to convey the misimpression that the kratom community as a whole were supportive of the SITSA Act as it is presently written.
Not agreeing with AKA’s concerns about the overreach that is possible under the broad language of the current version of the SITSA Act is fine, but that does not require a communication that seeks to undermine the legitimate concerns of so many thousands of kratom supporters with this legislation.
I would point to the fact that we have now collected over 18,000 petition signatures asking for Congress to amend the SITSA Act. Our legitimate concerns with the threat to access to kratom under this legislation have been documented with our legal team and our scientific experts.
Please allow me to conclude with my own opinion, which I hope those who disagree with me will respect as a right for me to do so. Some in the kratom community are stating that the SITSA Act will have no impact given the outcome of a recent court case in Tennessee where a kratom seller had the case against him "retired" based on the facts and circumstances of this case, including questions by the prosecuting attorney about whether the construct of the state statute with regards to the chemical properties of kratom were covered.
Simply put, the AKA does not want any kratom seller, or kratom consumer, to have to defend against an overly broad statute after they have been arrested, booked, and scheduled for trial. We do not want to rely upon a reasonable prosecuting attorney to examine the statutory framework and then make a decision that the case may not be prosecutable because of the loose legislative language, or some nuanced definition of what a “synthetic analogue” actually is.
The AKA’s goal is to have legislation that clearly and unambiguously restricts any police officer, any prosecutor, or any judge from arresting and convicting anyone in America of kratom sales or consumption.
The AKA will now focus its efforts in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, that has joint jurisdiction on the SITSA Act with the House Judiciary Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, and ask our champions there to amend this bill to limit the discretionary authority of the Attorney General and the DEA that poses a real threat to consumer access to kratom.
Following that Hearing, we will take our fight to the U.S. Senate where we know our voices will be heard. We hope all will join us, or agree to respectfully disagree without harming those who have slightly differing views, but who share a greater goal.
For those who have not yet done so, or for those who have not encouraged everyone in your circle of family and friends to sign our petition, here is the link to join our fight to protect our personal freedom to use kratom for our personal health and well-being.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AKASITSA
Our voices matter. When the DEA tried to schedule kratom and ban it, we all fought and we won.
It was a battle that no one in Washington DC believed we could win, but we did.
With a unified voice, we stood toe-to-toe with the powerful Washington bureaucrats, and the people prevailed.
I am confident we will be able to do the same thing here.
Thank you for your support, and for all that you do to protect kratom.
Respectfully,
Dave Herman
Chairman of the Board
American Kratom Association
#iamkratom
To DONATE, please click on the following link:
www.americankratom.org/donate
==========================================================
July 11, 2017
Kratom Supporters:
Your help is needed immediately!
I apologize for the short notice, but we have learned that the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee plans to “markup” the SITSA Act tomorrow.
Many of the amendments proposed by the American Kratom Association (AKA) are being considered by members of the Committee, but we have just learned that the Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, wants the SITSA Act pushed through the House before the upcoming August recess to show action in the fight against the opioid epidemic - so there will be little time for consideration of any amendments in this accelerated scheduling.
If you live in the congressional districts of any of the members of the House Judiciary Committee listed below, I would ask you to please pick up the phone and call them and ask them to support the American Kratom Association amendments to SITSA. We need those members of Congress to hear from you.
Our voice is being heard!
Our lobbying team has heard many favorable reports about the recommended amendments we offered, but in the name of political expediency, the House leadership wants the SITSA Act to be sent to the US Senate before the August recess.
Our allies in the Senate are ready to help, but we need to send a clear message to the House that the SITSA Act is too broad and gives too much power to the Attorney General, without any scientific check on scheduling of substances that are proven to be safe and not dangerously addictive.
So please, if you live in the congressional district of one of these members, make the call immediately.
Congressman District Phone Number
Trey Gowdy South Carolina 4th 202-225-6030
Louie B. Gohmert, Jr. Texas 1st 202-225-3035
Jim Sensenbrenner, Jr. Wisconsin 5th 202-225-5101
Steve Chabot Ohio 1st 202-225-2216
Ted Poe Texas 2nd 202-225-6565
John Ratcliffe Texas 4th 202-225-6673
Martha Roby Alabama 2nd 202-225-2901
Mike Johnson Louisiana 4th 202-225-2777
Bob Goodlatte Virginia 6th 202-225-5431
Lamar Smith Texas 21st 202-225-4236
Darrell Issa California 49th 202-225-3906
Steve King Iowa 4th 202-225-4426
Trent Franks Arizona 8th 202-225-4576
Jim Jordan Ohio 4th 202-225-2676
Tom Marino Pennsylvania 10th 202-225-3731
Raul Labrador Idaho 1st 202-225-6611
Blake Farenthold Texas 27th 202-225-7742
Doug Collins Georgia 9th 202-225-9893
Ron DeSantis Florida 6th 202-225-2706
Ken Buck Colorado 4th 202-225-4676
Matt Gaetz Florida 1st 202-225-4236
Andy Biggs Arizona 5th 202-225-2635
Sheila Jackson Lee Texas 18th 202-225-3816
Ted Deutsch Florida 22nd 202-225-3001
Karen Bass California 37th 202-225-7084
Cedric Richmond Louisiana 2nd 202-225-6636
Hakeem Jeffries New York 8th 202-225-5936
Ted Lieu California 33rd 202-225-3976
Jamie Raskin Maryland 8th 202-225-5341
John Conyers, Jr. Michigan 13th 202-225-5126
Jerry Nadler New York 10th 202-225-5635
Zoe Lofgren California 19th 202-225-3072
Steve Cohen Tennessee 9th 202-225-3265
Hank Johnson, Jr. Georgia 4th 202-225-1605
Luis Gutierrez Illinois 4th 202-225-8203
David Cicilline Rhode Island 1st 202-225-4911
Eric Swalwell California 15th 202-225-5065
Pramila Jayapal Washington 7th 202-225-3106
Brad Schneider Illinois 10th 202-225-4835
We appreciate your support to keep kratom legal, and to protect and preserve the freedom of consumers to make their own choices for their health and well-bing.
Sincerely,
Dave Herman
Chairman of the Board
American Kratom Association
#iamkratom
=========================================================
October 3, 2016
Dear Friend,
An independent research survey is being conducted by Dr. Oliver Grundmann at the University of Florida to evaluate the use and health impact of Kratom products in the US. If you are currently or have been using Kratom in the past, you are invited to take this survey. The survey is conducted anonymously and can be accessed by clicking on the following link: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_25E9Tkif35g023j (**link no longer works**). In case you are not taken to the survey, please copy and paste the link into your internet browser.
Click HERE to donate.
American Kratom Association
http://www.americankratom.org/
=========================================================
September 25, 2016
WE NEED YOU NOW MORE THAN EVER
It’s been 20 months since this miraculous endeavor called the AKA was "officially" launched. In that time, we have been instrumental in keeping Kratom Legal in New Hampshire, New York, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina. We fought hard in Alabama, and almost got Wisconsin to remove it from their banned list.
We have our Facebook group with over 9,000 members, our Facebook page with over 18,000 likes, a social media following of about 25,0000 (we're on Twitter, Instagram and Reddit). We have our own professionally done website with bells and whistles we didn't have before. We have state pages for all 50 states, with Puerto Rico in the works, run by dozens of dedicated and hardworking volunteers. We have grown, learned and adapted.
We now face the toughest fight of all. As you are all aware by now, the DEA has moved to make Kratom a Schedule 1 drug on Sept 30th. This means, no research, no use, no benefits from Kratom. We can win this fight but we cannot do this alone. AKA needs YOU! We need your voice, your emails and letters, phone calls and your presence, to meet with your elected officials. Together we put over 130,000 signatures on a petition to the White House opposing the DEAs move, we cohosted a march on Washington with over 400 people. You can read our National Call-to-Action (**link no longer works**).
EVERY dollar will help. Literally.
We need more members, there is strength in numbers and we don't have nearly the numbers we need. We have to have more money and that comes from more members. We are willing to keep fighting this fight but we must have your help. It starts with just one...as did the dream of Susan Ash, the founder of AKA.
It is $20.00 for a yearly membership, that's it.... three Starbucks, one movie night, three ounces of Kratom...that is it! Twenty bucks to help us ensure that kratom stays legal for us all to benefit from. Click HERE to donate
Won't you be the one, won't you be the change we all seek.
(Please follow our Facebook PAGE or join our Facebook GROUP or further info on this membership drive.) (**links no longer work**)
AKA website http://www.americankratom.org/
If you are interested in helping the AKA by volunteering please email Robin Graham at robin.graham@americankratom.org
A strategy update can be found HERE (**link no longer works**)
American Kratom Association
http://www.americankratom.org/
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