By AKA, Special for USDR
Americans who don’t want to see the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prevail in the agencies’ “war” against the coffee-like herb kratom are being urged to sign a petition to President-Elect Donald Trump at http://www.PetitionTrumpForKratom.org. The petition asks the incoming President to either halt the DEA/FDA push to criminalize kratom or to reverse any 11th hour ban that might be imposed in the waning days of the Obama Administration.
The deadline for signers to add their names to the petition is 11:59 p.m. EST on January 22, 2017. The list of those signing www.PetitionTrumpForKratom.org will be presented to President-Elect Trump in his first full business day in office: Monday, January 23, 2017.
AKA is working hard to get as many people as possible who have benefited from kratom to share their opposition to the classification by the DEA of the coffee-like herb as a Schedule I drug. Late last month, AKA released a report by a leading addiction expert who concluded that kratom has as low or even lower potential for abuse and dependence as nutmeg and St. John’s Wort.
American Kratom Association Director Susan Ash said: “The kratom community in the United States is looking for ways to continue to speak out and be heard which is why we created this additional avenue to take our message to President-Elect Trump. Supporting similar petition drives, this petition makes it quick and easy to ensure our voices continue to be heard, particularly if any action occurs before the new Administration takes office.”
Ash added: “We are asking America’s incoming leader to end the unwarranted and unfair attempt to criminalize kratom and to protect those who process and sell kratom, along with the estimated three-five million consumers who benefit from it. We urge everyone who wants to keep kratom legal to go to www.PetitionTrumpForKratom.org and sign their name.”
The petition at www.PetitionTrumpForKratom.org reads in part:
“President-elect Trump:
Your promise to end excessive government regulations and restore the limited role of government in the lives of Americans is the reason that we are appealing to you today.
The three-five million Americans who choose to use the natural herb kratom to maintain their well-being desperately need your help. We are concerned that the Drug Enforcement Administration may soon choose to curb access to this herb. If such an ‘eleventh hour’ step is taken during the waning days of the Obama Administration, we ask that you reverse it upon taking office. If the DEA has not acted by January 21st, we ask that you put an end to regulatory proceedings targeting kratom.
The DEA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have openly declared war on kratom consumers, and these agencies are blatantly abusing their powers to criminalize both those who produce and sell kratom products, and those who purchase and consume them. These federal regulators are doing all they can to deny American consumers their freedom to make individual choices on the safe products they want to use to maintain their health and well-being.
Despite credible evidence proving kratom is no more addictive than a cup of coffee, and its use presents no threat to the public health, the DEA and the FDA are continuing their efforts to classify kratom as a dangerous drug – with the same classification as heroin or cocaine.
Who are we?
We are veterans … and lawyers … and factory workers … and school teachers … and health care professionals. We are mothers and fathers … and grandparents and senior citizens.
We are the real face of America. Our choice to consume kratom does not make us “drug abusers” any more than drinking a cup of coffee would …
Unfortunately, this regulatory nightmare r the DEA and Food and Drug Administration to go on a “regulatory jihad” to prohibit hundreds of products and substances – such as nutmeg, hops, St. John’s Wort, and chamomile — now widely used by Americans. If the DEA and FDA ban kratom and take no action on other products and substances of equal or greater concern than kratom, they will be singling out kratom consumers in a grossly harsh and unbalanced manner.
A Trump Administration order for the DEA and FDA to cease the unwarranted persecution of the millions of consumers who choose to consume the botanical herb kratom would be a declaration that individual liberty will be respected in America, that consumers will have the freedom to make informed choices, and that powers of government should be restrained and used only when absolutely necessary.
We the undersigned citizens ask for your immediate action to protect our rights and our freedoms.”
The American Kratom Association is proud to have been instrumental in helping to coordinate the broad-based national opposition to the DEA’s attempt to effectively ban kratom. In addition to creating www.PetitionTrumpForKratom.org, AKA also:
- Led the charge when the DEA opened a comment period running through December 1st. Of the over 23,000 comments submitted before the deadline closed, the KratomComments.org Web site created by AKA was responsible for 16,379 comments – roughly 71 percent of total comments received at Regulations.gov. (The campaign Web site is now inactive.)
- Underwrote and issued on November 30th a long-awaited analysis by Dr. Jack Henningfield, Ph.D., vice president of Research, Health Policy, and Abuse Liability at PinneyAssociates, concluding that there is “insufficient evidence” for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to ban or otherwise restrict kratom under the Controlled Substances Act. According to the comprehensive Henningfield analysis, kratom’s potential for abuse and dependence is as low or lower than such widely used and unscheduled substances as “nutmeg, hops, St. John’s Wort, chamomile, guarana, and kola nut.”
- Conducted in November 2016 an online survey of 105 emergency room (ER)/trauma health care professionals that found zero reported cases of deaths related to kratom. The new poll of America’s front-line medical professionals also uncovered precisely zero percent support among those surveyed for a DEA ban on the coffee-like herb kratom.
- Encouraged a set of two letters sent on October 1st by a politically diverse group of 11 Senators, including Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), calling on the DEA to halt the proposed scheduling and allow for a regular rulemaking process permitting the public, scientific experts, and Congress to provide input.
- Facilitated letters to the DEA and the Office of Management and Budget sent on September 26th by a bipartisan group of 51 U.S. House Members urging a halt to the DEA’s push to ban kratom.
- Worked with the Pain News Network on a September survey of 6150 kratom users about their experience with the herb.
- Promoted a successful and widely publicized September 13th “March for Kratom” in September at the White House.
- Circulated a “We The People” petition targeting the White House that has accumulated more than 142,000 signatures to date.
ABOUT AKA
The America Kratom Association, a consumer-based non-profit organization, is here to set the record straight, giving a voice to those suffering and protecting our rights to possess and consume kratom. AKA represents tens of thousands of Americans, each of whom have a unique story to tell about the virtues of kratom and its positive effects on their lives. www.americankratom.org
SOURCE American Kratom Association, Washington, D.C.
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