Top Federal Health Official and Former White House Drug Czar Brief Congress on Kratom as Advocates Push for Bipartisan Reform Bill

Former White House drug czar and a top federal health official were featured speakers at an upcoming congressional briefing on kratom. They laid out research priorities and promoted alternative approaches to drug prohibition.

The American Kratom Association’s (AKA) event last week was intended to provide a scientific overview of kratom to congressional staffers and stakeholders, as bipartisan legislators work to advance legislation to federally regulate this substance. It is currently unscheduled, and it has been used anecdotally for pain relief, reducing withdrawal symptoms, and other purposes.

Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at NIDA, began by saying that she has come to realize that data “is not necessarily sufficient or enough” to inform policy.

She said that “unfortunately we don’t really know much” about kratom. NIDA is therefore committed to expanding its research into the potential risks and benefits of this drug. She said that health agencies had “invested considerable resources” in synthesizing the main compound of the kratom plant so researchers could conduct clinical trials to investigate how it could be used for drug addiction and pain management.

She said that “we are actually very open” in identifying these possible benefits. Volkow said, however, there is currently no way to quantify the value of the program due to the lack of empirical data.

Last year, the National Institutes of Health hosted a conference to explore the therapeutic possibilities of this “controversial” tree. An expert gave a similar overview of kratom science and the role it can play in reducing the overdose crisis.

Matt Salmon, former Rep. Matt Salmon, R-AZ, who is now chairman of AKA said that he learned about kratom in his last term as a member of Congress. He recalled the bipartisan letter he wrote to the Food and Drug Administration to “get them (the FDA) to rethink [their] position” regarding kratom’s scheduling.

He said: “I am really grateful that they have never scheduled it again, after they rely on science instead of emotion.” “But there is a lot out there, and I’ll say it straight up: most of it is false information.”

He spoke about his personal experience with kratom, a plant-based alternative to opioids after he underwent knee replacement surgery. After that, he said he didn’t “have a lick” of trouble stopping using the medicine.

Jim Carroll, the former director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President Donald Trump between 2018 and 2021, was also present at the briefing. He said that he was also made aware of FDA’s intention to schedule kratom, and questioned the “one-sided rationale” he called it. This led him and other federal officials to intervene.

Powerful presentations at the #CongressionalBriefing

We thank everyone who attended. pic.twitter.com/XUCCnAQ39J

American Kratom Association December 14, 2020 HTML0

He stated that FDA is trying to convince the Drug Enforcement Administration to “criminalize kratom based upon its argument that it was linked to overdose death, without offering an alternative perspective.

We did not sign the order. Carroll stated that they made sure it was withdrawn. “What we really did, as far I am concerned, was remove the criminalization research and criminalization treatment.”

He wants to add to the discussion about the dangers of criminalizing drug use and other substance abuse.

Why do we criminalize research if we have learned, grown and realized addiction is not criminal? We’ve stopped criminalizing it. “Why do we criminalize research when it has such great potential?” asked he. “I think we should approach this issue in that way, not just as Congress but as families and individuals as well and stop the stigma.” I’m sure that’s what’s happening here: it’s a perpetuation of stigma.

Mac Haddow is the senior fellow for public policy at AKA. He told Marijuana Moment, that one of challenges in educating lawmakers and congressional staff on kratom issues is “chatter” that is persistent from FDA officials, who “consistently claim that kratom [is] dangerous.”

He said, “We felt it was important that staffers and members have the opportunity to hear directly from scientists and policymakers with firsthand experience and knowledge of kratom. They can also learn how it helps.” “It was an important step forward.”

Haddow stated that she hopes this briefing is instructive for lawmakers, as they push to advance a bill The Kratom Consumer Protection Act which was submitted by Sens. In October, Cory Booker and Mike Lee from the D-NJ and R-UT respectively as well as Reps. Mark Pocan and Jack Bergman of the D-WI and R-MI filed a bipartisan bill to regulate kratom nationwide.

The bill, if it becomes law would require FDA take additional steps to evaluate health and safety for kratom. It would also prevent the agency from regulating the kratom product in a more restrictive way than the regulations that apply to food and dietary supplements.

Soren Shade, the founder of Colorado-based Top Tree Herbs, which attended the briefing with Congress, told Marijuana Moment, “This is an important law to pass to help spread good information and to protect the supply for consumers who depend on kratom, and to get rid of it would cause a great deal of suffering and a disaster.”

This bill, in my opinion, is a great first step to ensuring a long-term supply of a clean, safe and reliable leaf. Shade, one of many kratom stakeholders who visited D.C. in order to meet with congressional offices and advocate for reforms, said that there was still a lot to do.

It’s unclear why FDA targeted kratom. However, stakeholders believe it may also be the reason why they placed an import alert on products from Indonesia. , the president of Indonesia met with Joe Biden in a meeting last month and reportedly asked the administration to lift. In a separate request made to FDA in early this year, an Indonesian official pledged to ensure that the exported products met safety standards.

In 2021, the FDA, having failed to schedule kratom in the United States, asked for public input as it prepared to present the U.S. viewpoint on a possible international kratom banning. This never happened. In 2021, the United Nations World Health Organization decided to not recommend that kratom should be banned globally.

The decision was made based on an analysis of the scientific evidence of the potential for abuse, dependence and therapeutic uses of kratom. However, the advocates emphasized that more than 80,000 people had submitted comments to the panel , sharing with them their experiences and perspectives .

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In July, the American Medical Association in adopted a new slate drug policy positions said that “people who use kratom for personal purposes should not be penalized.” However, they added that authorities should evaluate the substance “for its suitability for sale, and for potential oversight via Controlled Substances Act before it can be sold, purchased, prescribed, or marketed.”

The federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, AHRQ, asked the public in 2020 to identify research that specifically examines the risks and benefits associated with cannabinoids and Kratom.

As part of a public solicitation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received over 1,000 comments about kratom in 2020.

The FDA has been accused of misrepresenting the facts about kratom in order to exaggerate its health risks. For example, it failed to differentiate between health hazards caused by kratom and those caused adulterants that are found in unregulated products.