Your help is needed urgently to stop a global ban on kratom. The United States FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is urging WHO (World Health Organization) to criminalize kratom (mitragyna speciosa). A United Nations expert committee will be looking into the benefits vs. drawbacks of kratom use.
It seems likely that Big Pharma, whose profits are threatened by the legalization of cannabis and the popularity of kratom, is pressuring the FDA to take this horrible step that is both anti-science and anti-humanity.
American Kratom Association states the following ways the FDA has tried to bureaucratically bungle the public comment process:
- When FDA finally announced a comment period, they only provided a 17-day window (11 business days) for scientists and the public to prepare and submit comments. Not only is that an unreasonable length of time but also a violation of requirements dictated by the Controlled Substances Act and procedural safeguards of the Administrative Procedures Act. It is also a stark departure from the typical 30 to 60-day comment period that FDA permits on such matters.
- In order to guarantee a fair process and reasonable comment window, AKA filed a lawsuit to extend the comment period and won.
- To comply with the lawsuit, FDA reopened the comment portal, but their website was no longer setup to receive comments directly, instead pointing people to a different website which created confusion and established a barrier to public input.
- At the recommendation of an FDA representative, the AKA attempted to hand deliver comments on August 9, but no staff were present to receive them. When the AKA Executive Director called the FDA, a representative said to redeliver the next day (past the deadline) or to submit electronically.
- The AKA submitted nearly 40,000 comments electronically, per FDA’s instructions, yet so far, receipt of comments has not been acknowledged by FDA or recorded publicly.
Have you benefited from kratom? Today, kratom needs you to stand up for it. We live in spooky times, for sure. We have to fight for everything that is good and helpful. We can’t just kick back and enjoy. If the FDA convinces WHO to ban kratom worldwide, millions of people will suffer needlessly.
On August 12, 2021, the AKA (American Kratom Association) succeeded in getting the FDA to extend its public comment and scientific evidence deadline. You can still submit your public comment on how kratom has benefited you and should be legal everywhere. The new deadline for comments to WHO is now September 24, 2021.
Please help prevent our beloved kratom from being unfairly persecuted in this extreme manner. Write a remark about how much kratom has helped you, or why you oppose to banning natural plant substances and support the right to do research and choose your own medicine, whether pharmaceutical or natural.
DO NOT get angry, use vulgar words, or say anything critical of the FDA, WHO, or Big Pharma. Just state your case very calmly for why kratom should be legal globally.
American Kratom Association, which will meet with the FDA in October 2021, has been collecting public comments at the following webpage: