This petition is in response to the proposal that Kratom be listed as a schedule 1 controlled substance as proposed by the Drug Enforcement Administration on their notice of intent dated 08/31/2016.

First, we thank the members of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, who listened intently to the voices of their constituents and signed/sent "Dear Colleague" letters to the DEA asking that the plan to schedule Kratom should be postponed to allow for more input from the public. We appreciate that members of Congress on both sides of the aisle listened to the evidence presented, came together on such short notice, and spoke on our behalf. We’d also like to thank the DEA for agreeing to postpone this ban to allow public comment period and a more thorough discussion on the issue.

We ask all within the government who hold the proper authorities to protect Kratom and keep it off the controlled substances list .A ban on Kratom will have an immediate and detrimental impact on the health of hundreds of thousands of Americans, possibly more, who have chosen Kratom as an all-natural, safer alternative to the prescription drugs they would otherwise be forced to take for their medical conditions. As you all know, there is an opioid epidemic in the United States, there are about 30,000 opioid drug related deaths in the United States every year, and over two thirds of them are from prescribed medications. In the 20 years that Kratom has been on the markets in the United States, no deaths have been attributed to Kratom being used alone. In almost all cases where Kratom was present in the deceased, multiple drugs were also found. Some early studies have shown that the risk of respiratory depression is much lower for Kratom use than for prescription opioids, while Kratom maintains significant pain-killing effects. Also, there is a significant decrease in the potential for addiction. In nature, Kratom is a plant related to the coffee family. Tea brewed from its leaves can cause relaxation and a lifted mood. These effects are generally mild, therefore decreasing the potential for habit formation. The mild effects of the plant allow people to receive the pain-relieving effects they need without the intoxicating/drunken effects that normally come from prescribed opioids. They also provide relief for persons suffering from depression and anxiety, including people who have not responded well to traditional anti-depressants like SSRIs and SNRIs as well as persons in recovery from opioid and/or alcohol dependency.

It is our belief that scheduling Kratom will result in the deaths of many people whose medical conditions are properly controlled by the use of Kratom. Making Kratom a Schedule 1 narcotic would force many of these people back onto prescription drugs that may not be effective for them. Many others will refuse to return to those drugs because of the side effects, addiction potential, and long term health effects that come with their use. They will exchange those conditions for chronic pain, and many other terrible afflictions. Still others who have used Kratom as an effective treatment for addiction to heroin, alcohol or prescription opioids will likely relapse and return to those drugs. The consequences of this will also spike the numbers of deaths related to suicide and overdose. That is an outcome that can be diverted, as Kratom does not pose a significant threat to the health of the American public. The remaining reason of the DEA’s argument on the legality of Kratom lies in its safety record. They stated that 600 Kratom related calls were made to poison control centers across the United States over a 5 year period between 2010 and 2015.. To put that into perspective, 50,000 calls to poison control related to laundry detergent packets spanning the same period of time. The DEA’s argument on the legality of the products remains to be discerned.

In closing, we thank you in advance for taking the time to consider this petition. We know that you will give it the same consideration and diligence as the petition in September . Again, thank you very much. We trust that the argument presented in this petition will be taken into account before any decisions about Kratom’s legality will be made.

Sincerely,

We the Undersigned