AKA Vows to Fight Proposed Kratom Ban Ohio

OHIO BOARD OF PHARMACY RECOMMENDS BAN ON KRATOM AKA Vows To Fight FDA Disinformation Campaign that Misleads State Regulators

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WASHINGTON, DC – October 1, 2018 – Dave Herman, Chairman of the American Kratom Association (AKA), strongly denounced the action by the State Board of Pharmacy, on October 1, 2018, to commence the process to schedule kratom as a Schedule I controlled substance in Ohio.

“The findings of the Ohio Board of Pharmacy today parrot the false propaganda of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in their crusade to ban kratom,” Herman said. “The FDA attempted the same scheduling process in 2016, and that recommendation was rejected by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) because the FDA data failed to meet the required standards for scheduling of kratom at the federal level.”

“Since their failure in 2016, the FDA has launched a broad-based campaign to demonize this natural plant by consistently misstating the science and the actual pharmacologic activity of kratom,” continued Herman. “The FDA has flooded state regulators, including the Ohio Board of Pharmacy with false claims and disinformation about the addiction profile and safety of this safe botanical plant.”

FDA Commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, has repeatedly stated that kratom is an opioid, but credible scientists strongly dispute that statement showing that kratom’s pharmacologic activity is distinctly different than classic opioids where the respiratory system of the user shuts down and leads to overdoses that have created the opioid crisis that we are in today.

Commissioner Gottlieb also claims that there are 44 deaths associated with the use of kratom. Independent analysis of those claims has shown that the FDA conclusions are wrong and appeared to be deliberate manipulations of the data in order to convince the DEA and state regulatory agencies to enact bans on kratom because they do not have the scientific evidence that is statutorily required for such bans.

“The FDA has ignored credible science that clearly demonstrates kratom has a very low potential for abuse and poses no risk to the public health for the citizens of Ohio or any other state,” Herman said. “AKA provided detailed reports and data to the Board of Pharmacy demonstrating scientific evidence, including new peer-reviewed and published research, concluding that kratom has a very low addiction profile, and any deaths associated with kratom are from adulterated or contaminated kratom products, not the natural plant.”

There has never been a scheduling of any substance in the United States because it was adulterated with a toxic or dangerous chemical. The FDA already has broad statutory authority to seize any adulterated product that poses a danger to the public, and they can provide the evidence to the Department of Justice to prosecute any individual or company who produces or distributes a dangerous adulterated kratom product.

The AKA is looking forward to working with the Ohio Board of Pharmacy to provide evidence that directly contradicts the conclusions found in their scheduling proposal for kratom. The nearly 5 million kratom consumers, and the tens of thousands of Ohio citizens, who safely consume kratom as a part of their health and well-being regimen should not have that freedom infringed upon by any regulation that is premised on bad science, inaccurate data provided by the FDA, and a deliberate attempt to manipulate the scheduling process by a federal agency

ABOUT AKA
The American Kratom Association (AKA), a consumer-based non-profit organization, advocates to protect the freedom of consumers to safely consume natural kratom as a part of their personal health and well-being regimen.  AKA represents the nearly 5 million Americans who consume kratom safely each year.www.americankratom.org

This article appeared first at The American Kratom Association and appears here with permission. 

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