TAKE ACTION TO SAVE KRATOM NOW!!!
We are now facing our darkest hour. The DEA has filed a notice of intent to schedule and ban kratom by September 30th, 2016. Countless people depend on this safe and effective herbal remedy related to coffee that was sacred to the Buddhists, who have used it safely for thousands of years. Many of you depend on this healing leaf for your general well-being, pain and suffering, depression, anxiety, PTSD, opioid dependency and more.
Experts have confirmed the 2 main alkaloids in kratom the DEA wishes to schedule (effectively banning the whole plant) are safe, effective and have many positive benefits. The recent decision to ban kratom federally comes after several failed attempts at the State level. It was your heartfelt testimonials, phone calls and letters that caught the ear of compassionate lawmakers. It's now time to send them to any and everyone with any influence over this action - our last chance! Here are several things you can do while we work the system from the inside with a top Washington, D.C. law firm.
WHAT YOU CAN DO!
- Sign the Petition to the White House - http://tinyurl.com/jk3crus and make sure to confirm your email from the petition. Only Sign ONE time.
- Join us for a March on the White House, Tuesday September 13!
We are co-sponsoring a peaceful protest/march at the White House. Please attend and share the event with your friends and family.
Website: http://kratommarchdc.com/
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/KratomMarchDC/
- Contact Your Congressperson (see letter template)
Find yours here: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
- Contact Your Senator (see letter template)
Find yours here: http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/
- Email the Assistant Secretary of Health
E-mail Karen B. DeSalvo, the Assistant Secretary of Health. E-mails and letters must be documented by all federal agencies for proof, phone calls are effective, but aren't documented in the same way. Please send any information you have from doctors, nurses, researchers, or papers from PubMed.
Email: ASH@hhs.gov
- Call the DEA
Call 202-307-1000 and ask for Melvin Patterson. Press #4 to share your story.
- Donate to the American Kratom Association and buy a shirt!
We must raise an unprecedented amount of money to pay for our legal team, a public relations firm, lobbyists, scientists and more, but we also must raise money to keep our organization running if the ban goes into place so that we keep our doors open and work to reverse it. https://americankratomassociation.nationbuilder.com/donate or http://www.iamkratom.com/ for t-shirts. Click on AKA Fashions as we have more options available.
- Share this AKA Fact Sheet
Share the AKA Fact Sheet: http://www.americankratom.org/aka_fact_sheet
Send these documents/link to journalist, legislators, law enforcement, friends and family so hopefully we can educate everybody including those higher up to better understand where Kratom stands as a medicinal herb.
- Join our Facebook and the #iamkratom photo campaign
Get all the up to the minute news here first https://www.facebook.com/groups/KeepKratomLegal/
THE TIME TO TAKE ACTION IS NOW! BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!
Letter Template*
*It's important not to copy and paste, please use your own words
We need YOUR help to fight the DEA's Intent to Schedule Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine, which would make Kratom (i.e., Mitragyna Speciosa) a controlled substance. Below is a letter template you can use to write to your Senator, your Congressperson, the Department of Justice, the Attorney General, the Office of Diversion, Drug Enforcement Administration or the (ASH) Acting Secretary for Health.
Dear Congressman ______ and Senator ________, etc. OR If writing to a committee member, for example, the House Judiciary Committee, use Honorary Committee Member (committees listed at the bottom)
Find your Senator: http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/
Find your Representative: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
My name is ________, I'm a __-year old _________ from _________ and I’m your constituent (when writing your Congressman and Senator).
I'd like to voice my opposition to the DEA’s Intent to Schedule the alkaloids Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine, which would make Kratom (Mitragynaspeciosa), a schedule 1 controlled substance with no medicinal value. This would put kratom, a plant helping millions of people suffering chronic and acute mental and physical conditions that is also safely easing the nation's opiate epidemic problem naturally, on the same level as illegal drugs like heroin. It would also prevent further research which, to date, has shown kratom to be an effective painkiller that does not cause respiratory depression; the main cause of death from opiate overdose.
-How you came to use kratom….. (did you learn about it in a chronic pain support group, etc?)
-What ailments you suffer, what treatments haven't worked (prescriptions, surgery, etc.), how long you've been dealing with your condition, how long you've been using kratom and how many/what medications you've been able to quit.
-What kratom means to you (has it given you your life back, have you gone back to work, can you play with your, exercise or travel, etc., something anecdotal about why kratom is important and should be available).
-Conclusion: Kratom is a safe alternative to pharmaceutical drugs with important medicinal uses and has changed my life. I’m asking you to please contact the DEA. Please send a letter or request an oversight hearing asking to delay this emergency action. I fear this action by the DEA will only lead to more tragic deaths of victims of the opiate epidemic, maybe even my own (if you think this may lead to a replace and illicit drug use). I know that my own quality of life as a productive member of society will not be the same without kratom.
If you have questions about kratom, please visit www.americankratom.org. Thank you for your time and service to the state.
Sincerely,
--- Include your name, address and phone number.
Please be professional and polite, keeping it as short as possible.
These are all the committees that have jurisdiction over the DEA. House and Senate Judiciary being most important. Message all members!
House Judiciary https://judiciary.house.gov/ subcommittee/full-committee/
Senate Judiciary https://www.judiciary.senate. gov/about/members
House Energy and Commerce https://energycommerce.house. gov/about-ec/energy-commerce- committee-members
House Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Subcommittee http://appropriations.house. gov/about/members/ commercejusticescience.htm
Senate Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Subcommitteehttp://www.appropriations. senate.gov/subcommittees/ commerce-justice-science-and- related-agencies
House Oversight and Gov’t Reform Committee https://oversight.house.gov/ subcommittee/full-committee/
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/about
U.S. Department of Justice https://www.justice.gov/doj/webform/your-message-department-justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
•Department Comment Line: 202-353-1555
•Department of Justice Main Switchboard: 202-514-2000
Peter J. Kadzik
Assistant Attorney General
Office of Legislative Affairs ph: 202-514-2141
Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison ph: 202-514-3465
You can send a message to the Department of Justice HERE
Michael J Lewis,
Office of Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration
8701 Morrissette Drive, Springfield, Virginia 22152; ph: 202-598–6812.
Also please contact the assistant secretary of
HHS, Karen B. DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc
Acting Assistant Secretary for Health
ASH@hhsgov ph: 202-690-7694
Jim Esquea
Assistant Secretary for Legislation (ASL) ph: 202-690-7627
Kevin Griffis
Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA) ph: 202-690-7850
Colleen Barros
Acting Assistant Secretary for Administration (ASA)
HHS Office of the Secretary
email: ASH@hhs.gov
ph: 202-690-7431