A message from Dave Herman regarding recent "Kratom Deaths" (Hint: There are no kratom dea
When the DEA announced their withdrawal of their Notice to schedule kratom on October 13, 2016, they invited public comment on whether kratom should be scheduled or not, with a deadline for submission of comments by December 1, 2016. Among the 23,000+ comments that were submitted to the DEA, there were approximately 1,175 commenters who self-identified themselves as doctors, scientists, veterans, lawyers, or law enforcement officers. If you are one of those doctors or scientists or lawyers willing to help pro-bono, I hope you will take the time to read this email. The FDA and the DEA have not stopped their war on kratom, they have just shifted the battlefield. As of today, we have seen two suspiciously similar reports on deaths that a Coroner in New York and a Medical Examiner in Florida claimed to be the result of kratom overdose. A news reporter disclosed to the AKA that the Florida Medical Examiner admitted that he had talked with the Coroner in New York to discuss the use of kratom by the police officer who died in that town. There was no discussion about the use of injectable anabolic steroids by the decedent in New York, and the possible association with hemorrhagic pulmonary edema from the use of such steroids. Neither did the Florida Medical Examiner discuss the two prescription drugs that were found in the blood toxicology report of the decedent in Florida, one an antidepressant, in the other a muscle relaxer, both of which have warnings on their FDA required labels that they should not be used in combination because to do so could cause death. No, it appears that these two so-called medical professionals jointly concluded that the blame lies with the consumption of kratom by these two individuals who died, despite the fact that there is no scientific evidence that corroborates any kind of causality as they are now claiming. The American Kratom Association has always believed in the importance of science within the fight to protect kratom. During this fight, science has been on our side. Science has proven that kratom is not dangerously addictive and, unless mixed with a toxic doses of some other foreign substance, is not a threat to someone's health. Your support of kratom is why I am writing today to ask for the help of every doctor and scientist – and any former medical examiners -- who could help us evaluate the contradictory and seemingly unsupported conclusions of these two public officials who want to blame kratom. At the AKA, we are organizing a committee of scientists, doctors, and former medical examiners who can help assess each one of these cases as they emerge. And we need some attorneys who can advise us on how to demand and get needed documents from these pubic officials who refuse to produce documents. We would like experts who can volunteer to help us evaluate these reports and collaborate with other professionals. It is critical that we all work together. Frankly, I need your expertise to help set the record straight. I do not anticipate it will be a heavy lift, but your advice and counsel in a conference call with other professionals would be invaluable to us. If you can volunteer, please send me a note at dave.herman@americankratom.org. The opponents of kratom are marching forward with a clear message, and it's vital we push back.
#iamkratom, #WeAreKratom, #teamAKA Sincerely, Dave Herman Chairman American Kratom Association
