Meeting Public Comments

Misty Brown

I was addicted to FDA approved pain pills, benzos and muscle relaxers for 11 years straight, 20082019.I got fired from chronic pain management in April 2019 because I didnt show up for a per contract pill count. I was 11 pills short and my drug dealers didnt have any pink oxy 10s. After that, I went to the streets and started doing cocaine while I was searching for a new pain management doctor. In June 2019, whilst in cocaine withdrawal, I watched that documentary A Leaf of Faith. My journey with Kratom began the very next day. Kratom shut that I need one more snort, one more pill, one more escape noise off in my brain. It allowed me to work on my whys of addiction. I have not been back to pain management in over 5 years. I am a functioning member of society again. I am a thriving mother again. I pay taxes again. I am no longer a burden to my kids. I am now a first time grandma. I will be forever grateful and thankful that I accidentally found labtested wholeleaf powder Kratom. I now pass on my journey, wisdom and science to help those struggling with addiction, chronic pain, anxiety and depression. Yours truly, Kratom advocate/activist from Colorado est. 2019.

Keith Pascucci

My name is Keith Pascucci and I am totally against bill SF 367. I live in Scarsdale New York. I am a 52 year old school teacher in NYC grades K8.Those of us that use Kratom to assist in managing our various ailments are absolutely terrified that our beloved leaf is on the chopping block. This whole situation is causing me unimaginable mental agony every day between law suits and misinformation, lies, etc.I use Kratom tea daily to help manage my spinal cord problems. I was diagnosed with Spinal Stenosis, Scoliosis, and Degenerative Disk Disease in 2000. I suffered in agony until 2011 when I finally found Kratom. This gentle herb works amazingly well to aid in bringing my pain level from a 10+, to a 12, without the use of prescription, or over the counter pain relievers. I also found that it offers a gentle mood boost and provides me with mental clarity and focus. A cup of Kratom tea has replaced my morning cup of coffee. I have never been an opiate user, so I really cannot make claims about opiates. I DO know that if I were to take opiates, I would not be able to drive my car to work, or handle my job responsibilities. Opiates are mind altering, and people cannot function normally while on them, especially myself. I tried them in 2000 and hated the way they made me feel. I feel nothing but relief from Kratom tea.I also would not be able to teach. I teach 900 students a week in an elementary school setting, ages 314, and in order to do my job, I must be awake, motivated, creative, and patient. Kratom assists in helping me cope with my pain perfectly, without the dangers of addiction, possible DUI, and all the other toxic side effects that come from using synthetic pharmaceutical and OTC medications. My decade long use of Tylenol, Advil, and Aleve did extensive damage to my liver, kidneys, and stomach. I have documentation proving all of the aforementioned organ damage. I suffered acute kidney failure as well as decreased liver function due to Tylenol and Advil. I also suffered a lot of pain, and numerous bleeding ulcers, as a direct result of Naproxen Sodium, the active ingredient in Aleeve. Since finding Kratom, all of these conditions have been reversed, manged and thankfully my body was able to heal. I still have multiple spinal problems, that would be causing me debilitating pain if it were not for Kratom.Thr FDA is not basing their research, or "health warnings" on credible sources! Prescription drugs, tobacco, and alcohol kill hundreds of thousands of people each year, but they are still legal and approved by the FDA? Really? The pharmaceutical industry wants to control law abiding people that are Veterans, nurses, teachers, doctors, lawyers, parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and every other walk of life you can imagine. Prohibition does not work. The war on drugs is a losing battle that has cost American taxpayers trillions of dollars.Kratom saved my life. I went from stuck on the couch, 300 lbs, to putting a full gym in my house and now I am 173 lbs. My wife is an AuD and supports Kratom 100% as do the other doctors in her two thriving practices.Keith Pascucci

Jodi Domingue

Back in 2013 I had a really bad addiction to methamphetamines. I managed to one day wake up from a long overdue nap wanting to get off of those methamphetamines. I was sick and tired of all the addiction problems. A friend of mine told me about kratom and how it helps with withdrawals and pain. I have four slip discs in my neck and back that always bothered me. So I started taking kratom and now my family has their Jodi back! I'm a better mother a better daughter a better friend and most importantly a better person because of it. Thank you for listening or should I say reading my comment. I have now been sober since October 16th of 2013!

Medea Latham

My name is Medea Latham and my Kratom story started in February of 2017. Let me give you a little background. In January 2015 I was put in the hospital with Pneumonia. I was on continuous oxygen and continued with it after coming home. A few months later, actually Mothers Day of 2015, I was getting ready for church. I told my Mom I had the worst headache I had ever had. I went unresponsive and an ambulance was called. They were told that I had a massive brain bleed. They took me to emergency surgery. I was in a coma for about a week. I woke up to being on 4 kinds of blood pressure medicines. I am a disabled RN with 2 young sons. At the time, I was bedridden with Multiple Sclerosis and Fibromyalgia. I have COPD and Heart disease and Diabetes. I found out about Kratom in a Fibromyalgia support group from a couple of friends. I did a lot of research on this due to my medical background. After the first time taking it, my Mom , my caregiver asked me how I was feeling. I started crying and told her that I was pain free for the first time in many years. A little over 5 years later, I am no longer bedridden, I am the healthiest I have ever been. My Diabetes is in remission, I am no longer wearing oxygen 24 a day, my pain is still relieved with my Kratom. I still take the same amount I have always taken. I am now my Mothers caregiver. My sons have a Real Mom for the first time in their lives. I am a productive member of society again. Today June 14,2023, 7 years after my brain bleed and surgery, I was finally taken off my blood pressure medicine by my doctor. KRATOM SAVES LIVES. Please consider supporting the Kratom Consumer Protection Act.

Wayne Miller

Let me preface this with a little family history. My mother's side of the family are almost all alcoholics. Her father ran his car of a bridge around the age of 50, because he was drunk driving, and 2 of her 3 brothers died in their 40s, from alcoholism. My mother, although not as bad they were, is also an alcoholic. I didn't meet my father until i was 24, and when i did, i found out that he also drank at least a 12 pack of beer a day.I spent most of my life addicted to alcohol since age 14. By 16, I was drinking every night to the point of being drunk. At 25, I started drinking in the morning and all day long. I needed 5 or 6 drinks before work just so I wouldn't shake so bad. Several times, I tried to quit drinking, and within 36 hours, I would go into seizures. Did the detox a few times, but wasn't strong enough to stay away from the alcohol. Went away to a great Christian rehab in 2011. It was a 9 week program and i made it through sober. I followed that up with living at a Christian halfway house for 3 months. Life was new. I was new. It was great. But at some point, you have to live in the unprotected "real world". Within a few months, I started getting those alcohol cravings back. This was 2012. I didn't want to go down that road that has brought me and my loved ones so much pain. So I started searching on the internet and found out about a leaf called kratom that some alcoholics had used to quit and abstain from alcohol. I wasn't drinking yet, but was real close. I was very skeptical, but I was desperate not to go back into my own personal hell. It took about a few weeks to get my dosage right, but it worked. I couldn't believe it. I could make it through the day and not be fighting those generational demons that had haunted me my whole life. It was too good to be true. I took it everyday and my quality of life reached a level i had never witnessed or thought possible. Then in 2015/2016, I had heard that kratom was getting banned. I had just had my first daughter and didn't want to put that in jeopardy by having illegal substances in my home, so I quit taking kratom. Within 3 weeks, started drinking again. Within 4 months, I had lost everything, including my marriage, license again, job, and relationship with my daughter. February 1, 2017 I enrolled myself in a year long rehab. Did great there. I can stay sober in a protected atmosphere with no temptaion around me, but unfortunately the world isn't like that. After graduating that program i decided that i would start life over in a whole new area to me just miles from where this rehab was. Within a few weeks, the cravings for alcohol was creeping back. I surely didn't want to go down that road again. I was 40 years old and didn't have much fight or hope in me left should i give in to my addiction. I remember thinking to myself, if only kratom didn't get banned. (I forgot to mention that at the year long rehab, we had no television, internet, etc, so had no way to keep up with what was going on in the real world, let alone the news on kratom). Little did I realize, it was never banned. I ordered some immediately. I sit here writing this 7 years later. I have remarried, I see my child regularly, I have excelled at my job. I own 3 cars (most of my life I barely owned 1 because of DUIs, and lack of financial resources because of my addiction). These last 7 years have been my best. I could have saved myself from alot of pain had I found this earlier in life. But I'm lucky. 12 of the guys I was in the year long rehab with, have died from overdose. There is some guilt about me not keeping up with them as good as I should have, because I could have probably saved a few of them by telling them about kratom. I will be forever grateful for this leaf, that gave me a life i never thought was possible.

Cathy Amerling

I am a 65 year old responsible adult and Kratom has been a Godsend for chronic pain, depression and anxiety for the last ten years. I was able to stop taking antidepressants thanks to Kratom. The antidepressants that I had taken had horrible side effects and caused me to have to take several more medications to try and counteract the medical problems they were causing with my heart and blood pressure. Thanks to Kratom I was able to get off of all those prescription meds and now have zero side effects. It has been a real lifesaver for me and many many other people. I work a very physical job and have three more years to go till retirement. Kratom enables me to do my job and to do it well without pain. Kratom has given me my life back.

Karla Dickson

I respectfully request that you do not ban kratom. I am a 55 year old diabetic that suffers from neuropathic pain and gastroparesis. Kratom allows me to still function it gives me relief that wasnt available with pharmaceuticals without negative side effects. My future wouldve been very different without kratom. It has literally saved my life. Thank you.

Stephanie Salsman

I am a 38 year old wife and mother of two. I've had chronic back pain for eleven years. I used to be in pain management before we lost our health insurance years ago. I was in a chronic pain support group back in 2013 when someone suggested Kratom. I had nothing to lose so I gave it a try. It has been a game changer not only for me but my family as well. My pain is managed so much better now than it ever was with pain medication. I am truly the mother and wife my family deserves all thanks to Kratom. It saved me and gave me my life back! Stephanie Salsman

Michael Rivera [Kratom consumer protection act. ]

I have Post traumatic stress disorder. And Severe Depression .Cronin knee pain Kratom helps me have a normal Life. Social situations like work are easier.. its like drinking a cup of coffee in the morning. Its the very same thing. In my opinion I think coffee is stronger.!

Devin Newman

I urge the subcommittee to clearly distinguish between concentrated or synthetic 7hydroxymitragynine (7OH) products and traditional, unadulterated kratom leaf. Natural kratom leaf contains only trace amounts of 7OH, whereas isolated or enhanced 7OH products can be many times more potent and pharmacologically different. Federal agencies, including the FDA and DEA, have issued warnings specifically regarding highly concentrated or synthetic kratom alkaloid products, not plain kratom leaf sold in its natural form. Conflating these two categories risks misinforming policy decisions and punishing responsible consumers while failing to address the real source of harm. Effective regulation should focus on banning or strictly controlling synthetic or adulterated products, enforcing accurate labeling, and protecting access to natural kratom leaf for adults who use it responsibly. Evidencebased policy requires recognizing this critical distinction.