American Kratom Association Petitions Ohio State Board of Pharmacy To Rescind Recommendation To Schedule Kratom

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy's proposal to add kratom to the list of Schedule I prohibited drugs, the American Kratom Association (AKA) submitted a petition signed by 22,765 American citizens who support continued access to safe kratom products?including 2,847 Ohio citizens?requesting the Board of Pharmacy rescind its proposal to ban kratom.  The Petition directly challenged the scientific justification used by the Board of Pharmacy and outlined new and definitive scientific evidence that kratom is safe for consumer use, and it is neither dangerously addictive or responsible for any deaths as cited in the Board's Resolution.  The AKA Petition requests the Board rescind its proposed ban on kratom and rely upon new and independent science rather than the disinformation being disseminated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

"The FDA disseminating false and misleading information to state policy makers because the science does not support its federal efforts to ban kratom," said Dave Herman, Chairman of the AKA.  "The FDA is using junk science, and even the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is publicly correcting the record on the false claims by the FDA that kratom has been associated in 44 deaths globally."  Herman pointed to the detailed analysis in the AKA petition that documents each of the eight factors that need to be evaluated to schedule a substance, and kratom simply does not meet the criteria.  "Not one of those factors?when honestly evaluated?indicates that kratom should be prohibited through scheduling, and the Ohio Board of Pharmacy needs to protect the citizens of Ohio from this blatant overreach by the FDA to meddle in the regulatory policies in Ohio."

Information from the independent eight factor analysis on kratom included in the petition was conducted by Jack Henningfield, Ph.D., Vice President of Research, Health Policy and Abuse Liability, at Pinney Associates, and Adjunct Professor of Behavioral Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Many of the conclusions by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy rely on outdated and unsubstantiated theories about the pharmacologic effects of the alkaloids in kratom being advanced by the FDA that have been directly contradicted by published peer-reviewed scientific literature.  "The arguments the FDA is asking states to use are so wrong and out-of-date that a strong case has been made the FDA is violating the Information Quality Act that was enacted to protect states like Ohio from false data dissemination by any agency of the federal government, including the FDA," said Herman. 

"There are millions of Americans across the country and thousands in Ohio who safely consume kratom each year to manage their overall health and well-being.  Many scientists point to a significant number of kratom consumers who are safely using kratom to manage pain as an alternative to dangerously addictive and potentially deadly opioids," Herman continued.  To criminalize this safe botanical that is helping so many people would be irresponsible."

NIDA recently updated their DrugFacts web page on kratom on September 20, 2018 and concluded  that "most kratom associated death appear to have resulted from adulterated products (other drugs mixed with kratom) or taking kratom along with other potent substances, including illicit drugs, opioids, benzodiazepines, alcohol, gabapentin, and over-the-counter medications such as cough syrup.  Also there have been some reports of kratom packaged as dietary supplements that were laced with other compounds that caused deaths."

"The overwhelming body of evidence conclusively shows that the kratom plant itself is not dangerously addictive, and is safe to consume," Herman observed.  "There has never been a substance scheduled and banned in the United States because it was adulterated with a dangerous or toxic dose of another substance."

Herman concluded, "The AKA is here to work with the Ohio Board of Pharmacy to develop reasonable guidelines for kratom that help protect Ohio citizens, while allowing them to continue to make their own decisions on their health and well-being."

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

SOURCE American Kratom Association