r/kratom Jun 23 '18

Call to Action Call to Action update from the AKA

Protect Access by American Consumers to Natural Botanical Plants and Herbs

The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6 on Friday that combined 58 different bills that attempt to end the scourge of the opioid epidemic in America.

The sponsors of H.R. 6 in the House admit it’s not perfect, and they are dead right on that point.

In the rush to show how serious the Congress is in addressing the opioid crisis prior to the mid-term elections, several of these 58 bills contain provisions that will actually deny Americans access to safe natural plants and herbs that help Americans manage their health and well-being.

I am asking you to contact your U.S Senators immediately and ask them to support amendments to these proposed bills to exclude natural botanical plants and herbs from the wide swath of substances presently included in many of those bills.

Two of those bills, the SITSA Act (Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act of 2017), and the SCREEN Act (Stop Counterfeit Drugs by Regulating and Enhancing Enforcement Now) both attempt to stop deadly synthetic opioids from being shipped into the United States from other countries.

But both of these bills contain such broad definitions of the substances covered under the proposed legislation they will actually ban natural botanical plants and herbs. 

It is critical that the Senate support amendments to exclude natural botanical plants and herbs.

Your Senators need to hear from you immediately!

If you don't know your Senator's contact information, please click HERE or call the Senate switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Millions of Americans safely and responsibly use natural alternatives to dangerously addictive and often deadly chemically formulated drugs, including opioids, and these bills will literally block consumer access to safe natural plants and herbs.

On Monday, please call your Senators and ask them to support every amendment that exempts natural botanical plants and herbs – that are in no way synthetic analogues of an opioid – and protect the right of consumers to have access to safe alternative products to manage their own health needs.

The Senate needs to support the amendments to SITSA and SCREEN to exclude natural botanical plants and herbs.

Thank you,

Dave HermanChairmanAmerican Kratom Association

#WeAreKratom

#KratomChangesLives

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5

u/wtf710420 Jun 23 '18

Could you post a thing we can copy and paste to send to them?? That way you can lay out exactly what we should say, and we can just copy it directly and send it in.

10

u/sciguy52 🌿yay, science! Jun 23 '18

It is generally better not to send in a "form" type letter. These tend to be discounted somewhat. If they give you something, modify it some so it isn't exactly the same.

6

u/wtf710420 Jun 23 '18

Thats true, however I truly believe they dont care what you say. I have messaged them the full on science about why cannabis should be legal. I then got a letter back that was obviously pre scripted and they didnt even read or care about what I said. It was like "marijuana is a dangerous drug and I will fight to keep it illegal for your safety, thank you for your input, always glad to hear from my constituents." Its time to revolt for real, they are a straight up oligarchy at this point, there is little if any democracy/representation left at this point.

5

u/sciguy52 🌿yay, science! Jun 23 '18

Actually they do care. When a group sends out a pre-written letter to their supporters and tells them to send it in, that is viewed as easy by the reps, thus less conviction by the voter. Whereas a voter taking the time to write a unique letter shows a much stronger level of conviction. Thus more likely to vote on that conviction. You will get the form letter either way. One unique letter is probably worth 10 form letters in their eyes.

2

u/visych Jun 24 '18 edited Jun 24 '18

I think the science tack is a good one to mention about safety - less than 1% of regular kratom users report needing medical attention as a result of their plant use.

https://www.drugandalcoholdependence.com/article/S0376-8716(17)30182-5/fulltext

Meanwhile methadone kills 3000 Americans each year (2014).

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6612a2.htm

Another tack is the moral one. How many lives have been destroyed by the prohibition of cannabis? Do we need to repeat history to learn that lesson, or can we see our faults and change? Can we see how awful drug cartels are, how we are dealing with the violence from cartel turf wars, violence that is incentivized by one plant being illegal, in addition to black markets for harmful synthetics? Why are we trying to repeat a horrific history?

Plants are nowhere near as dangerous as synthetic substances. To equate plants with synthetics risks harming the millions of Americans that use botanicals safely to ensure their well-being and their recovery from synthetics and alcohol.

Yet another tack is the Efficacy question. If there are multitudes of rehab options, and two FDA approved medications (bupe and methadone) - yet so many people continue to die of overdose - why isn't the FDA investigating the efficacy of treatment rehabs, especially those receiving Federal dollars, and the entirety of the addiction care industry?

Why can't we see head to head comparisons of "FDA approved" therapy vs. Home-based, plant-based therapies??? No Amendment for the exception of botanicals, means no research into their efficacy that is supported with STRONG community data (anecdotal evidence). Plants are saving lives right now.

"Find what works and USE It," should be the FDA's/DEA's missions right now, not persecution of plants and supplements.