Kratom Letter

Dear Senator Cornyn,


			I am writing you regarding an issue very close to my heart.  This is in regards to the DEA’s Notice of Intent to ‘Schedules of Controlled Substances: Temporary Placement of Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine Into Schedule I’, essentially banning a harmless medicinal herb, which has helped many individuals to alleviate their own personal physical pain, but help with withdrawal symptoms from prescription opioid drugs and street narcotics.  It is my opinion that the DEA is exceeding it’s authority to place a plant used by hundreds of thousands of law abiding citizens on the list of Schedule I drugs, which would turn them into immediate criminals - risking extensive jail time due to mandatory minimums, removing their right to vote, and severely impairing the ability to get a job once they are freed, amongst all the other negative consequences.  As I’m sure you are well aware, the US has the highest prison population in the world, with over 50% of the inmates in federal prison being non-violent drug offenders.  It is absolutely absurd for the DEA to add a plant, which has been used as a tea for thousands of years by Pacific Islanders, to their scheduling list.  According to medical literature, not a single death has been caused by kratom (without the individual being a polydrug cocktail that included kratom).  The DEA says that kratom has resulted in a total of 30 deaths in the US, and although that is a tragedy, prescription opioid medications alone have resulted in a whopping 28,000 deaths from heroin and prescription painkillers in 2014.  Right now, there is a huge crisis of deaths from opioid abuse in this country that could be helped greatly by leaving kratom available and in the hands of consumers.  Kratom, being a natural plant, should be regulated by the FDA under the DSHEA as a dietary supplement, as it meets that exact criteria.  If there is concern about it’s misuse, it should be restricted to adults age 18 or 21 to purchase.

Recently, the state of Florida had proposed to ban kratom earlier this year, but after testimony and an examination of common sense medical information, Florida came to the conclusion:

“a review of information currently available through identified law enforcement and laboratory sources in Florida indicates that Kratom does not constitute a significant risk to the safety or welfare of Florida residents. The Florida Department of Health (DOH) reports no pervasive health issues attributed to the ingestion of Kratom products in Florida.”

The DEA should not be able to trample on the rights of the states to decide what is best for their citizens, as the Obama administration has so often done through his presidency.  If the DEA oversteps it’s boundaries, I believe the Great State of Texas should fight this ridiculous action by taking steps to decriminalize kratom for the residents of this state to use.

I myself am a daily kratom user, drinking it in the form of a tea to help alleviate the excruciating pain brought upon by my irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD).  Banning this substance would negatively affect my quality of life to intolerable degree, of which I have found no prescription medication or treatment to be as effective as kratom.

I believe God gave us this miracle pain relieving plant, to use for the benefit of all mankind, as he said in Genesis 1:29-30

Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so.

I view the fact that this plant was just recently brought to the west from across the great oceans as a sign from God that it is intended to help the people of this nation, to help our opioid epidemic, which is taking the lives of so many of our young people today.

So, I ask you, honorable sir, to please look into this issue as soon as possible and help us to stop this irrational action by the DEA.  The DEA has said that there is no need to have a period of public comment before kratom is banned, so I also ask you to request that the DEA rescind this opinion and allow for a period of public comment where legitimate users of this medicinal plant are able to testify before a committee or submit comments to the DEA for the purpose of showing them that they are wrong in taking this action.  There is not much time before the full ban is scheduled to take place on the 30th of this month.

Please help.

Thank you and God Bless,