UPDATE on meeting with Congressman Mark Pocan from our lobbyist, Mac Haddow:
Susan Ash, Founder of the AKA, and Mac Haddow, the AKA’s federal lobbyist, met with Congressman Mark Pocan in his Washington D.C. office on the day before the House Appropriations Committee Oversight Hearing with the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the May 25, 2017 Oversight Hearing with newly appointed FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottleib to discuss the ongoing campaign of misinformation on kratom by federal government agencies. He asked us to provide some questions that he may ask during these hearings and we obliged.
Susan and Congressman Pocan discussed the importance of preserving the freedom of consumers to make their own choices on their health and well-being and the specific actions by NIH and the FDA to interfere with those freedoms. Susan specifically provided Congressman Pocan with the documents being disseminated by NIH and FDA that demonize kratom and make unsubstantiated claims about dangerous addiction levels and threats to consumer safety.
Congressman Pocan thanked Susan for the leadership shown by the AKA, he credited the AKA for making his job easier to get members of Congress to sign on the his “Dear Colleage” letter, and pledged his personal commitment to hold both NIH and FDA accountable for their unfair attacks on kratom and their attempts to restrict consumer access to this important botanical. He was very pleased to hear that the AKA has been in talks with the Speaker of the House in WI, Congressman Vos, a friend and old colleague of his, to reverse the state ban in WI. He offered his help with our efforts there.
The House Committee on Appropriations Oversight Hearing on NIH will be held on Wednesday, May 17 at 10 am, and can be viewed on a webcast at the following link:
http://appropriations.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx…
The Oversight Hearing on FDA will be held Thursday, May 25, 2017 at 10:00 am and the link to view this Hearing will be posted at the following Committee website:
