In the past month of September 2016, the proposed Kratom ban has no doubt stirred up the good ol’ American sense of civic duty. Hundreds upon hundreds of calls were made to Congress House Representatives and Senators often times with no more than a few days to a week’s notice beforehand.

Even people with severe phone anxiety realized that they had to muster up the courage and contact their representatives to make a difference.

After an unprecedented barrage of phone calls and emails from the Kratom community, our presence was felt loud and clear in the form of two Dear Colleague letters addressed to the DEA to delay scheduling. One was from 51 House Reps headed by Representatives Pocan/Salmon and the other from 11 Senators lead by Senator Orrin Hatch. Both letters had almost equal bipartisan involvement, which is a feat in and of itself  for Congress. A third letter to the DEA lead by Senator Wyden along with Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) was also sent.

On behalf of the Kratom community, we want to say thank you to each and every one of the Congressmen and women who signed the letter in support of Kratom and against the overreach of the DEA.

Given the recent successes achieved with our civic rights, it is our responsibility to continue this action in the form of our votes.

So please! In the upcoming Congressional elections, keep note of the Congressmen (see below) who supported the Kratom community by signing the Dear Colleague Letters and please educate your friends and family.

The following is a comprehensive list of Kratom supporters in Congress that you should know about before the next election on November 8th, 2016.

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U.S. House Democrats who signed the DEA letter:

Barbara Lee – CA-13

Jim Costa – CA-16

Michael M. Honda – CA-17

Zoe Lofgren – CA-19

Julia Brownley – CA-26

Scott Peters – CA-52

Jared Polis – CO-02

Lois Frankel – FL-22

Hank Johnson – GA-04

Tulsi Gabbard – HI-02

John Yarmuth – KS-03

Michael Capuano – MA-07

John Conyers – MI-13

Betty McCollum – MN-04

Keith Ellison – MN-05

Steve Israel – NY-03

Tim Ryan – OH-13

Susanne Bonamici – OR-01

Earl Blumenauer – OR-03

Peter DeFazio – OR-04

Steve Cohen – TN-09

Robert C. “Bobby” Scott – VA-03

Gerald Connolly – VA-11

Susan DelBene – WA-01

Adam Smith – WA-09

Denny Heck – WA-10

Gwen Moore – WI-04

Mark Pocan – WI-02

 

U.S. House Republicans who signed the DEA letter:

Paul Gosar – AZ-04

Matt Salmon – AZ-05

Dana Rohrabacher – CA-48

Scott Tipton – CO-03

Barry Loudermilk – GA-11

Tom Graves – GA-14

Steve King – IA-04

Raul Labrador – ID-01

Thomas Massie – KS-04

Dan Benishek, M.D. – MI-01

Justin Amash – MI-03

Tom Emmer – MN-06

Walter Jones – NC-3

Richard Hudson – NC-08

Frank LoBiondo – NJ-02

Leonard Lance – NJ-07

Joe Heck, D.O. – NV-03

Brad Wenstrup, M.D. – OH-02

Mark Sanford – SC-01

Mick Mulvaney – SC-05

Ted Poe – TX-01

Dave Brat – VA-07

Morgan Griffith – VA-09

 

U.S. Senators (Democrat, Independent and Republican) who signed the DEA letter:

Sanders (D-VT)

Mark Warner (D-VA)

Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Michael Bennet (D-CO)

Angus King (I-ME)

Hatch (R-UT)

Mark Kirk(R-IL)

Mike Lee (R-UT)

Thom Tillis (R-NC)

 

U.S. Senators who signed the second DEA letter:

Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Cory Booker (D-NJ)

Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)