WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — With exactly two weeks to go before the December 1st end to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agency (DEA) comment period on kratom, the American Kratom Association (AKA) is seeking today to rally the kratom community to double the number of comments on file from the current level of about 5400 to at least 10,000.
AKA created the www.KratomComments.org website in October 2016 to make it easier for consumers to submit their comments to the DEA. As of noon EST Wednesday, the AKA website had been used to contribute 3,037 of the 5,376 comments logged by the DEA – a very strong 56 percent of the total.
AKA is working hard to get as many people as possible who have benefited from kratom to share their opposition to the classification of the coffee-like herb as a Schedule I drug.
American Kratom Association Director Susan Ash said: “Today, we are telling the kratom community that it’s now or never. This is it. We only have two weeks left to be heard. We know there are tens of thousands of YouTube videos on this topic and that more than 140,000 people signed the White House petition on kratom. We need to hear from those people now. I am personally appealing to those of you who know kratom to take the time to go to KratomComments.org and speak out today.”
Ash added: “If you’ve already sent your comments in to the DEA directly or through KratomComments.org, please make it your mission this week to find five other people in the kratom community, and/or family members who have witnessed positive changes in your life as a result of kratom, and encourage them to send in comments. We need to have 10,000 comments in front of the DEA to make sure our voices cannot be ignored. I am appealing to you — to each and every one of you with a story like my own — to help get this done.”
The KratomComments.org website simplifies the process of submitting comments to the DEA through Regulations.gov and also provides kratom community members with an assurance that there will be an independent record of their submissions – one that is not subject to federal computer problems (as were experienced shortly after the comment period opened) or any concerns about “missing” or otherwise “lost” comment submissions to the DEA.
Visitors making comments at the KratomComments.org site receive a confirmation and tracking number from the federal comment logging system. KratomComments.org operates under a strict privacy policy and only submits to the DEA the personally identifiable information that (1) the individual commenter elects to provide and (2) the DEA requires. No comments are being screened or otherwise reviewed by the organizers of KratomComments.org, which does not supply a boilerplate text or otherwise standardized comment for submitters.
The American Kratom Association is proud to have been instrumental in helping to coordinate the broad-based national opposition to the DEA’s attempt to effectively ban kratom. Prior to the reversal by the DEA in October of the emergency scheduling process, the AKA played an integral role in:
- Circulating a “We The People” petition targeting the White House that has accumulated more than 142,000 signatures to date.
- Promoting a successful and widely publicized “March for Kratom” in September at the White House.
- Facilitating letters to the DEA and the Office of Management and Budget sent on September 26th by a bipartisan group of 51 U.S. House Members urging a halt to the DEA’s push to ban kratom.
- Encouraging a set of two letters sent on October 1st by a politically diverse group of 11 Senators, including Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), calling on the DEA to halt the proposed scheduling and allow for a regular rulemaking process permitting the public, scientific experts, and Congress to provide input.
ABOUT AKA
The America Kratom Association, a consumer-based non-profit organization, is here to set the record straight, giving voice to those suffering and protecting our rights to possess and consume kratom. AKA represents tens of thousands of Americans, each of whom have a unique story to tell about the virtues of kratom and its positive effects on their lives. www.americankratom.org
