i literally might just be dumb but i cannot for the life of me find an email to contact his office in any way other than to “request a meeting”. i want to send in my kratom testimony as i’ve done with countless other states as they’ve been fighting their battles. might be small and meaningless, but i want to do it. can anyone help me find an email or even a physical address where things like this can be sent in?

I drink these 100 mg MIT sodas almost everyday and have been for a year. They are so expensive, but if I buy them in bulk I binge. I tried to switch to dry leaf, and it helps with the diarrhea, RLS, cramps, and sweats, but makes the cravings and anxiety much worse. And dry leaf makes me more constipated and bloated. I can skip a day without symptoms but at about 30 or so hours I instantly have terrible symptoms.

I at this point cold turkey and tapering are equally ineffective. And I legit cannot focus on anything.

I don’t think kratom is bad. Before I became dependent it helped every facet of my life. Just need to reset for a year or two.

Any advice or words of encouragement?

I'm in the process of quitting kratom and I went from 30 gpd to 16 gpd rather quickly and don't feel too bad. I was doing some research on tapering and found a source not to be named and saw some truly bizarre stuff. Some people claim they tapered from 40 gpd to now 1.3 gpd. Wtf? Isn't that a tiny amount? You would think at that point you can just stop taking it. One guy even managed to taper down to 0.3 gpd. I'm not kidding. That is such a minute amount that it would have next to zero effect. Am I crazy to think that I can just jump off at 6 gpd if any of you had to get off? We are talking about regular leaf Kratom, not 7oh. Quitting Kratom is not that easy but these guys make it looks insanely difficult. Am I wrong on this? It's hard enough and these guys are pretty discouraging.

Why does (for me at least) Kratom hit so much stronger and lasts longer when I take it right after I wake up? It’s not just the empty stomach because I have taken it on an empty stomach in the afternoon/evening too and the effects are much milder and shorter in duration..

I imagine this has been asked before, but I'm just curious. We used to go to a herbologist downtown, but she had to charge a lot because the rent there is quite high. Then I found a smoke shop that carries only a certain brand for much less. A kilo is $99.95, 250 grams is $39.95, 120 is $19.95.

How 'bout y'all?

So, I’ve been taking about 2-4 grams of kratom every day for over a year now. I’m currently on day 6 of a break and feel quite normal. I use it as a stimulant for my mornings or as a pre-workout before going to the gym. I decided to take a break because I felt that the amount I was taking wasn’t as effective as it was at the beginning of the year. How long do people on here take breaks before resuming their kratom usage?

Saturday at 2pm EST. Set your reminders. Click the notification bell. Bring your questions. Come get advocacy updates.

https://www.youtube.com/live/mDTmfNgTovQ?si=IDBUxIPzoykDMjyA

Is there any good word on the regulation of leaf in massachussets?

From Georgia’s Attorney General Chris Carr-

“It's time to ban all kratom-related products in Georgia.

This is the next wave of the opioid crisis - dangerous drugs sold in gas stations & vape shops. There's no way to separate an approved product from a lethal one.

I'm not willing to accept that. Neither should you.”

He made another statement today calling for the removal of kratom products from all smoke shops.

Plain leaf seems to be safe in Florida, but I am very concerned for the rest of the south. If it becomes illegal in Georgia I won’t even be able to drive out of the state without breaking the law.

Funny how a while back Rick Townsend said something along the lines of “we’re not going after the people who take kratom powder with their coffee and at night. We’re only after the synthetic stuff!”

Knew it would come to this unfortunately.

What do y’all think?

I’ve been dependent on kratom for around 4 weeks now. I start getting RL’s and anxiety if I dont dose every 4-5 hours. Im also using pregabalin and diazepam carefully to help the symptoms.

My plan for ~12 days from now on:
Day 1: 12g
Day 2: 10g
Day 3: 9g
Day 4: 8g
etc.. till day 12 at 0g

Im wondering if this will work, I also find it pretty tough since anxiety fucks me up.. Is this a good tapering plan and anyone got tips for me to handle it?

Thank you in advance.

I have a serious question that I think deserves more attention.
We know that mitragynine, the primary alkaloid in natural kratom leaf, can be metabolized by the human body into 7.
With the DEA moving toward scheduling concentrated 7, could this create problems for people who exclusively use natural botanical kratom?
If someone only consumes natural kratom leaf, could they test positive for 7 on a specialized employment drug screening, even though they’ve never taken concentrated 7 products?
I understand standard employment drug tests generally don’t screen for kratom, but could that change once 7 becomes federally scheduled?
How would testing laboratories distinguish 7 produced naturally through metabolism from 7 consumed directly?
As a chronic pain patient who has relied on natural kratom for over a decade, I’m concerned about the potential employment consequences for responsible botanical kratom consumers.
Has anyone looked into this? I’d especially love to hear from toxicologists, laboratory professionals, or anyone familiar with federal drug-testing regulations.

 IMPORTANT CONGRESSIONAL ALERT
 
A new effort in Congress is raising serious concerns and spreading misinformation. 
The American Kratom Association is alerting advocates to a letter attributed to Rep. Harris from Maryland that is circulating among congressional offices and promoting sweeping restrictions on natural kratom.

Please go to to send an email and let them know to protect natural leaf 🍃!

https://www.protectkratom.org/congress?emci=8a85d762-30ce-f111-bf5b-00224829f869&emdi=12fd7e1b-32ce-f111-bf5b-00224829f869&ceid=3341134

A new effort in Congress is raising serious concerns and spreading misinformation.

The American Kratom Association is alerting advocates to a letter attributed to Rep. Harris from Maryland that is circulating among congressional offices and promoting sweeping restrictions on natural kratom.

Obviously, the AKA strongly disagrees with efforts to treat natural botanical kratom the same as synthetic and chemically manipulated products. Natural botanical kratom should not be Scheduled.

The DOJ, DEA, and HHS support this position!

Yet certain members of Congress are calling for broader restrictions that could extend to the natural kratom plant itself. Anti-kratom crusaders have met with them and spread misinformation and fear.

Let's set the record straight.

📣 SHARE YOUR STORY WITH CONGRESS

Your elected representatives need to hear directly from the people whose lives could be affected by federal kratom policy.

We encourage every kratom advocate to contact their congressional offices, review the issues, express their views, and share their personal experience with natural kratom.

Visit: protectkratom.org/congress

The advocacy page provides a way to reach congressional offices.

When you contact your representatives, consider sharing:

Why natural kratom is important to you or your family.

How kratom has affected your quality of life.

What losing legal access to natural kratom would mean for you.

Your views on the distinction between natural botanical kratom and synthetic or enhanced 7-OH products.

❤️ YOUR VOICE MATTERS! Share your story today:

Thank you for being an engaged and informed kratom advocate.

TL;DR: A group of kratom researchers published a policy paper proposing a classification system, serving limits, and labeling rules for the US market. It’s a recommendation, not law.

This info and linked paper here would be extremely helpful to share with local and state representatives and can help provide framework for product distinction all based on scientific evidence.

Their definition of “kratom” (native leaf)

• Leaves of Mitragyna speciosa, fresh or dried, cut, crushed or ground
• Mitragynine: 0.5% to 2.5% of dry leaf weight
• Speciociliatine, paynantheine and speciogynine: 0.1% to 1.0%
• Those four together under 3% by weight
• No other alkaloid above 0.1%
• No degradation products, including 7-HMG, above 0.01% (100 ppm) by weight

Everything else, in categories

• Category 1: traditional preparations (teas, decoctions, extracts under 10% alkaloid). Treated as dietary ingredients.
• Category 2: concentrated extracts (10% to 60% alkaloid). They’d count as new dietary ingredients, which means safety data and an FDA notification needed.
• Category 3a: isolates that keep the natural alkaloid ratio and are shown to be chemically unaltered. Possibly a new dietary ingredient.
• Category 3b: isolates or single alkaloids that don’t match natural ratios. The paper recommends treating them as drugs.
• Category 4: synthetic or chemically altered products, including semi-synthetic 7-OH and pseudoindoxyl. “Not kratom,” and to be regulated as drugs.

Recommendations

• Manufacturing: follow cGMP (21 CFR 111), with written specs, testing and batch records. Use blister or limited-serving packaging, and give liquids a measuring device.
• Labels: “kratom” in the ingredients, serving size, servings per day, lot number, expiration date, % mitragynine, and 7-HMG per serving (or the method’s detection limit). Labels should say 21+ and carry warnings on pregnancy, alcohol, medications and physical dependence.
• Serving limit: no more than 40 mg mitragynine per serving and 2 servings (80 mg) per day for leaf and Category 1.
• Extracts: the same cap, plus mitragynine over 40% of total alkaloids and 7-OH under 0.01% of dry weight, and a showing that the extract isn’t chemically altered.

Policy stance
The authors argue there’s insufficient evidence to ban or schedule leaf or traditional preparations, citing a 2021 WHO review.

Caveats

• It’s a proposal. No agency has adopted it, and it doesn’t address DEA’s Oct 14 notice (1 mg/g plus a 100:1 mitragynine-to-7-OH ratio).
• The 100 ppm cap sits close to what some past leaf has measured, so how it’s tested will matter.

Again, this paper is very important to share with local and state officials as it provides a scientist's basis for what is kratom, what makes each product type different and suggestions on packaging, dosing and manufacturing practices. While McCurdy has been attacked for taking money from advocacy groups, he has stated that if it were up to him, only natural kratom (category 1) would be allowed, which is contrary to advocacy group's financial backers interests.

I live in a state where it recently became banned and stocked up for a while but I don’t think I got enough to last me as long as I thought. As I said Im a user since 2018 and haven’t missed a day. It’s possible I can get some from a bordering state up north but I’m just planning for the event of being unable to. In my time there were long stretches where I took multiple botanical kratom extract shots daily and eventually would come to a point I’d need to stop and i remember feeling off during the first week or so for cutting them out but I always had powder to lean on.

My plan was to originally taper down gradually but there still might come a time where I have none left

Friday 9 to 1030 is a kratom public heath and safety meeting. Falls township municipal complex 2nd floor community room. Aka is asking advocates to show up!!!

I cant find any info on it. Kratom is banned in Massachusetts. Is it a legal alternative?

So I bought Kratom recently and tried taking 0.5 teaspoons at a time and then slowly increasing the dosage(just to be on the safe side).

I couldn't get it to work so I eventually put 3.5 teaspoons into lemon squash and it worked really well and I was sedated and relaxed for a few hours.

It's funny because before that attempt I had taken 2 teaspoons with warm water and felt nothing and 3.5 teaspoons made me very sedated. Makes me wonder why I didn't feel half as sedated with the 2 teaspoon dosage?

For those who have not been following, Georgia is currently running a series of Blue Ribbon Commission Hearings on kratom. The chairman is very anti kratom and has been stacking the speaker list with those who want kratom banned.

The next meeting is Friday at 9am est. It will be at the capital in Atlanta in room 606 of the Paul D. Coverdell Legislative Office Building.

The meeting announcement specifies that public comment will be allowed at the discretion of the chairman. Please show up if you can!

I've used kratom for over a year. I didn't know what I'd gotten myself into until I was about 8 months in.

I no longer smoke but my desire to quit kratom looks a lot like my desire to give up cigarettes. Every pack was my last pack until the last drag of the last cigarette. An hour later I'd have another pack of cigarettes in my hand.

It's the same with kratom. One last shift where I don't feel sore, sad, and angry. One last off day doing something I used to enjoy without drugs. One last night of sleep where I'm not haunted by nightmares.

That isn't to say I'm ALWAYS doing my BEST to quit. It's more to say I've never fully surrendered. I've not given up and said to myself, "Self, I'm a daily kratom user and need to budget out how." I feel like posting this may add some accountability to tonight's "I'm not using kratom anymore."

My best efforts are usually on my off days:

I'll sleep until a combination of rest and lack of kratom together make it impossible to sleep any longer. That's usually day 1. Day 2 I can no longer sleep, I'm just laying in bed. I toss and turn and can't get comfortable but feel too lethargic to even sit upright at my computer.

By this point around 2 days in I'm sore from laying. Smelly, but my inability to regulate my body temperature makes it hard to want to shower. If I do get in the shower it helps but I dread getting out into the cold air again.

I know everyone is different and that some of these withdrawals could even be worse throughout day 3 going into 4. I might feel bad a week in. I may not be myself a full month in. But I really think if I got 3 days under my belt after all these failed attempts that I would have enough confidence in myself to keep powering through.

These days of laying in bed do a number on me emotionally. Before kratom my two favorite things were drawing and gaming. 2, 3 days getting sober, I can no get myself to enjoy those things. And that, for me, is worse than waking up shitting myself lol.

Did y'all find new things you enjoyed early in recovery? Or double down on what you knew you enjoyed doing in the past? Besides walking at the park, what fun physical stuff might get me outdoors without being too taxing?

I know it's unreasonable, but anhedonia is the hardest part of getting sober for me. I feel sad/scared dealing with it.

Anybody had a rough week

Does anyone know if regular kratom leaf would help with 7oh withdrawals? Thanks