• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Looking to find the best discounts on Kratom? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive coupons and deals!
Left Coast Kratom Logo
  • Buy Kratom
    • Kratom Powder
    • Kratom Extract
    • Kratom Capsules
    • Accessories
  • Resources

legislation

How COVID-19 Changed Kratom Advocacy (And What You Can Do)

July 21, 2020 by LCK

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is changing the way that many aspects of the world work. While many industries are becoming more streamlined and continue functioning without problems, the same cannot be said about how kratom advocacy will fare as we move into the new future.

Traditionally, kratom advocacy has relied on meeting with politicians, local leaders, town hall meetings, and other types of events that aren’t happening as frequently in the current climate.

To put it bluntly, kratom advocacy has changed dramatically.

What can be done to ensure that advocacy for kratom doesn’t disintegrate during these difficult times? Today, we’ll talk about how you can continue to advocate for kratom throughout the pandemic.

Problem: False Claims About Kratom & COVD-19

One problem that could shed a negative light on the kratom industry at large as the claim that is being made by some uninformed vendors that kratom can be used to positively treat or protect against COVID-19. This claim has no basis in reality, and it should not be spread.

Misinformation such as this type of rumor can severely damage the overall credibility of kratom and what it can actually do for people. Vendors that use this type of rhetoric to try to drive sales during a pandemic are part of the problem, and it’s important to look out for this type of predatory behavior.

Additionally, the FDA has been known in the past to actively work against the kratom community. The FDA has already given a warning to some CBD vendors for false COVID-19-related claims, so it is important that kratom vendors do not attract negative attention by making such claims.

Solution: Look For Honest Vendors

Honest vendors that make sure their practices align with current and factual science will not use these types of false claims in their marketing, and they will always do their part to represent kratom in an honest way. By supporting vendors that rely on science and high-quality testing, you will be supporting the future and growth of the kratom industry.

If you buy from vendors that use underhanded tactics or spread false information about kratom, you may be accidentally contributing to the culture that will harm society’s view of kratom in the long run.

Take time to research vendors before purchasing, and try to only support vendors that use honest science. Additionally, consider reporting any vendors that you see making false COVID-19 claims to an organization like the American Kratom Association that might be able to reach out to the vendor to try to get them to change their stance. While the vendor may not be receptive to those types of changes, it is always worth the attempt.

Problem: Scientific Backlash

As fears that are rooted in the uncertainty of the current world take hold, many pseudo-science theories are becoming popular. They get spread around social media with little vetting, and many people become fearful of these unsubstantiated “facts” that they see in the latest popular image.

The problem here is that these rumors are rarely, if ever, rooted in science. As people realize this, they become more and more unlikely to believe anything they see online. Whether or not the information is factual, it’s hard to know if the anecdotal experience you read about online is true.

In the past, many kratom users would share their stories with others to explain what their experiences have been like. That form of advocacy, however, is less effective in today’s online world due to the uncertainty of information.

Solution: Know Your Facts

If you want to share your stories about kratom online as a means of advocating for its benefits, it is important that you know what the facts of kratom are and what current research says about its uses. By knowing this information, you can include important, fact-driven messages in your anecdotes as well, and that will make your overall message more reliable.

Of course, you cannot be expected to know everything that is going on in the world of kratom!  For information about the latest research and facts about kratom, check out the complete blog that we have on our Left Coast Kratom resources page.

Problem: Limited Political Meetings

Much of the advocacy that is done to improve the legal issues that surround using kratom in America are done through political meetings on the local, state, and national level. As COVID-19 has caused many social distancing measures to be put in place around the country, the opportunities for these types of political issues to be limited if not for emergency situations.

This means that the advocacy groups that have been working on the full legalization of kratom and protections for kratom users are being limited in what they can do, and it will take time for new methodologies of handling advocacy to emerge.

Solution: Support AKA & Other Advocacy Groups

Despite the holdups, advocacy groups such as the American Kratom Association are still working hard to ensure that the movement for safe and legal kratom in America does not end here. They continue to do their work as diligently as possible, and their goals for getting consumer protection laws in place are still in progress.

One great way to support kratom advocacy is to give direct monetary donations to these organizations. Alternatively, purchasing your kratom from vendors that donate to these causes is another way to provide some support.

Stick With Kratom

If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that the world is a complicated and constantly changing place. The ongoing changes are affecting the effectiveness of kratom advocacy as well, and that is something that we don’t believe we should risk. The efforts of kratom advocacy groups over the last decade have made a huge difference in how kratom is perceived in America, and we don’t want those efforts to go to waste.

Even if you aren’t prepared to get fully involved in advocacy efforts, we are committed to doing what we can to support these efforts. By supporting us here at Left Coast Kratom, we’ll pass on your support to the groups that are doing what they can to make a difference. Thank you for joining us in this mission!

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: advocacy, coronavirus, covid-19, featured, industry, kratom, legislation, pandemic, politics

US Kratom Research: Congress Funds New Kratom Research

March 11, 2020 by LCK

In December 2019, Congress passed the Appropriations Bill to help adjust and set the budget for the 2020 fiscal year. Each year, this bill can help to set up where money within the government will go and what types of output we can expect.

This year, the appropriations bill included specific distinctions for funding additional research on substances like marijuana, kratom, and cannabinol. Depending on how that research funding is divided and spent in the academic world, there is a good chance that we will see some new studies and results about kratom this year.

Kratom research is very important for the future of safe kratom usage in America. While kratom is a safe substance, proper monitoring and safety requirements for kratom companies could be improved if there was more solid research about this unique substance.

Additionally, there is a good chance that kratom could be developed into an opioid alternative, so more research into kratom could do wonders for the current opioid crisis in America.

Let’s review the Appropriations Bill and see what exactly is covered in the agreement.

Banner For Shopping

What’s New In These Bills?

On December 17, 2019, the House passed through some legislation that would finalize the twelve fiscal funding bills needed for 2020. The bills they passed went through some further changes in the Senate before being passed. Now, H.R. 1865 and H.R. 1158 are in place and ready to set up the budgets for most government-funded organizations in the 2020 fiscal year.

These bills are the result of bipartisan negotiations, so they cover a wide variety of areas in a very balanced way.

While the various areas covered in this fiscal planning is very interesting, we are more interested in some research-focused funding that has been set aside in these government plans.

Kratom, Cannabis, and Other Natural Substances

Research allocated in these bills is set up to allow for more research on kratom, cannabis, and other natural substances. While it has become more and more common for these types of allocations to be made, it’s always great to see that there is a continued interest in finding out more about these substances that we are still working to fully understand.

Kratom Allocations

The opioid crisis an ongoing problem in America, and some politicians and activists have been trying to find ways to improve the situation for years. One popular opinion is that we need to find opioid alternatives that are less dangerous and addictive, so ongoing studies are focused on doing just that.

In the FY2020 Appropriations decisions, Congress set aside a minimum of $1 million dollars to be used in the search for an opioid alternative. In particular, the bills mentioned that kratom and CBD should be researched as potential opioid alternatives.

Kratom has been studied to limited degrees in America because the laws about kratom are not clear in every state and are very unclear on a national scale. For that reason, it is hard for kratom to be properly studied. With this new allocation that specifically includes kratom as a potential alternative to opioids for pain relief and other medical uses.

Research like this could be a major turning point for the future of kratom in America, so we will be keeping an eye on any potential studies that will come out of this funding.

Cannabis Inclusions

Another interesting inclusion in these appropriations was CBD. In addition to requestion that kratom is studied as an alternative for opioids, the National Institute for Health was also tasked with doing more research about whether or not CBD-based medications could be used as an alternative to opioids as well.

Congress also tasked the National Institute on Drug Abuse to analyze why cannabis is still being listed as a scheduled drug and what can be done to change this status. As of now, it is difficult to do research about cannabis as a federally-funded scientist because of this scheduled status. Should that status change, research will be able to happen more frequently.

Hemp Farming Specifics

Another area that was allocated some extra money was the hemp farming industry. The hemp industry has been struggling to come as strongly as it could despite the support provided by the Farming Act of 2018. This could be because the tenants of that act have not yet been fully enforced, so Congress set aside $16.5 million to ensure that the hemp industry can grow.

Hemp, as you might know, is an industrial crop that is used for industrial and manufacturing purposes. While hemp was banned as a crop many years ago, it is now being encouraged as a cash crop for many farmers in America.

Additional Points of Interest

The points made about kratom and CBD are great to hear, but these aren’t the only things that were decided in these appropriations. As mentioned, these appropriations are setting up the budget for the 2020 fiscal year, and that budget includes much more than research and provisions about natural substances.

Here are just a few of the interesting allocations made throughout these bills:

  • $10 million to research and prevent antibiotic-resistance
  • Funding money to promote health literacy
  • Increase in funding for the Bureau of Labor Statistics 
  • Over $7 billion for the decennial 2020 Census
  • Additional money to include Puerto Rico and U.S. territories in the Census
  • 8% increase in funding for the CDC
  • Dedicated CDC funding on gun research for the first time in 20 years

As you can see, there are a lot of considerations made throughout these appropriations that cover a wide variety of areas. It’s great to see kratom being included as an important topic worthy of additional funding alongside such important issues.

Going forward, it will be interesting to see how frequently more unique and inventive studies about natural substances like kratom and CBD will be included in federally funded research opportunities. These substances have been studied in a limited fashion, so additional studies could revolutionize various aspects of the medical world.

Only time will tell what these studies will find!

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: appropriations bill, congress, featured, funding., kratom, legislation, mitragyna speciosa, research

Kratom Legislation: Where and How Laws Are Changing

January 29, 2020 by LCK

The status of kratom in America is changing.

In 2019, four states passed Kratom Consumer Protection Acts. In 2020, the similar bills might be passed in twenty states or more!

For many years, kratom users here in the states have had to take kratom on the edges of legality. Not specifically illegal, not legally regulated, Kratom’s status is not always clear. In recent months, more states are making their positions about the botanical clear, but there is still a way’s to go.

The American Kratom Association, also known as the AKA, is at the forefront of this movement. They want to end this 2020 with protection laws for kratom users passed in 25 states. Currently, these laws only exist in four states.

Curious about why we support this goal and find it important not just for vendors but for consumers around the United States? Here’s why:

Banner For Shopping

The Fear of Kratom in the United States

Many politicians in the U.S. are afraid of kratom and its legality because they don’t understand it. Many non-kratom users in America fear kratom because they see it as another potentially harmful drug. With the status of the addiction crisis in America, we can completely understand these fears.

Our fears for kratom, however, are different.

Scientific and anecdotal proof has already been enough for us to believe that kratom is a safe and beneficial substance for many people. What hasn’t been shown yet, however, is that the supply chain of kratom in America is safe for its users.

In many states, there is absolutely no regulation on kratom sales. This means that vendors could choose the lowest quality product that they want and put it for sale without any repercussions or laws to guide them.

The one that gets hurt most in this situation is the consumer!

Even if you don’t come in direct contact with contaminated kratom, instances of bad kratom making it to another consumer hurts you. Each case causes kratom to be viewed more negatively, and the risk of a complete ban increases.

How The Kratom Consumer Protection Act Can Help

The Kratom Consumer Protection Act is a set of guidelines that the American Kratom Association is working with each state to enact. 

The act would cover the following tenets in some way:

  • • Age restriction: what will be the state’s legal age be for kratom products?
  • • Labeling: what type of information will be required or forbidden on kratom labeling?
  • • Warnings: what type of warnings and safety information must be given to consumers on the labeling?
  • • Registration: how will kratom testing compliance and product registration be handled?
  • • Quality: how will the quality be tested, and what will the quality requirements be?

The KCPA, Kratom Consumer Protection Act, will not be exactly the same in every state. Just as cannabis laws differ in each state, kratom laws may, too. AKA works with each state that they discuss kratom with to develop the laws so that kratom can be regulated in a safe, effective way that is satisfactory to the state.

Not all components listed above will make it through the state’s legislative system, but AKA does its part to make sure that the most important factors are addressed.

2020: The Goal of 21 States

For 2020, the American Kratom Association has set a goal to have some type of kratom protection laws passed in 21 more states. They have already been setting the groundwork in many states to get the KCPA into lawmaker’s hands so that the change can begin.

AKA is targeting these states in 2020:

  • • Oregon
  • • Idaho
  • • Colorado
  • • Kansas
  • • Oklahoma
  • • Missouri
  • • Louisiana
  • • Illinois
  • • Michigan
  • • Tennessee
  • • Mississippi
  • • Florida
  • • South Carolina
  • • North Carolina
  • • Virginia
  • • West Virginia
  • • Ohio
  • • Pennsylvania
  • • New York
  • • Rhode Island
  • • Wisconsin
  • • Alabama
  • • Arkansas

Most of these states don’t yet have any laws about kratom in place, but four of them have actually already enacted a ban on kratom. The American Kratom Association, however, believes that the bans in these four states can be changed in 2020:

  • • Rhode Island
  • • Alabama
  • • Arkansas
  • • Wisconsin

The goal to have half of the states in the USA to have kratom consumer protections in place by the end of the year is a big one, but the American Kratom Association and its supporters have been advocating for the same, regulated use of kratom for a long time. This year, the culmination of those efforts should result in this kind of big change!

Banner for shopping

Accountability Matters Most

As mentioned above, shady vendors can sell anything that they want to their customers right now, and there is no way for the customer to find out about this. There is no quality control testing that is checked by any third-party unless the vendor themselves makes the effort to have their product tested.

Here at Left Coast Kratom, we wanted to show that we take our product safety and quality control seriously, so we joined the GMP Standards Program run by the American Kratom Association. In short, this program lays out specific guidelines and standards to ensure that we do our part in keeping the kratom industry safe.

We want our customers – including you – to know that we want to make sure that we are constantly evolving and keeping up with the best practices in the industry. As members of the GMP compliance program, we get the information about safety that we need quickly and are able to put it into action.

Do You Want To Help?

Are you interested in seeing a Kratom Consumer Protect Act go into effect in your state? Do you live in one of the states that the AKA is targeting this year?

If so, this is your chance to get involved with advocacy. It is possible that simply showing up to support change would be enough. And if you want to do more than just show up, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved.

The best way to get involved with local or state advocacy is to contact the American Kratom Association and ask how to get in contact with your area’s advocacy team. From there, you’ll start being a more active part of the change.

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: advocacy, advocate, AKA, american kratom association, bills, changing laws, featured, KCPA, kratom, Kratom Consumer Protection Act, legislation

Primary Sidebar

Left Coast Kratom Logo

Left Coast Kratom is here to help you experience the freshest highest quality kratom powders and extracts at competitive prices. We value customer service and will go above and beyond to deliver amazing products fast and at a quality you expect.

If you have any concerns or questions then please get in touch by emailing support@left-coast-kratom.com.

Customer Service

  • Affiliates!
  • Customer Rewards
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Contact Us
  • Shipping & Delivery
  • Orders & Returns

Information

  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Reward Points
  • Site Map
  • Partner Sites

© 2023 Left Coast Kratom - Kratom Resources. All Rights Reserved.

Privacy Policy   Terms of Service