u/Itchy-Hovercraft-245

Watch the replay. We cover North Carolina, Michigan, California, Tennessee, DEA 7OH Scheduling on what to expect, and more.

https://www.youtube.com/live/NoD1pWTw4nU?is=YioJGOlrFGIqOmtl

Yup, it’s here. I’m currently waiting on Mac Haddow to do a press release.

Here’s the AKA Press Release…

https://www.americankratom.org/news/dea-confirms-chemically-manipulated-7-oh

If you’re on 7OH or it’s ugly stepsisters…better start tapering NOW!

https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2026/07/01/dea-temporarily-schedule-7-oh-and-related-substances-protect-public

“These actions are not intended to regulate natural leaf kratom that does not contain enhanced levels of 7-OH. Although 7-OH occurs naturally in trace amounts in the kratom plant, scheduling 7-OH above a certain threshold level does not intend to capture the kratom botanical leaf in the present temporary scheduling recommendation. MP, MGM-15 and MGM-16 do not occur naturally in the plant. MP is a chemical rearrangement product of 7-OH, while MGM-15 and MGM-16 are synthetic derivatives of 7-OH.”

https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/hhs-fda-support-dea-7-oh-scheduling.html

Fact-Checking the Liver Conversion Myth: Why Natural Leaf is Not Synthetic 7-OH

Different factions of the debate are utilizing a talking point claiming that a ‘20% liver conversion rate’ makes natural leaf kratom just as dangerous as concentrated synthetic 7-OH products.

A technical brief from the Kratom Consumer Advisory Council (KCAC) shows that this claim misrepresents real-world pharmacology:

The Real Math: The actual conversion rate of mitragynine to NATURAL 7-OH in the body sits between 1.25% and 5%. At peak conversion, only about 0.8 mg of natural 7-OH is in the blood from a +- a 4 gram serving of leaf.

Natural leaf contains an "entourage effect" of a more than 50 biologically active alkaloids and the high fiber content in the leaf. Furthermore, the presence of mitragynine interferes with natural 7-OH's ability to stimulate opioid receptors. Synthetic 7-OH products contain no such entourage effect.

No Respiratory Depression: Animal studies show mitragynine does not cause dose-dependent reductions in breathing. Isolated synthetic 7-OH, however, causes dose-dependent respiratory depression that approximates morphine's effects - this is not seen with the consumption of leaf.

This clear scientific boundary is exactly why the FDA, HHS, and AMA recommend making concentrated synthetic 7-OH products Schedule I, while finding a clear difference in the risk profiles for natural leaf kratom products.

Get the facts and read the full data breakdown:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6508b3f79033221c2aa1ea17/t/6a43bd470d31e7022f7cde64/1782824263977/KCAC+Mitragynine+Fact+Check.pdf

Dear Amazing Advocates,

This is a reminder to join the AKA team tonight for an important Kratom Advocacy Update Webinar covering urgent state issues, misinformation campaigns, and what advocates need to know next.

We will also be making a special event announcement during tonight’s webinar that kratom advocates will not want to miss.

📅 Tonight — Wednesday, June 24th
⏰ 8:00 PM ET
📍 Register here

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN\_6uszIce2TMm12ZsYUw3qfg?emci=0f9a496e-e96f-f111-ac9c-000d3a54bed0&emdi=5b40ef07-ea6f-f111-ac9c-000d3a54bed0&ceid=6474722#/registration

Tonight’s webinar will include updates on:

⚠️ Florida Attorney General Action

⚠️ Ohio Board of Pharmacy

⚠️ California KCPA Hearing Canceled

⚠️ Georgia Informational Hearings

⚠️ Combating Media Misinformation — how false and misleading narratives about kratom are being used to influence policymakers, the public, and regulatory agencies.

This webinar will help advocates understand where things stand, what threats are emerging, and how we can work together to protect legal access to natural kratom.

Register now before tonight’s webinar begins

Dear Kratom Advocates,

This June we have more major developments across the country, and it is critical that we help keep you informed, engaged, and ready to act.

So please join the AKA team for an important Kratom Advocacy Update Webinar on:

📅 Wednesday, June 24th
⏰ 8:00 PM ET
📍 Register here

During this webinar, we will cover several urgent and ongoing issues impacting kratom consumers, including:

⚠️ Florida Attorney General Action

⚠️ Ohio Board of Pharmacy

⚠️ California KCPA Hearing Canceled

⚠️ Georgia Informational Hearings

⚠️ Combating Media Misinformation

This webinar will our community understand where things stand, what threats are emerging, and how we can work together to protect legal access to natural kratom.

Register now and share now!

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN\_6uszIce2TMm12ZsYUw3qfg?emci=c438bb05-236f-f111-ac9c-000d3a54bed0&emdi=16bb77ca-246f-f111-ac9c-000d3a54bed0&ceid=3442302#/registration

Watch here…

https://www.youtube.com/live/jI2glSIbVzY?is=z0Qvsn-7WMTxVc\_H

Watch the Press Conference here…

https://www.youtube.com/live/ghi7ySDbbgY?is=\_U4FKaHC8hBexS1H

📍Georgia Advocates Needed in Atlanta

Georgia kratom advocates are urgently needed to attend an important committee hearing on kratom's impact in Georgia next Wednesday, June 17, at 9:00 AM in Atlanta.

If you live in Georgia and can attend, please sign up right away. Your presence makes a real difference. Lawmakers and regulators need to see that kratom consumers are real people with real stories — not statistics, not scare headlines, and not misinformation.

Sign up here if you can attend: https://www.protectkratom.org/georgia

🙋‍♀️ Showing up in person is one of the most powerful things an advocate can do.

🚨 California Hearing: Protect Natural Kratom Access

Next Wednesday, June 17, the California Senate Health Committee will consider important kratom legislation.

California advocates — and anyone who cares about responsible kratom policy — need to contact the Committee and urge them to support consumer protection, not prohibition.

The message is simple:

✅ Support kratom regulation that protects consumers
✅ Keep natural kratom legal and accessible
✅ Do not amend the bill into a ban on natural kratom
✅ Focus on safety standards, testing, labeling, and age restrictions

Take action here: https://www.protectkratom.org/california

California is one of the most important states in the country for kratom policy. What happens there can influence other states — so your voice matters.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- June 8, 2026 -- The American Kratom Association (AKA) today responded to criticism directed at Dr. Heidi Sykora following her presentation at the American Kratom Association Congressional Briefing on June 2, 2026 that examined errors, omissions, and misinterpretations in autopsy and toxicology reports that have been used to attribute deaths to natural kratom leaf products.

The inappropriate attacks by some members of the anti-kratom community is deeply troubling. Rather than engage the scientific findings presented by Dr. Sykora,
critics have resorted to personal attacks and attempts to discourage the independent review of forensic evidence.

That approach serves no one, not grieving families, not policymakers, and certainly not the pursuit of truth.

Dr. Sykora’s presentation did not criticize family members who have suffered the loss of a loved one. It did not question their grief, their sincerity, or their motivations. Instead, her presentation focused on the quality and completeness of the forensic investigations that produced conclusions later cited in legislative hearings, regulatory proceedings, media reports, and public campaigns advocating bans on natural kratom
leaf products.

Those are two very different things.

When a death is publicly presented as evidence supporting public policy changes, the underlying forensic evidence becomes subject to scrutiny. That scrutiny is not only appropriate, it is essential. Scientific conclusions should never be shielded from review simply because they are emotionally difficult to discuss.

The reports analyzed by Dr. Sykora were publicly available autopsy reports, toxicology findings, and official investigative documents that have already been placed into the public domain and repeatedly cited by advocates seeking restrictions or prohibitions on kratom products.

The central question raised by Dr. Sykora was straightforward: Did the forensic evidence support the conclusions that were reported?

In several cases, the answer appears to be far more complicated than legislators and public health officials were led to believe.

Dr. Sykora’s analysis identified concerns involving incomplete toxicological evaluations, failures to account for the presence of multiple substances, departures from accepted forensic practices, unsupported assumptions regarding causation, and conclusions that may not fully align with the underlying evidence. Those concerns are directed at the investigative process, not at the families who relied upon those findings.

Indeed, if mistakes were made, the individuals most harmed by those mistakes may be the families themselves.

Every family deserves accurate answers about the death of a loved one. If a coroner or medical examiner reached a conclusion based on incomplete information, overlooked evidence, or flawed methodology, then families may have been denied the full truth about what occurred. Likewise, legislators and regulators may have relied on incomplete or inaccurate information when considering policies affecting millions of consumers.

The American Kratom Association therefore challenges those who have publicly criticized Dr. Sykora’s presentation to take a different approach.

Rather than discouraging families from sharing autopsy reports, toxicology findings, and investigative records for independent review, we urge them to welcome such scrutiny. If the evidence supports the conclusions that have been publicly advanced, an independent review will confirm it. If it does not, families and policymakers deserve to know that as well.

Truth should never fear examination.

We are particularly troubled by reports that members of the Kratom Danger Awareness community have advised families not to share records for independent scientific review. Such advice undermines transparency and prevents the very process that could provide families with the most complete understanding of what happened to their loved ones.

Scientific inquiry is not an act of disrespect. It is an act of responsibility.

The personal attacks directed at Dr. Sykora are especially disappointing. Dr. Sykora is a respected medical professional whose obligation is to follow the evidence wherever it leads. Disagreeing with her conclusions is one thing. Attempting to discredit or intimidate a scientist for conducting an evidence-based review is another entirely.

Science advances through examination, challenge, and verification, not through censorship, intimidation, or character attacks.

The AKA remains committed to a simple principle: every death deserves a thorough, objective, and scientifically rigorous investigation. Families deserve accurate answers.

Equally important, policymakers deserve accurate information. The public deserves confidence that decisions affecting public health are grounded in facts rather than assumptions.

No family should ever be weaponized in a policy debate. But neither should grief be used as a shield to prevent legitimate scientific review of forensic evidence.

The pursuit of truth requires courage, transparency, and a willingness to follow the evidence wherever it leads. We invite all parties — including critics of Dr. Sykora’s presentation — to join us in that effort.

About the American Kratom Association:

The American Kratom Association is the nation’s leading consumer advocacy organization dedicated to protecting access to safe, properly regulated natural kratom products while supporting science-based public health policies and consumer protections.