Celebrate the Ohio Victory by ordering a limited edition AKA shirt and hat! We're working with Custom Ink to sell AKA official apparel, including the #KratomSavesLives #StoptheBan Ohio shirt worn by #KratomWarriors at the hearing last week. All shipping is handled directly by Custom Ink and shirts will ship once a minimum amount of shirts have sold.
See local Ohio media coverage of the kratom hearing, including interviews with Kratom Warriors
From NBC Columbus Affiliate
COLUMBUS (WCMH) — The Ohio Board of Pharmacy has delayed a decision on a proposal to classify Kratom as a Schedule 1 controlled substance.
Dear Kratom Warriors,
At 9:00am this morning more than 200 Ohio Kratom Warriors stood in solidarity behind Johns Hopkins University Adjunct Professor Jack Henningfield, Ph.D., Utah State Senator Curt Bramble, Arizona State Representative Tony Rivero, Georgia State Representative Vernon Jones, and AKA’s Senior Fellow on Public Policy C. M. “Mac” Haddow in a press conference calling on the Ohio Board of Pharmacy to withdraw its proposed ban in kratom.
Immediately following the press event, the Kratom Warriors stood in long lines to enter and sign in to the Board of Pharmacy Public Hearing to have their voices heard on why kratom should not be banned.
Utah Senator Bramble spoke passionately about his personal family experience where a daughter and her husband became ensared in the opioid crisis, ended up on jail on drug charges, and it led to the overdose death of his son-in-law. Bramble stated his belief that had he and his family had known about kratom, his son-in-law would be alive today.
Representative Rivero pointed to the Arizona experience where the Board of Pharmacy initially recommended a ban on kratom, but then withdrew their support for a ban and supported a more rational regulatory plan embodied in the Arizona Kratom Consumer Protection Act that is now law in Arizona, Utah, Georgia, and Nevada.
Representative Vernon Jones cited the overwhelming support where the Kratom Consumer Protection Act was passed with near unanimous votes in most of the legislative chambers who acted on that legislation.
Mac Haddow presented the powerful arguments on why the FDA’s claims about kratom being dangerously addictive and the cause of 44 deaths were completely wrong, and Jack Henningfield, Ph.D. outlined the scientific evidence showing the FDA was wrong on the science, and wrong on the policy.
And most importantly, hundreds of kratom supporters spoke passionately about their experiences and why kratom must remain legal in Ohio.
In the end, the voices of the hundreds of kratom advocates were heard loud and clear. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy has decided to put the kratom ban in a To Be Refiled (TBR) status and it will not be the subject of a Hearing before the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) on Monday. The kratom issue has been removed from that agenda.
The American Kratom Association is proud to have joined the thousands of Ohio residents who raised their voices in this important effort.
Congratulations to all involved.
Sincerely,
American Kratom Association
WATCH PRESS CONFERENCE FROM AUGUST 9TH ON PROPOSED OHIO BAN ON KRATOM
In the end, the voices of the hundreds of kratom advocates were heard loud and clear. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy has decided to put the kratom ban in a To Be Refiled (TBR) status and it will not be the subject of a Hearing before the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) on Monday. The kratom issue has been removed from that agenda.
The American Kratom Association is proud to have joined the thousands of Ohio residents who raised their voices in this important effort.
Congratulations to all involved.
August 6th, 2019
The Ohio Board of Pharmacy is now playing dirty, and we need to take action now.
The scheduled Public Hearing on Friday before the Board of Pharmacy is supposed to be an opportunity for citizens to speak to the proposed ban that the Board of Pharmacy wants to put on Kratom.
It will criminalize the more than 300,000 Kratom consumers in Ohio.
But that Public Hearing is clearly a sham. The Board of Pharmacy has already petitioned the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review to approve the ban.
Worse, the AKA learned yesterday that the Joint Committee Hearing is scheduled for Monday.
JUST ONE BUSINESS DAY AFTER THE BOARD OF PHARMACY IS HOLDING ITS SHAM HEARING.
This is outrageous!!!!
Please send a personal email to the Members of the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review and ask them to send that Kratom proposed ban back to the Board of Pharmacy.
The Board of Pharmacy is WRONG ON THE POLICY, AND WRONG ON THE SCIENCE.
And let’s raise our voices in unison on Friday at the scheduled 9:00am press conference at the Sheraton Columbus at Capitol Square, and then at the Board of Pharmacy Public Hearing that starts at 10:00am.
Kratom saves lives. The ban will result in more Ohio citizens being addicted to opioids and more Ohioans will die!
Thank you for your willingness to help.
Sincerely,
American Kratom Association
Ohio Board of Pharmacy Public Hearing on Kratom
August 9, 2019 at 10:00am
West B&C, 31st Floor
Vern Riffe Center for Government and Arts
77 South High Street
Columbus, OH
Pre-Hearing Press Conference
August 9, 2019 at 9:00am (we will all walk over after press conference)
Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capitol Square
75 E. State Street
Columbus, OH 43215
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