The kratom industry has spent millions of dollars on political action committees, election campaigns and lobbying as it works to stop broad bans on products containing the opioid-like supplement. Industry players are also urging lawmakers to focus instead on synthetic kratom compounds, according to campaign-finance and lobbying records.
The American Kratom Association has led that effort, spending more than $1 million on lobbyists during the past decade, including $443,000 so far this year, data compiled by OpenSecrets.com shows.
Among the association’s leading representatives are Mac Haddow, a veteran Capitol Hill power broker and former Reagan administration official, and former state Sen. David Carlucci, a Rockland County Democrat.
Botanic Tonics, an Oklahoma-based supplement company founded by Jerry W. Ross, has also reportedly organized a multimillion-dollar lobbying campaign. The effort used private meetings with senior federal officials to promote the purported benefits of natural kratom leaves, which come from a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia.
According to The New York Times, the campaign included $1.1 million in contributions to political action committees linked to former presidential candidate and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, along with another $443,000 to the Republican National Committee. The spending helped arrange a private meeting between Ross and Vice President JD Vance to discuss possible action against high-potency 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, and other synthetic kratom products while preserving access to natural kratom supplements.
Ross’s allies also created a company called “Stop Gas Station Heroin” to portray natural kratom as the safer alternative. Records show the group paid at least $750,000 to Checkmate Government Relations, a lobbying firm owned by Kennedy ally Ches McDowell.
The American Kratom Association’s strategy of promoting natural kratom while pushing for restrictions on synthetic products proved “effective” in New York, state Assemblyman Phil Steck acknowledged.
Steck, an upstate Democrat, sponsored legislation banning synthetic kratom statewide. The measure passed the Legislature in June but remains awaiting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature.
Steck said he would also support banning natural, or “distilled,” kratom because of what he described as its “dangerous side effects,” though he said the potential health risks may not be as severe as those associated with synthetic products.
However, Steck said legislative leaders and Hochul’s administration ultimately rejected the broader approach.
Haddow, who serves as the American Kratom Association’s senior fellow for public policy, defended the industry’s spending on lobbying and political contributions. He said the money is intended to secure “a seat at the table” and ensure that policymakers treat the industry fairly, while noting that producers of synthetic kratom also seek influence in Washington.
“It’s not a perfect system … but in order to have access to these [government] offices we have to retain lobbyists,” Haddow said.
He also argued that natural kratom provides significant health benefits, saying the nation’s 24 million consumers primarily use the products for energy, anxiety and depression relief, chronic pain management and help overcoming opioid addiction.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that it was moving to impose tougher restrictions on synthetic kratom, following recommendations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Representatives for HHS declined to comment on the industry’s lobbying campaign. Kennedy, however, praised the new guidelines in a statement: “We are drawing a clear line between natural kratom and dangerous, enhanced opioid products.”
Additional reporting by Geoff Earle.
