Records show that the kratom industry has invested millions of dollars in political action committees, candidate campaigns and lobbying operations as it works to prevent broad bans on opioid-like products and persuade policymakers to focus instead on synthetic versions.
The American Kratom Association has emerged as the industry’s leading political force, spending more than $1 million on lobbying during the past decade, including $443,000 so far this year, according to OpenSecrets.com.
Among the group’s prominent lobbyists are Mac Haddow, a veteran Capitol Hill power broker and former Reagan administration official, and David Carlucci, a former Democratic state senator from Rockland County.
Botanic Tonics, an Oklahoma supplement company founded by Jerry W. Ross, has also helped drive 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 connected to former presidential candidate and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, along with another $443,000 given to the Republican National Committee. The spending helped arrange a private meeting between Ross and Vice President JD Vance to discuss possible restrictions on high-potency 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, and other synthetic kratom products while seeking protections for natural supplements.
Ross’s allies also established an organization called “Stop Gas Station Heroin,” which portrayed 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 strategy of promoting natural kratom while pushing for restrictions on synthetic products proved successful in New York, according to state Assemblyman Phil Steck.
Steck, a Democrat from the upstate Capital Region, sponsored legislation that would prohibit synthetic kratom statewide. The measure passed the Legislature in June but has yet to be signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
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Steck said he would also support banning natural, or “distilled,” kratom, citing what he described as “dangerous side effects.” He acknowledged that the risks may not be as severe as those associated with synthetic kratom.
However, Steck said legislative leaders and Hochul’s administration declined to pursue the broader restrictions.
Haddow, who also 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 give natural kratom advocates “a seat at the table” and help ensure that policymakers treat the competing sides fairly. He added that companies involved with synthetic kratom use similar tactics.
“It’s not a perfect system … but in order to have access to these [government] offices we have to retain lobbyists,” Haddow said.
Haddow also argued that natural kratom provides significant health benefits. He said the nation’s roughly 24 million kratom users primarily turn to the products for energy, relief from anxiety and depression, help managing chronic pain and support in overcoming opioid addiction.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that it was moving to intensify enforcement against synthetic kratom, following recommendations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Representatives for HHS declined to discuss the industry’s lobbying campaign. Kennedy, however, praised the new guidance in a statement, saying, “We are drawing a clear line between natural kratom and dangerous, enhanced opioid products.”
Additional reporting by Geoff Earle.