/r/kratom: Announcement: Increased (Negative) Media Attention [July 2023]

As most of you know, there has been increased media attention recently in national news sources. Some of this has been selective at best, and disingenuous at worst.

There have been solicitations for those who may have had potentially adverse effects to sue parties by attorneys, along with increased anti-kratom activity from the FDA which may be directly or indirectly driving media coverage.

Several of these items are being posted multiple times. The NPR article from 07/08 was posted yesterday 7 times. These kinds of things may be removed if there are duplicates in too soon of a time period. This is only for the sake of avoiding too many duplicates.

You may want to search the subreddit before posting news articles, especially if they are several days old.

The preference is that archive links (instructions using one of the more common providers) be used to these items for the purposes of paywalls and denying them the clicks and ad-revenue from alarmist reporting. This does nothing to obscure the content or discourage/encourage interaction with the news outlet--which is ultimately up to your personal judgement.

If you do contact the media or public officials, remember that professionalism and your personal experience about how kratom has helped you, or why it is important to you is meaningful. Insulting or threatening the author, publication, or officials even if they have engaged in poor journalistic practices or exhibit bias is not likely to be helpful. It only makes it easier for consumers to be disregarded. Attacking the families or their motivations in claiming adverse effects, even if there is little or no scientific evidence to support their claims, is also not likely to be productive.

Links of Complied Reporting occurring in July and the near future [NOTE: UPDATED 2023-03-31]

• WTSP (July 31):
• The Guardian (UK, July 30):
• The Hill (by Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI), July 28):
• Miami Herald (July 28):
• New York Times: (July 26):
• NPR (July 7):

You may wish to sign up for the American Kratom Association newsletter or check ProtectKratom.org for information about ongoing advocacy efforts and what you can do.

The AKA has posted a response to these articles at that you may wish to view.