n the 1930s, a coordinated campaign of racist propaganda and corporate greed turned a revered medicinal plant into a Schedule I “drug” with no recognized medical value. The target was cannabis. The architects were lumber baron William Randolph Hearst, who feared hemp’s competition to his paper empire, and Harry Anslinger, who weaponized xenophobia to build his newly-formed Federal Bureau of Narcotics. As we documented in Healing with Hemp and Cannabis, the word “marijuana” itself was a calculated invention, a Mexican slang deliberately used to inject foreignness and danger into the public consciousness.
Fast forward to today, and history is repeating itself, this time with kratom (Mitragyna speciosa), a tropical tree in the coffee family native to Southeast Asia. Valued in traditional medicine since the 19th century, kratom has helped countless people manage chronic pain, self-treat drug addiction, and ease opioid withdrawal symptoms, often when the pharmaceutical system failed them. Users report increased energy, elevated mood, and significant pain reduction, all from a leaf that grows naturally on trees.
And that’s exactly the problem.
Because a safe, effective, non-patentable plant that competes with synthetic opioids is a threat to Big Pharma’s bottom line. But here’s where the playbook gets even more sinister: they isolate the plant’s active compounds, synthesize dangerous derivatives, and then use those synthetic versions to justify banning the safe natural original.
It’s the same pattern they used with ephedra, coca, opium, and cannabis. The natural plant is safe when used traditionally. But Big Pharma extracts and concentrates the active compounds, creates synthetic derivatives that cause harm, and then blames the original plant for the problems their synthetic versions created.
With kratom, that synthetic villain is 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), a concentrated alkaloid that’s 10-17 times more potent than the natural mitragynine found in whole kratom leaves. And just like with ephedrine (the dangerous synthetic derivative of the safe ephedra plant), 7-OH is being used as the boogeyman to justify banning the natural plant that never caused the problem in the first place.
Used for centuries as a folk medicine, kratom is now the subject of a coordinated assault by federal agencies and state lawmakers.
The stated reason? Public safety.
The real reason? The same one that put cannabis in handcuffs: money.
🍺Alcohol Kills—Kratom Helps🌿
Let’s start with the uncomfortable question the media refuses to ask: why is alcohol—a substance that kills over 140,000 Americans annually from liver cirrhosis, accidents, and violence—legally sold on every corner, while a plant that helps people wean off deadly opioids faces a nationwide crackdown?
The answer isn’t science. It’s lobbying.
Alcohol’s death toll is staggering. Yet no one is proposing a federal ban. Meanwhile, according to the American Kratom Association, an estimated 10–16 million Americans use kratom, and there have been fewer than 100 deaths linked to it in over a decade, most involving other drugs or preexisting conditions.
Let that sink in: a substance that kills over a hundred thousand people a year is celebrated with Super Bowl commercials and neighborhood bars. A plant that has killed virtually no one on its own is treated like heroin.
The research backs this up. According to a 2020 Johns Hopkins survey of over 2,700 users, the psychoactive compounds in kratom “likely have a lower rate of harm than prescription opioids for treating pain, anxiety, depression and addiction.”
About 41% of participants reported taking kratom to treat opioid withdrawal, and of those, 35% went more than a year without using prescription opioids or heroin. The study concluded that kratom has “relatively low potential for abuse or harm.” Fewer than 3% of responses met the criteria for moderate or severe substance use disorder, whereas about 13% of prescription opioid users become dependent.
According to Albert Garcia-Romeu, PhD, instructor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins: “There has been a bit of fearmongering because kratom is opioidlike, and because of the toll of our current opioid epidemic.”
And here’s the kicker: kratom doesn’t appear to cause respiratory depression, which is the slowed breathing that makes opioids so deadly during an overdose. A 2022 study published in Psychopharmacology found that mitragynine, kratom’s primary alkaloid, produced “no evidence of respiratory depression at doses many times higher than known to be taken by humans.” Meanwhile, a 2025 NIH study confirmed that morphine produced “dose-dependent respiratory depression,” while mitragynine actually increased respiratory frequency in animal models.
That’s right: the FDA’s own preliminary research confirms that the plant they’re trying to ban appears safer than the opioids they’ve approved.
In another study published in the Journal of Pain, researchers found that nearly half of kratom users met criteria for chronic pain, and 69% reported difficulties obtaining adequate pain treatment, driving them to kratom as a last resort. The study concluded that kratom provided “substantial pain relief” with few concerns about overuse or side effects.
Dr. Axe’s analysis notes that kratom leaves have been valued in traditional medicine since the 19th century, with users reporting increased energy, mood, euphoria, and significant pain reduction. A 2025 neuropharmacology review highlighted that “generations of native populations in Southeast Asia have used kratom products to stave off fatigue, improve mood, alleviate pain and manage symptoms of opioid withdrawal.”
So let’s ask the question again: Where’s the public health crisis?
It doesn’t exist—unless you’re a pharmaceutical company watching people choose a $10 bag of leaves over your $500-a-month synthetic opioid prescription.
The Big Pharma Playbook: Demonize, Criminalize, Monetize 💰
If you want to understand why the FDA and DEA are fixated on kratom, follow the money.
In 2016, the DEA attempted to place kratom’s active compounds on Schedule I, the same category as heroin and LSD. They withdrew the notice after a public outcry from over 100,000 citizens and a coalition of scientists and veterans. But the push never stopped. It just went underground.
Why? Because kratom directly competes with patentable synthetic opioids, and that’s a problem when you’re a pharmaceutical company with billions in annual revenue from painkillers and addiction treatments.
Big Pharma has already filed patents for kratom-derived compounds for pain relief and addiction treatment, including a 1964 patent for “speciofoline” with “analgetic and antitussive activity.” But here’s the catch: those drugs only turn a profit if the natural plant is illegal. You can’t charge $500 a month for a leaf people can grow in their backyard.
Meanwhile, the FDA’s own preliminary study on kratom capsules found they “appeared to be well tolerated” even at high doses, with minimal adverse effects. The agency has three ongoing studies and has opened grant opportunities for additional research. Yet the FDA continues to warn against kratom and push for restrictions, while simultaneously funding research that shows it’s relatively safe.
Sound familiar?
This is the same playbook they ran with cannabis: demonize the natural plant, then introduce a synthetic, patentable version. Remember Marinol? A synthetic THC approved by the FDA while the natural plant remained a Schedule I crime?
Same strategy.
Different plant.
The formula is simple:
Demonize the natural plant
Criminalize those who use it
Monetize a synthetic alternative
Rinse and repeat.
7-OH: The Synthetic Trojan Horse
Here’s where the Big Pharma playbook gets truly diabolical.
Natural kratom leaves contain two primary alkaloids: mitragynine (the main compound) and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), which occurs in trace amounts—typically less than 2% of the total alkaloid content.
When you chew kratom leaves or brew them into tea, as Southeast Asians have done for centuries, you’re getting a balanced, whole-plant medicine with naturally low levels of 7-OH. The plant’s full spectrum of alkaloids work together synergistically, providing pain relief and energy without the dangerous side effects of synthetic opioids. Dr. Axe’s analysis confirms that traditional users have safely consumed the leaf in its natural form for generations.
But Big Pharma doesn’t profit from balance. They profit from concentration.
As we mentioned earlier, they isolated 7-OH, synthesized it in the lab, and created ultra-concentrated extracts and synthetic derivatives that are 10–17 times more potent than natural mitragynine. These synthetic products—sold as “enhanced kratom,” “7-OH tablets,” or “kratom extracts”—have flooded gas stations and smoke shops, marketed to unsuspecting consumers as “stronger” versions of the natural plant.
And that’s when the problems started.
High-dose synthetic 7-OH products have been linked to adverse effects including:
Respiratory depression—the very thing natural kratom doesn’t cause
Severe withdrawal symptoms—far more intense than those from natural leaf
Overdose risk—especially when combined with other substances
Addiction potential far exceeding traditional kratom use
It’s a classic divide-and-conquer strategy—and the losers are the everyday people who just want safe, affordable pain relief.
And the winners? Big Pharma, every single time.
Tennessee’s Kratom Ban: A Cover Story for Big Pharma🌿
We live outside Nashville, so we’ve been watching this develop the past few months. On July 1, 2026, Tennessee’s kratom ban took effect, making the possession, sale, manufacture, and distribution of kratom illegal throughout the state. Governor Bill Lee signed House Bill 1649, known as “Matthew Davenport’s Law,” on April 16, 2026.
The penalties are brutal:
Possession: Class A misdemeanor
Manufacturing, delivering, or selling: Class C felony
Selling to a minor: Class B felony
The law defines kratom as any part of the Mitragyna speciosa plant containing mitragynine or 7-hydroxymitragynine, making no distinction between the safe, natural leaf and the dangerous synthetic 7-OH extracts that caused the problems in the first place.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has stated it intends to enforce the law actively.
The bill was named after Matthew Davenport, a 27-year-old Chattanooga man who died in 2024 and had used kratom prior to his death. His mother, a nurse practitioner, pushed lawmakers for years to act. It’s a heartbreaking story, and it was used perfectly.
Because when you name a law after a tragedy, you shut down debate. Who could possibly oppose a law named after a dead young man?
But here’s what the media won’t tell you: Davenport’s autopsy and toxicology report shows he died from a combination of multiple substances—not kratom alone. The Hamilton County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death an accident caused by intoxication from multiple substances, including diphenhydramine, mitragynine, duloxetine, and buspirone. The amount of duloxetine in his blood far surpassed therapeutic levels, buspirone registered at overdose levels, and diphenhydramine was at levels considered lethal. Meanwhile, the amount of mitragynine, kratom’s primary alkaloid, was at levels below those sufficient to determine the substance killed him.
Medical and substance abuse experts have said kratom was wrongly blamed for his death, as it was just one of multiple substances found in his system. Yet the natural plant gets banned, while the other lethal prescriptions remain legal.
That’s not public safety. That’s a hit job.
And if this were really about public safety, why did Tennessee, which once considered the Kratom Consumer Protection Act that would have regulated rather than banned the plant, choose full criminalization?
Follow the money.
Campaign finance records show Governor Bill Lee has received substantial contributions from Big Pharma. In his 2020 campaign cycle, Lee raised $1,724,250 from 588 donors, with the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers Association of America contributing $24,000.
Across the first three quarters of 2022 alone, Governor Lee and Tennessee’s highest-ranking Republican lawmakers raked in $297,329 in “Healthcare” contributions—a category that includes pharmaceutical companies.
The pattern is unmistakable: the same industry that profits from opioids is funding the politicians who criminalize a natural alternative.
💔 The Human Cost: Real People, Real Consequences
Tennessee is far from alone. As of mid-2026, at least nine states have banned kratom outright, including Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Vermont, and Wisconsin—with more joining the list every month. North Dakota enacted a temporary ban in August 2026 and is now considering making it permanent, while Kentucky’s ban is set to take effect on January 1, 2027. Meanwhile, states like Massachusetts have placed kratom in Schedule I under emergency orders, and Florida has restricted concentrated 7-OH products through emergency rules.
But these bans don’t just affect policy—they devastate lives.
The ban hits hardest among people who used kratom daily to manage chronic pain, anxiety, or opioid withdrawal. These aren’t “drug abusers.” They’re your neighbors, your coworkers, your family members—people who found relief when the pharmaceutical system failed them.
According to SAMHSA’s 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, about 1.7 million Americans aged 12 and older reported using kratom in 2020. That number had grown to 1.85 million in 2025. Take Jennifer Gillis. She became a lifelong chronic pain patient 20 years ago when she was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis, a rare neurological condition that inflames the spinal cord. After losing access to her prescription meds, Gillis turned to kratom in 2019. “It gave me my life back,” she wrote in a letter to The Tennessean.
Now, Gillis and thousands like her face criminalization for choosing a plant over pills.
One petition signer put it bluntly: “I have been using kratom for 15 years. It has allowed me to remain off of opiates and gave me my life back. Please do not make me a criminal. Natural kratom is not dangerous.”
But here’s what the politicians who voted for this ban don’t want you to think about: A sudden ban does not erase physical dependence.
People who have been using kratom daily will still feel withdrawal—muscle aches, insomnia, nausea, vomiting, sweating, chills, and crushing cravings—once their supply runs out. The ban doesn’t make those symptoms disappear. It just makes the legal option disappear.
Without a treatment plan, some will turn to unregulated kratom products with no quality control, no labeling standards, and no safety testing. But even worse, many will turn to synthetic black-market 7-OH products—the very concentrated derivatives that caused the problems in the first place. These ultra-potent synthetic versions are far more dangerous than natural kratom, with higher addiction potential, respiratory depression risk, and overdose danger.
Others will turn to something far worse.
The most terrifying scenario involves people who used kratom to step away from heroin, fentanyl, or prescription opioids. Losing kratom access without a plan doesn’t make them stop needing relief. It increases their risk of returning to more potent opioids, which carry a far higher overdose risk than kratom ever did.
Think about that: a plant that helps people stay off deadly opioids is being banned, while the deadly opioids remain legal with a prescription.
One recovery center analysis warns: “The most serious scenario in Tennessee involves people who have been using kratom on their own to step away from heroin, fentanyl, or prescription opioids. Losing kratom access without a plan of action increases their risk of returning to more potent opioids, which carry far higher overdose risk than kratom.”
Harm-reduction advocates describe people turning to tianeptine, the “gas station heroin” already restricted in several states, or to unregulated 7-OH tablets far more potent than the leaf products they replaced. Some who had used kratom to stay off opioids report returning to them.
The ban didn’t eliminate demand. It just drove it underground and pushed people toward the dangerous synthetic derivatives that Big Pharma created.
And when you drive demand underground, you hand the market to drug cartels, who, as the Cato Institute warns, “would welcome the opportunity to expand into supplying 7-OH.”
This isn’t compassion. This isn’t public health. This is a gift-wrapped market opportunity for the very cartels and profiteers that prohibition always empowers, while the people who just wanted relief become criminals overnight.
What You Can Do
The same forces that demonized cannabis for profit are doing the same to kratom. But here’s the difference: we know the playbook now. We’ve seen this movie before—and we don’t have to let it end the same way.
Here’s how you can fight back:
Educate yourself. Read the Johns Hopkins study. Read the Journal of Pain research. Understand that the FDA’s own preliminary study found kratom capsules “appeared to be well tolerated” even at high doses. The data is on our side—but it doesn’t matter if nobody knows about it.
Contact your lawmakers. Demand that Tennessee reverse its ban and adopt sensible regulation instead of criminalization. The Federal Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA) framework offers a proven model: age limits, lab testing, labeling rules, and quality control—the same standards we apply to supplements and over-the-counter medications. Regulation, not prohibition, is the answer. Find your Tennessee legislator here.
Follow the money. Ask Governor Bill Lee and your state representatives a simple question: Why do you take campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry while criminalizing a natural plant that competes with their products? When you call, write, or email, mention the OpenSecrets data. Let them know you’re watching.
Share your story. If kratom has helped you or someone you love, speak up. Write a letter to your local newspaper. Post on social media. Testify at legislative hearings. Real stories from real Tennesseans are more powerful than any industry lobbyist.
Support advocacy groups. Organizations like the American Kratom Association are fighting this battle every day. They need your voice, your time, and your support.
As we wrote in The Truth About Cancer blog: “The question now is not whether cannabis works, but how soon the full scope of its benefits will be recognized.”
The same is true for kratom.
We’ve seen this pattern before. A safe, effective, natural plant threatens corporate profits. So they demonize it. They criminalize it. They erase centuries of traditional use with a wave of legislation written by lobbyists.
But here’s the thing: they can ban a plant, but they can’t ban the truth.
The truth is that God gave us cures, and corporate greed has spent a century trying to take them away. The truth is that alcohol kills over 140,000 Americans every year while kratom has virtually no deaths on its own. The truth is that the same industry that profits from deadly opioids is funding the politicians who make a safe natural alternative a crime.
Approximately 14,019 people die annually from overdosing on heroin in the United States. This number reflects a significant increase in heroin overdose deaths over the years.
In 2023, nearly 80,000 people died from opioid-related overdoses in the United States alone.
In 2023, fentanyl was responsible for approximately 72,776 deaths from overdoses in the United States. This accounted for about 69% of all drug overdose deaths that year.
We can’t afford to stay silent. Not this time.
Share this article. Call your legislators. Demand accountability. And remember: every single plant prohibition in history has eventually crumbled under the weight of its own absurdity.
History will judge us. Will we be the generation that let corporate greed destroy a safe, natural medicine that could have saved lives? Or will we be the generation that stood up, spoke out, and refused to let the playbook win?
What you can do: swear off all drugs and vaccines. The reason you need these products should be investigated. That is where the modern stone age medical mafia completely fails. You got pains? Here's a drug. Why do you have pains? Medical mafia: we have no clue. We are too stupid to discover the source of your pain and eliminate that. Just take the toxic drugs and shut up. We got money to make, not make you healthy so you don't need our poison drugs any more. That's against our religion and big pharma's ultimate mission statement.
So where do you get a safe version Non synthesized KRATOM? I live in Oregon, but I don’t feel safe buying it in the 7-Eleven store or any other type of location.