State Rep. Vernon Jones (D-Lithonia) has been appointed by Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) to the House Study Committee on Risks Associated with Kratom.

Advocates say kraton offers relief from pain, depression and anxiety. However, the FDA and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have been moving to ban the sale of kraton, citing the herbal drug’s potential for abuse saying it is an “imminent hazard to public safety,” according to reports.

Jones questioned the accuracy of the statements made by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb about kratom, and is asking the study committeesto review the reports.

“These newly released studies give us an opportunity to get to the truth about kratom,” said Jones. “We have seen too many instances where bureaucrats in Washington think they can tell the states what we should do and feed us misinformation to justify more regulation. The people of Georgia are smarter than that.”

Jones noted that a study released by Jane Babin, Ph.D., Esq. showed flaws in the death reports released by the FDA in order to justify its recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to schedule kratom as a Schedule I drug. Jones also said the study reported that the deaths attributed to kratom were actually the result of a homicide, several suicides, unrelated health conditions, polydrug use, and adulterated and contaminated products.

“Our study committee on kratom is going to have to carefully separate the facts from the misinformation campaign by the FDA,” said Jones. “Our own local coroners and law enforcement officials apparently have been fed a steady stream of inaccurate information about this natural plant that have obviously influenced some of our own reports on the causes of deaths.”

The study committee will hold public meetings to recieve input. Jones said the public hearings will allow those who safely use kratom to offer their perspective, as well as experts who can provide assessments on the conflicts in the science on kratom.

“There are nearly 5 million kratom consumers across the United States,” Jones said. “There is no doubt that we have tens of thousands of Georgians who use kratom safely for maintaining their health and well-being, and we owe them an unbiased review of what is true about kratom, and what is not.”