I am submitting this comment as a chronic pain patient and disability advocate with lived experience of severe medical harm, disbelief by doctors, and abandonment by the healthcare system. Years ago, I was given FDA approved medications that caused serious damage to my body. Lupron was one of them. What followed were years of worsening pain, repeated surgeries, and doctors who did not believe my pain was real. I was misdiagnosed, dismissed, and labeled instead of helped. One surgery, a botched hysterectomy that cut me from hip to hip, lasted over three hours. At one point during my medical ordeal, I was bleeding internally and left without proper care. I truly believed I was going to die. These experiences permanently changed my life. After years of failed treatments and trauma, plain leaf kratom tea became the only thing that allowed me to function and manage pain without opioids. I did not turn to kratom casually. I turned to it because the medical system had exhausted and harmed me. During my major abdominal surgery, I stopped kratom completely before the operation. After surgery, I was on IV pain medication, but it was not helping. I was groggy, disconnected, and unable to function. After two days, once I was able to tolerate something by mouth, I stopped the IV medication and drank my kratom tea. The difference was immediate. I was more lucid, my pain was better controlled, and I was able to get up and walk. The nurses were shocked. They assumed I was not taking anything at all until I explained that I had resumed my kratom tea. That experience reinforced what I already knew. Kratom helps me function without sedation, confusion, or the risks I experienced with prescription drugs. It has never intoxicated me. It has never taken my life apart. It gave me clarity and stability when nothing else did. When lawmakers consider kratom-related legislation, I ask that patient outcomes and harm reduction remain central. Many adults rely on kratom not recreationally, but as a last-resort tool after years of medical trauma, failed prescriptions, and disbelief. I am concerned about policies that could unintentionally reduce access, overregulate responsible products, or push patients back toward opioids or other medications that have already caused significant harm. People do not stop needing pain relief because access is restricted. They suffer, or they are forced into worse options. While I do not live in Virginia, I have family, close friends, and fellow advocates who do. Decisions made here affect real people I care about and will influence kratom policy far beyond state lines. Please consider the lived experiences of patients like me when evaluating kratom-related legislation. Safety matters, but access and harm reduction matter too. Thank you for listening to voices that are too often ignored.

I am a clinical pharmacist, and I support HR 360 because it exposes a known public-health risk that needs to be addressed. HR 360 provides a warning that is grounded in fact which brings awareness to potential harm. Disregard of this acknowledgement would defy the vital role of public health to protect the public from risks of kratom and that is to ensure that food, human and veterinary drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics are safe, effective, and properly labeled. Cases have been reported related to use of kratom demonstrating physical dependence with signs and symptoms of withdrawal. Public disclosure of this risk is an essential and responsible public health function. Without notification of this risk associated with kratom use places consumers at risk. People do not recognize withdrawal when it occurs. They misinterpret symptoms. They escalate use. They delay seeking medical care. These are predictable outcomes when pharmacologic risk is hidden behind marketing terms like “natural” or “wellness.” HB 360 corrects that failure without resorting to prohibition. It gives Virginians information before dependence occurs, not after. It reduces harm without inflaming backlash. It brings a product sold outside the healthcare system closer to the ethical standards expected within it. As pharmacists, we are trained to prioritize patient safety, transparency, and informed consent. Supporting HB 360 is not a political statement, it is a professional one. The warning requirement is supported by evidence, aligned with clinical reality, and represents the most responsible public-health action available in Virginia at this time. I urge support for HB 360.

Dear Committee Members, I am a parent who lost a child. I believe kratom should be banned. If that option were before you today, I would support it without hesitation. HB 360 is not a ban, but I support it because doing nothing is not acceptable. This bill requires an honest warning that kratom may cause opioid-like withdrawal and moves it out of casual retail access. That matters. Parents cannot protect their children from risks they are never told about. When products with opioid-like effects are sold as “natural” without disclosure, families do not recognize dependence or withdrawal until real harm has already occurred. HB 360 does not go as far as I believe it should, but it is a necessary step toward honesty, accountability, and harm reduction. If a ban is not politically achievable, then warning families and restricting access is the minimum duty owed to parents in Virginia. Support HB 360. Thank you Wendy Chamberlain Joseph’s mom Forever 38 Lost from mitragynine toxicity.

Hello, My name is Hilary Tesluck and I have direct lived experience with both kratom and 7oh addiction. Today, I am clean, but I will never forget the true nightmare of withdrawing from kratom and 7oh. Both things I consider to be the most difficult things I have done in my life. It is NO DIFFERENT than prescription opioid withdrawal. In fact, I find it worse. Withdrawing from kratom leaf produced a lengthy post-acute withdrawal syndrome in which I experienced profound depression for 90 days. Withdrawing from 7oh was terrifying because I did it cold turkey on my own (I didn’t have access to resources like rehab) and it was so intense I ended up going to the ER because I thought I would pass out alone in my apartment. I couldn’t walk, couldn’t shower without the risk of fainting. I thrashed day and night for six days total. It is worse than heroin withdrawal because it’s so strong. Please consider protecting further individuals in your community by placing safeguards for the sale of kratom. I did not know what I was getting myself into years ago and if I knew I would’ve never done it.

Although some argue that the recent rise in kratom addiction is driven primarily by concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) products, as an addiciton medicine physician, I have seen a broader increase in kratom dependence that cannot be explained by 7-OH alone. Traditional kratom preparations, which contain little to no isolated 7-OH, have been associated for years with tolerance, withdrawal, and compulsive use, demonstrating that the plant’s full alkoloid profile, especially mitragynine, has inherent addictive potential. As kratom use has expanded in availability, potency, and frequency, more users are consuming it daily, escalating doses, and experiencing opioid-like dependence regardless of whether 7-OH is present in high concentrations. While 7-OH products may accelerate or intensify addiction in some users, focusing exclusively on them obscures the larger public health reality: kratom itself, particularly when marketed as “safe” or “non-addictive,” is contributing to a growing population of individuals struggling with dependence, withdrawal, and functional impairment. As an addiction medicine physician treating hundreds of patients annually at the Virginia Beach Psychiatric Center, I have been seeing an ever increasing number of people who are struggling with their use of Kratom. I would like to emphasize the reason we like this bill is because the warning clearly states that the product may cause dependence and opioid-like withdrawal. By moving the product behind the counter or into a lock case, this will allow potential consumers to pause and reflect on the potential cause for harm for these products.

Kratom has played a meaningful role in improving the quality of life for someone I love deeply who lives with severe chronic pain, depression, and anxiety. Before discovering kratom, daily life was dominated by pain, exhaustion, and a sense of hopelessness that made even simple tasks feel overwhelming. With kratom, they found a level of relief that allowed them to feel more present in their own life. Their pain became more manageable, their mood more stable, and their anxiety less consuming. It didn’t erase their challenges, but it gave them something incredibly important back: the ability to function, to engage, and to feel moments of peace and motivation again. What stands out most is the dignity it helped restore. Instead of being defined solely by pain or mental health struggles, they were able to reconnect with their interests, relationships, and sense of self. Kratom has been one part of a broader, thoughtful approach to wellness, and for our family, its impact has been profound and life-affirming.

I strongly advise you to oppose SB1396. Thank you.

We oppose bills Sb471 Sb770 Hb1396 It is a virgina heritage I have been hunting with my dogs ever since I could walk, and I want my nephews and my kids to enjoy the thangs that brought me so much joy and gave me something to look forward to every year these dogs are not just hunting dogs they are our pets and a part of my family please oppose these bills so my kids and grandkids can enjoy what I have and so many others have for generations.

Kratom has helped me so much in my life. It has helped my mental health as well as helps me physically do everything I need to do each day. I am able to keep up with my grandkids. I am able to function at my job when prior I found it extremely difficult to stay employed. I’ve been the most stable I’ve ever been in my adult life thanks to Kratom.

I've used kratom for over a decade. Kratom has been a positive and life-changing part of my wellness journey. It’s a natural plant from the coffee family that helps me manage Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome, Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Severe Major Depression and Panic Disorder. I receive pain relief for the chronic pain some of these cause. Kratom allows me to avoid the harsh side effects that I've experienced from prescription drugs. I learned about kratom from my brother after it got him off of heroin. It has saved my sisters life, also. They both survived fentanyl poisonings in 2016. Kratom is the reason they reached sobriety and remain sober. It prevented me from getting addicted to pills. Addiction runs in my family- it could've been me. Research from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Florida shows that kratom’s natural compounds work differently from opioids — they can relieve pain and improve mood without the dangerous risk of respiratory failure. Studies in Drug and Alcohol Dependence also found that kratom has a low potential for abuse and can even help people reduce dependence on harmful substances. Data from the CDC and the National Institute on Drug Abuse confirm that deaths linked solely to kratom are extremely rare — most cases involve other drugs or contaminants. Another concern of mine is the fact that alcohol has remained easily accessible while being responsible for tens of millions of deaths globally. These deaths have been attributable to alcohol since 2010 (very likely more than 30 million) based on the annual scales involved. Alcohol withdrawal is deadly whereas discontinuing kratom use is not. Kratom, namely plain leaf kratom is not deadly. That’s why I believe regulation, not prohibition, is the responsible way. Requiring testing and labeling so products are safe and adults can make informed choices. For me, and for millions of others, kratom has meant a better, healthier quality of life. Please listen to the science, and to the people who use it responsibly every day. Thank you for your time and consideration.

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Comment in Support of HB 360 I am submitting this comment as a pharmacist and Virginian in support of HB 360 because it does something government is obligated to do: it tells the truth and reduces preventable harm. Kratom has been sold in Virginia without honest warnings, no plain-language disclosure of dependence, no clear acknowledgment of opioid-like withdrawal, and no risk communication consistent with what is now documented about its effects. That silence is not neutral. When risks are known and not disclosed, confusion becomes policy, and families absorb the consequences. HB 360 does not ban kratom and does not criminalize consumers. It requires an explicit warning about opioid-like effects and withdrawal, and it moves sales behind the counter so adults are informed before purchase. That is not overreach. It is baseline consumer protection. It is also important to recognize where this issue is heading. Federal scrutiny is increasing, not decreasing, driven by FDA adverse event data, CDC mortality surveillance, and poison control reports, including a documented increase in pediatric exposures. The DEA is actively reviewing a citizen petition requesting Schedule I classification, and international retail markets have already begun closing in response to similar evidence. In that context, HB 360 functions as risk containment for Virginia. If federal action occurs after more Virginians unknowingly develop dependence, the public-health, treatment, and enforcement burden will fall on the Commonwealth. Acting now, through honest warnings and controlled access, reduces that exposure rather than magnifying it. For legislators and members of the public who want to review the underlying harm data directly, FDA adverse event reports, CDC references, and poison control trends are compiled for policymakers at www.mothersagainstherbalabuse.org. The record exists. The risks are documented. What remains is the decision. HB 360 offers Virginia a responsible path forward: transparency without prohibition, action without overreach, and protection before preventable harm becomes unavoidable. I urge its passage.

Invasives should be pulled or killed by herbicide and not be permitted to be sold in nurseries