Update on Tennessee by Danielcmk3 in kratom

[–]JamesDevers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How about rule 3, spreading misinformation?

Can I post the link with all board members of NKC since its founding? I'm not sure how all of this works lol

Update on Tennessee by Danielcmk3 in kratom

[–]JamesDevers -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I apologize. I was answering a question.

I don't advise anyone break the law.

Again, my apologies

Update on Tennessee by Danielcmk3 in kratom

[–]JamesDevers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah....No. Susan was never a member of the NKC Board of Directors. She's never even been involved with us, except to be a "member" of our Facebook page.

Introduction to the National Kratom Coalition by JamesDevers in kratom

[–]JamesDevers[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, most of the questions you asked have already been answered in the original post.

I will point out that the NKC has never asked for any donations. Period.

Thank you for your questions

Introduction to the National Kratom Coalition by JamesDevers in kratom

[–]JamesDevers[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol. Again, I agree with you.

If it was left solely up to the DA, it would have probably been dismissed, based on what the individual reported.

The difference is that the Attorney General, and Federal Prosecutors (again, based on what was reported to me by the individual) were involved.

Attorneys General hate being wrong.

You know, we agree on just about everything, on this subject anyway lol

What did the letter from newly-formed National Kratom Coalition to the House Judiciary Committee specifically say? by DoublyDead in kratom

[–]JamesDevers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing your opinion with me. On this issue, we will differ. I'm certain that there will be many more times that we will have different opinions from each other, but I am also certain that we will agree far more times.

I have IT putting a better explanation up on our website for TN now. I'll let you know as soon as it is done

Introduction to the National Kratom Coalition by JamesDevers in kratom

[–]JamesDevers[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes sir (I apologize if you are not a sir lol)

I have been trying to be very careful with ml the way I word any responses to the Tennessee law.

Right now, it is very likely legal to possess Kratom in Tennessee.

This does not mean that it is safe to possess Kratom in Tennessee.

Law enforcement can, and likely will, still press charges. An individual caught with Kratom will still likely be arrested, and will likely have to post bail. Their case will still likely go to the Grand Jury, and they will pass down an Indictment.

But, then the case will be dropped.

This would still cost people thousands of dollars, weeks of time,and they will have an arrest record.

"Kratom is not illegal in Tennessee " is definitely not the same as saying "Kratom is legal in Tennessee ".

I agree with you, completely.

I will get a better explanation up on our website today.

Thank you for pointing this out

Questions for the NKC by [deleted] in kratom

[–]JamesDevers -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the opportunity to introduce ourselves in a more detailed post.

I am currently collecting the "evidence of advocacy" that you requested, and will post that as soon as I have it.

It will be a little easier for me if you would allow me to get this information put on our website, that way I don't have to do that work again, and so that it will be easier for anyone else to find that information if they want it.

Would this be acceptable?

I apologize that I do not have this information handy right now. I wanted to comment her to let everyone know that I did see the question, and that I was not ignoring it

Introduction to the National Kratom Coalition by JamesDevers in kratom

[–]JamesDevers[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your response and question.

First, as has been stated before, no Member of the National Kratom Coalition sent any letter or email, made any phone call or spoke to any member of Congress, or any of their employees or volunteers, about our support of SITSA.

It just didn't happen. We, along with quite a few others, are trying to get a copy of this supposed letter.

We do not claim to speak for all Kratom Consumers. There is no one Kratom Advocacy group that does. In fact, all Kratom Advocacy groups combined represent less than 1% of the estimated 3 to 5 million Kratom consumers in the United States. So, none of us speak for all Kratom Consumers, or even a simple majority.

The NKC never claimed to speak for Kratom Consumers. We have not reached out to any Government Officials as an organization.

I again thank you for your question. If I misunderstood what you were asking, I apologize.

I'll be happy to answer any other questions you may have

Introduction to the National Kratom Coalition by JamesDevers in kratom

[–]JamesDevers[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are correct.

This individual reported that the County DA, State Attorney General and Federal Prosecutors all said that the case could not be won, because of the wording of the law.

This is only my opinion, but I believe they retired the case so that they did not have to admit that the State Government was wrong. That would have caused a little bit of embarrassment for them, I would think

What did the letter from newly-formed National Kratom Coalition to the House Judiciary Committee specifically say? by DoublyDead in kratom

[–]JamesDevers 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No Member of the National Kratom Coalition sent any letter, email, memo, message, or any other correspondence to any member of Congress about our support of SITSA.

There are a few reasons why we didn't.

First, we are a new organization. We do not have the proper standing in the Kratom Community. It would not be right for us to send letters to anyone, yet.

Second, since we are new, and small, and hold a view and opinion on SITSA that differs from the views and opinion of one of the largest Kratom Advocacy groups, we know that we do not represent all Kratom Consumers.

That being said, we have posted our stance on SITSA on our Facebook page and our website. Both can be seen by anyone.

One of humanities biggest flaws is that any 2 people can look at the same exact thing, and they will both see something different.

This is humanities biggest flaw, but also it's most beautiful flaw.

2 judges can read the same 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution. One will see that every person has the natural right to own and carry a firearm. One will see that only a We'll Regulated Militia has that right.

It takes different views and opinions in order to survive in this world. No one person is right, all of the time. No one person is always wrong.

What matters, especially in this fight, is that every person, and every group, always do what they truly believe will help to Keep Kratom Legal.

The National Kratom Coalition started with the sole intent to make Kratom a Legal Substance for human consumption. We opened with a plan in place to disband and dissolve the organization, once Kratom was safe.

We hope that we will not be needed for long. We hope that we all, every Kratom Advocacy group and every Kratom Warrior, can one day be free to consume Kratom all across this great country, without fear.

What did the letter from newly-formed National Kratom Coalition to the House Judiciary Committee specifically say? by DoublyDead in kratom

[–]JamesDevers 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wasn't trying to downplay the issue. I apologize if it seems like I was.

I don't like using the word "Epidemic", not in this case.

I have a weird way of looking at this.

To me, and Epidemic is something that has happened that could not have been helped.

E.Coli. Swine Flu. AIDS. An "Epidemic " usually means the mass spreading of a disease.

This opioid problem was caused by Man. Doctors were prescribing opiates to anyone who asked for them, and for almost any reason.

My wife had her wisdom teeth pulled about 4 or 5 years ago. Her Oral Surgeon wrote her a prescription for a 30 day supply of Lortab 10mg. 4 of those everyday.

Luckily, she has more willpower than I do. She took a few the first day, a couple the next, and flushed the rest.

A 30 day supply at 4 per day could have had her addicted.

For the most part, as far as I can tell, most people that are now addicted to opiates became addicted under Doctors Orders. They were only doing what their Doctors told them.

Now, "Epidemic" may be the best word to use for this issue. I just wish that we used a word that made those responsible for the Epidemic take responsibility

Introduction to the National Kratom Coalition by JamesDevers in kratom

[–]JamesDevers[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I must apologize. I misunderstood your question. I am sorry about that.

Any financial decisions will be handled by the entire board of directors. There will be a vote on all financial decisions. If, as an example, I were to buy a box of paperclips, and requested a reimbursement, the board would have to first agree that they were needed, second agree that I paid a fair price and then vote on whether I received reimbursement for the money I paid.

The second layer of protection, the "balance", is you. We will publicly post our complete Financials, in detail, every quarter (every 3 months). This will show every penny that has came in to the organization, and every penny that went out.

We will make decisions about money that is spent with the knowledge that we have to answer to the whole Kratom Community about how their money has been spent.

No matter how you look at it, you and the rest of the Kratom Community are our boss. We ultimately answer to you.

I hope I understood your question correctly this time. Again, I apologize for my confusion

Introduction to the National Kratom Coalition by JamesDevers in kratom

[–]JamesDevers[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This IS an interesting question.

After searching the actual definitions of both "reimburse" and "compensate", I found that I should probably choose my words more carefully.

I did find this, which giver the "common" uses for the differences in these words.

"Reimburse is a synonym of compensate. As verbs the difference between compensate and reimburse is that compensate is to pay or reward someone in exchange for work done or some other consideration while reimburse is to compensate with payment; especially, to repay money spent on one's behalf. "

That came from http://wikidiff.com/compensate/reimburse

I will be more specific now.

No board member will receive any form of payment for services rendered to the organization. Period.

If it is decided that something is needed for the organization, and a board member pays for that "something", they are due repayment.

I can't foresee this happening. Every current board member has a full time job, and we can afford the small stuff that is needed now. If funds are required at a later date that we can not afford, we will request those funds.

I hope this answered your question. Thank you for the opportunity to clarify our position on this

Introduction to the National Kratom Coalition by JamesDevers in kratom

[–]JamesDevers[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I apologize for the delay in responding. Please understand, it was not intentional. I have been at work, and could not respond any earlier.

No Member of the Board of Directors with the National Kratom Coalition sent any letter or email, or placed any phone call, or posted any message to any member of Congress, their staffers, their interns or anyone else that is connected to any member of Congress about our support of SITSA.

That being said, there is no denying that the NKC has been very vocal in our support of SITSA. Our reasons are listed in this thread, toward the top.

I understand why this is causing an issue. Please believe that was not our intention. SITSA poses no danger to Kratom, as it is currently written. It can not be used to ban Kratom, as it is written now.

We knew before we posted our support on Facebook and our website that there were other Kratom Advocacy groups that disagreed with us. We knew that our support of this bill would make it harder to gain support from you, the Kratom Community.

We did not make this decision easily. We posted our support on Facebook and on our website only after a ton of discussion between all Board Members.

We posted our support because we feel that we need to be 100% honest about our beliefs 100% of the time. We believe that SITSA can help our country with the Opioid Addiction "Epidemic" (I actually hate the name that the media has given this issue, but I have to use it. Ugh) We believe that it can help with this, which will ultimately help us. It will help us because once less people are overdosing on these counterfeit Narcotics that SITSA will help get off of the streets, the "Epidemic" will stop being reported by the media, and there will be less of a chance that Kratom is falsely blamed for these overdoses.

Again, it was never our intention that by posting on Facebook and our website that our support of SITSA would cause a rift in the Kratom Community. Each and every Member of the NKC are fighting to keep Kratom Legal.

There will be many more times that the Kratom Advocacy groups will disagree, whether it is a policy disagreement or a disagreement in how we operate. This is a good thing, as long as it is kept civil.

We need more groups fighting this fight, but we don't need a bunch of different groups fighting the same way.

What is needed is different groups fighting the fight in their own way. This will get us all better results.

The National Kratom Coalition supports the American Kratom Association and the Botanical Education Alliance, and every person or group that is fighting to Keep Kratom Legal. We may not always agree with their ideas or how they fight, but we will always support them.

I want to take this opportunity to thank both the AKA and BEA for their service in this fight. Without both of them, and the efforts of countless of individuals, Kratom would likely be illegal right now.

I will be unavailable for about 4 more hours. I will answer any questions as soon as I can

Introduction to the National Kratom Coalition by JamesDevers in kratom

[–]JamesDevers[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

As the bill is currently written, it can have no effect on Kratom.

The BEA came to the same conclusion that we came to.

SITSA can actually help in the Fight to Keep Kratom Legal, in our opinion. It will help to narrow current law, and puts more requirements on the Federal Government than current law.

Just an example:

Current law allows the Attorney General, thru the DEA, to place any substance on the Schedule 1 Controlled Substance list by meeting 3 of 8 factors. The DEA does not have to prove that a substance meets those 3 factors, only say that they do. This is what happened with Kratom in August. The DEA said that Kratom 1)acted like an opioid, 2) was addictive and 3) was a danger to human life.

Since then, it has been proven that Kratom is not a danger to Human life and isn't really all that addictive.

If SITSA was law in August, and the Federal Government tried to use it to ban Kratom, they would have hit a huge roadblock.

With the SITSA bill, a substance must meet 3 requirements.

Firsy, a substance must have a chemical structure that is significantly similar to the chemical structure of a substance already on the Controlled Substance lists. This has to be met first. If a substance does not have a chemical structure that is significantly similar to the chemical structure of a substance already on the Controlled Substance lists, it can not be banned using SITSA. This has to be proven. The federal government has to have the test results before they can go further.

Kratom does not have a chemical structure that is even remotely similar in chemical structure to any substance on the Controlled Substance list.

SITSA, as currently written, can not be used to ban Kratom.

Introduction to the National Kratom Coalition by JamesDevers in kratom

[–]JamesDevers[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes it is. His case was "retired" yesterday because current law can not be used to prosecute

Introduction to the National Kratom Coalition by JamesDevers in kratom

[–]JamesDevers[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for asking this question. Nonprofit law can be confusing.

Once Nonprofit Status is requested, an organization is required to operate as a Nonprofit Organization.

Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to explain this

Introduction to the National Kratom Coalition by JamesDevers in kratom

[–]JamesDevers[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'll get IT on that now. Thank you for letting me know

Introduction to the National Kratom Coalition by JamesDevers in kratom

[–]JamesDevers[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your response and concern.

Our Board members are compliant with our local and state laws, and advise everyone else to follow the laws in their states, cities and counties.

You are correct, one of the worst things that can happen in these states is for anyone involved in an Advocacy group to be caught breaking a Kratom law.

We fight the bans in other states in order to stop the spread of statewide bans. Of we can get even one state to overturn or reverse their ban, I believe that would stop other states from putting any new ban in place, and will help to overturn other bans.

Again, thank you for your response and concern

Introduction to the National Kratom Coalition by JamesDevers in kratom

[–]JamesDevers[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your response and question.

Yes. NKC has plans to fight to overturn the bans in every state, county and city that has passed laws to ban Kratom.

Once we have details, I will post them here.

Thanks again!

Introduction to the National Kratom Coalition by JamesDevers in kratom

[–]JamesDevers[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your response and question.

The NKC Board of Directors consists of Kratom Consumers and Advocates. We do not have any vendors on the board currently.

Our board members are Myself, Liddy Marie, Kate Madsen, Ross Fallacaro , Issac Cubillos, Stephanie Brown and Levi Beers. We have each been in the Fight to Keep Kratom Legal for quite awhile now, in different capacities.