Global Kratom Coalition hires Alaska lobbyist for $30,000 a year

The Global Kratom Coalition has hired Frank Bickford to lobby Alaska state government on kratom, effective Tuesday, Oct. 13. The coalition will pay Bickford $30,000 a year, according to his registration with the Alaska Public Offices Commission.

The filing covers both legislative and administrative lobbying, so Bickford can work with the Alaska Legislature and with state agencies. It lists his interests as "Kratom related issues and working with American Kratom Association." No end date is listed.

On its website, the coalition calls itself "an alliance of leaf kratom consumers, experts, and industry leaders committed to protecting and expanding access to leaf kratom." In March, it endorsed a bill in Congress by U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis that would make concentrated synthetic 7-hydroxymitragynine, known as 7-OH, a Schedule I controlled substance, according to its news page. The coalition favors that step over banning kratom outright. The American Kratom Association describes itself as a consumer advocacy group that supports regulating kratom products through state Kratom Consumer Protection Acts.

The Alaska Department of Health says kratom is not regulated for quality or dose, and that products may contain unsafe levels of active chemicals, heavy metals or harmful bacteria. "There is no known safe or recommended dose," the department says on its kratom information page.

A public health advisory issued in September warns that concentrated 7-OH products may raise the risk of dependence, withdrawal and opioid-like toxicity, Alaska News reported Sept. 24. Kratom-related intoxication, overdoses and withdrawal are not reportable to the department.

Alaska News has also covered Anchorage Assembly members drafting an ordinance to restrict concentrated kratom products.