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Subject: FW: Please DO NOT pass a ban on natural kratom products. BAN 7-OH.
Date: Monday, December 1, 2025 4:23:39 PM
Attachments: Lora Romney November 2025.pdf
Comment for the 12/4/25 Council meeting, item 2-V ID 25-1640.
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Subject: Please DO NOT pass a ban on natural kratom products. BAN 7-OH.
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Dear Fresno City Council –
Please DO NOT pass the proposed regulation that will ban kratom in your city. Instead, follow the path that numerous other CA cities have recently followed and responsibly regulate natural kratom. The complete ban should be on the synthetic 7-OH products.
They are the products that are causing the health and safety issues in your community.
Natural kratom has hundreds of peer-reviewed, scientific studies to back its safety.
Including a Single Ascending Dose Study completed by the FDA. 7-OH has zero science to back its use and it has been shown to cause respiratory depression in animal studies.
Please read my attached testimony and consider how a ban will affect hundreds of pain patients like me that live in Fresno.
Taking away this lifeline from the most vulnerable
will be disastrous.
Thank you.
Lora Romney
Virus-free.www.avast.com
Lora Romney – Patient Testimony
I am sharing my story with you today so that you can understand the human side of kratom and how your decision will impact the lives of thousands who rely on this botanical. I am a very normal 55-year- old wife, mother, grandma, and conservative voice. At 42 years old I joined the ranks of the chronic pain community with my diagnosis. I feel compelled to explain to you how natural kratom has changed my life and allowed me to function. I also feel it is extremely important to stress that natural kratom is very different from synthetic 7-OH. I know that protecting your citizens is your entire goal. By banning 7-OH you are ensuring that the problem synthetic products are off your shelves. By regulating kratom, you are allowing safe access for those who rely on kratom.
I am a patient with Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia (ATN). This disease causes severe facial nerve pain that never stops. It presents in my sinus regions on both sides. Imagine an ice cream headache that never goes away. This is what I experience daily. This disease is called “the suicide disease” because it can be one of the most painful conditions to live with.
I have been struggling with ATN for the past 13 years. I have tried everything to control my pain: brain surgery, a nerve stimulator implant in my face, blocks, lidocaine infusions, chiropractic, acupuncture, physical therapy and over 30+ medications to try and decrease this pain. I was referred to a pain clinic after my neurologist exhausted all options for me. Under the care of a pain physician, I was given two oxycodone per day.
This dose of oxycodone was not enough to control my excruciating pain. It gave me relief for approximately 4-5 hours. This meant that for 16 hours of the day and night, I did not have any pain control. I suffered immensely. Since I had tried all available options to control this pain, I began looking at alternative solutions. I heard about the plant kratom that many were using successfully to help control their TN pain. I decided to try it. Amazingly enough, I got instant relief. My pain did not go away, but it moved from an 8-9 to a 2-4 with the use of a low dose of kratom. I still have very bad days where nothing really helps, but the majority of the time, I can function very well. I am an 8-year kratom consumer. Kratom has allowed me to discontinue my daily opioid prescription!
Patients like me need pain control options. I read stories every day of patients who are being forced off their pain medication and given no other options. While taking acetaminophen or ibuprofen for pain control works for some, when people have severe illness and pain, these over-the-counter meds do not help. What is not understood by many lawmakers and physicians is that you cannot survive at constant 8-10 level pain for an extended period of time without snapping. Mentally this amount of pain changes your brain, and suicide becomes a real option. We don’t want to die. We want to live! I don’t take kratom to get any sort of a high. In fact, the reason I love kratom is that it makes me feel more normal! There is no physical craving for this supplement. The only craving I have is the desire to have my pain drop a few points.
Pain patients are the silent minority in this country. We are the ones who have no voice. We are hidden away in our homes, unable to work, go to lunch, and even drive a car at times. All we are asking for is compassion and access to medication and natural supplements that give us some quality of life. Sometimes I lay awake at night thinking about the real possibility that kratom could become illegal. What would I then do for pain control? That is a thought that haunts me. Opioids are no longer
By regulating and not banning kratom, you are showing those that rely on kratom to treat their pain, anxiety and even drug withdrawals with kratom truly matter. You have the power to keep us functioning so we can give back to society and take care of our families. Thank you!
Lora Romney
Before Kratom – Uncontrolled pain, surgeries, procedures (Cephaly device pictured….trying to control the pain)
With Kratom – Controlled pain, living life, being a grandma
I will forever be grateful that I found safe, lab-tested, whole-leaf Kratom. Now, I share my story, knowledge, and the science behind it to help others facing addiction, chronic pain, anxiety, and depression.
Yours truly,
Misty Brown
Kratom Consumer, Advocate & Activist est. 2019
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Subject: [BULK] New eComment for City Council on 2025-12-04 9:00 AM - Regular Meeting Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2025 12:41:12 AM
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City of Fresno
New eComment for City Council on 2025-12-04
9:00 AM - Regular Meeting
Kimberley Xu submitted a new eComment.
Meeting: City Council on 2025-12-04 9:00 AM - Regular Meeting Item: 2.-V. ID 25-1640 ***BILL B-54 (Introduced November 20, 2025)(For Adoption) Adding Chapter 10 of Article 28 of the Fresno Municipal Code, relating to the regulation of the sale and distribution of kratom products within the City limits (Subject to Mayor's Veto) eComment: I support this law. But I think it should be changed to allow leaf kratom. I don�€™t use Kratom but maybe the leaf wasn�€™t the problem. If you pass this law, that�€™s ok but I am trying to think of all the people who use Kratom leaf and never had a problem.
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From:
To: Clerk
Subject: Fresno City Council 12/4 Meeting Comment
Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2025 10:18:37 AM
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Hello,
I would like to submit the below comment on behalf of the Global Kratom Coalition. ---
Dear Fresno Mayor and City Councilmembers:
On behalf of the Global Kratom Coalition (GKC), a coalition of consumers, scientific experts, and responsible stakeholders - we submit this comment in support of amending the City Council’s proposed ordinance regarding the sale and possession of kratom.
Rather than institute a blanket ban on all kratom products, we urge the Council to adopt an amendment that clearly distinguishes between natural kratom leaf and concentrated synthetic 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) products and other synthetic derivatives.
Specifically, we ask that the City Council establish a conservative 7-OH content of less than
0.5% of the allies fraction in finished products to differentiate between natural kratom products and the prohibited concentrated synthetic 7-OH products. Additionally, we ask that you institute a 21+ age-gate for the sale of natural kratom products to further ensure children are not accessing these products. ‘
By adopting this amendment, you protect public health while maintaining regulated access to natural kratom products used by millions of Americans, including 3 million Californians.
This approach targets the actual problem: adulterated, lab created, concentrated synthetic products, while allowing consumers access to natural kratom products.
This framework will align the City’s ordinance with the federal direction that distinguishes between natural kratom and concentrated, synthetic 7-OH and will complement Fresno County’s approach. This will promote consistency across municipalities while prohibiting novel opioids from being accessible.
Consistent with GKC’s position, we support prohibiting adulterated, synthetic concentrated 7-OH products and other synthetic derivatives, while preserving adult access to responsibly regulated natural kratom leaf.