Addictive gas station drug finds allies in Trump’s cabinet | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Addictive gas station drug finds allies in Trump’s cabinet For years, federal health officials have warned about the risks associated with a supplement derived from the leaves of kratom trees that adherents say can kill pain or boost energy. Sold in gas stations across America, kratom has been linked to liver toxicity, seizures and thousands of deaths. Powerful figures close to President Donald Trump, including Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, pushed to downplay those concerns. Mullin, until recently a Republican senator from Oklahoma, played a key role in a sprawling influence campaign spearheaded by the kratom industry that courted Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Vice President JD Vance, among others in the Trump administration, an investigation by The New York Times found. Only when he was nominated by Trump in March to lead the Homeland Security Department did it become clear that Mullin had a financial connection to the supplement. In a disclosure statement, he listed an investment worth as much as $1 million in a kratom company, Botanic Tonics, that could benefit from the changes he has sought. The company’s founder, Jerry W. Ross — who had been an energy executive in Mullin’s home state before pleading guilty to a financial crime — is a leading player in the influence campaign that was devised to benefit kratom at the expense of its rivals in the marketplace. The kratom campaign underscores how corporations in the growing wellness industry can gain traction in Trump’s government by casting risky products as aligned with the administration’s Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, agenda championed by Kennedy, who has sometimes prioritized unproven remedies over science. Don't miss out on what's happening! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE! In July, while still a senator, Mullin showed up at a Food and Drug Administration news conference and endorsed proposed federal restrictions on more powerful synthetic supplements that compete with kratom for shelf space. In explaining his position, Mullin pointed to a history of addiction in his family, though health experts say kratom products have also been shown to be addictive. His disclosure form did not indicate when he acquired his stake in Botanic Tonics, but he has not filed paperwork to indicate that he has divested from it. The Homeland Security Department did not answer questions about the investment. In a statement, the department said that Mullin “follows all ethics and conflict of interest standards and has not lobbied for any individual or company.” The restrictions that Mullin supported on the synthetic products would have been a boon to Ross’ company and others in the kratom industry, which market their supplements as safer and more natural. The kratom companies used donations and lobbyists to push for the crackdown. “It’s not pay to play. It’s pay to have conversations. It’s pay to have a chance at the table,” Ryan Niddel, CEO of Diversified Botanics, another kratom company involved in the effort, said in an interview with the Times. “And anybody that considers any of the lobbying work or any of the governmental work that goes on being different than that, I think has their head buried in the sand at this point. “I mean, that is the world that we live in.” The Times’ investigation — drawn from campaign finance data, lobbying disclosures, court filings, private correspondence and dozens of interviews — found the following: — Ross ramped up his donations to Kennedy’s defunct presidential campaign after Trump chose him to be health secretary. Ross privately boasted that he was “working on a plan for Bobby.” — The FDA in 2025 deleted links on its kratom webpage that detailed a then-pending legal case against Ross’ company, Botanic Tonics, after his allies pushed for the change. — Botanic Tonics had been sued by the federal government for illegally selling kratom products that were not proven safe, which the company disputed. But in December, the Justice Department suddenly moved to drop the case — which the company celebrated as a sign of the federal government’s receptiveness to kratom. — Kennedy, as health secretary, called the governor of Ohio to try to head off a state ban on kratom in the fall of 2025. Months later, Botanic Tonics donated $1 million to a political committee associated with Kennedy. — Ross, joined by influential lobbyist Ches McDowell, used donations to secure a private audience with Vance to lobby him about the benefits of kratom and to urge the ban on the synthetic products. Kush Desai, a spokesperson for the White House, suggested the administration was not swayed by the influence campaign, even though Trump recently made comments about needing to address the matter. “The only guiding factor behind the Trump administration’s healthcare policymaking is gold standard science,” he said in a statement. The administration, he added, was working “to get this critical matter correct and ensure the health and safety of Americans.” The Health and Human Services Department and Kennedy did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Ross. The administration’s receptiveness to kratom comes as Trump has also expressed a willingness to loosen rules covering other drugs backed by influence campaigns, including cannabis and psychedelics. The permissive posture stands in contrast to Trump’s baseless skepticism about highly regulated and widely used medications like Tylenol and vaccines. “It’s looking like we have a coin-operated drug policy that basically responds to whoever will give money,” said Kevin Sabet, who worked on drug policy under Republican and Democratic presidents. “And it threatens public health and safety because it’s going around the scientific process in favor of donors and influencers.” A Rising Scourge Long used medicinally in Southeast Asia, the leaves of the kratom tree contain a compound called mitragynine that interacts with the brain’s opioid receptors in a manner said to produce mild pain relief and — depending on its preparation — either sedation or energy and focus. Kratom started gaining popularity in the United States in the early 2010s as the opioid addiction epidemic raged. With doctors tightening access to powerful prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, users spread the word that kratom — initially sold as a bitter-tasting powder — could produce a similar effect. Devotees promoted it as a way to kick opioid addiction or to replace alcohol. But as reports of negative effects started rolling in, the government tried to take action. Under the Obama administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration described kratom as “a drug and chemical of concern,” and moved to greatly restrict access by classifying it as a Schedule I drug. Doing so would have defined it as having no medicinal value, making it illegal to sell. The proposal was withdrawn weeks later amid backlash from the fledgling industry, kratom users and members of Congress. Another proposal to restrict access during the first Trump administration was also pulled after lobbying by an industry trade group, over the objection of Scott Gottlieb, the FDA commissioner at the time. Kratom took off, appearing on the shelves of convenience stores and vape shops as tablets, drinks and gummies. The products varied in strength, and the concentration of active ingredients on the labels was not always accurate. They could be purchased in many states without age verification. From 2020 through 2024, kratom was found in the system of more than 5,200 people who died of drug overdoses, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based on death certificates and other official reports. Though kratom was often found in combination with other drugs, one study determined that those using kratom carried a sixfold increase in the risk of overdose death. Wyatt Wheeler, 27, was pursuing a master’s degree in busi