The inquiry, announced on the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance website on Aug. 5, followed the publication of a New York Times article that alleged that members of President Trump’s cabinet may have abused their government position to stifle kratom’s competitors, enriching themselves in the process.
Among the inquiry’s concerns are Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin’s financial stake in Oklahoma-based Botanic Tonics—reportedly worth as much as $1 million. It highlighted that Mullin has advocated for restrictions on competitors such as synthetic products, including those made with highly concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH).
Wyden also sent letters to Botanic Tonic’s CEO Jerry Ross and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. seeking explanations about what he describes as “corrupt ties to Big Tobacco and the kratom industry.”
“From kratom and nicotine to pesticides and PFAS, you have yet to draw a line in the sand and buck corporate interests to Make America Healthy Again,” he stated in his letter to Kennedy. “Just like President Trump, your door is always open for corporate donors with demands and a checkbook.”
Wyden also alleges that the secretary has actively intervened to try to stop state-level kratom bans and noted that Jerry Ross donated $162,000 to Kennedy’s presidential campaign months after it ended.
In July, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced its intent to temporarily place 7-OH above a specified threshold in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, while excluding botanical kratom products containing naturally occurring 7-OH below that threshold. And on Aug. 24, the agency announced that it was placing a temporary order to schedule three 7-OH-related substances (mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15, and MGM-16), citing the need to avoid an imminent hazard to public safety.
Schedule I houses substances, chemicals or drugs that have a high potential for abuse, no accepted current medical use and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision.
Wyden takes issue with kratom science and safety
This is not the first time that kratom and its compounds have been in the DEA’s crosshairs. In 2016, the agency first published a notice of intent to emergency-schedule mitragynine and 7-OH into Schedule I.
This drew intense public and industry backlash, pushing the DEA to withdraw the emergency ban. Lawmakers had also joined the outcry, including Wyden, who urged the administration to delay action to allow more time for public and scientific input.
In his letter to Ross, Wyden wrote that in the decade since “we have not seen a body of peer-reviewed research supporting the safety of kratom or identifying breakthrough clinical uses.”
Last week, the Global Kratom Coalition—an industry group founded by Ross in 2024 to advocate for traditional leaf kratom and against synthetic 7-OH—published a tally of the number of publications since 2022 to counter claims that science in the field has stood still.
The coalition reported that the number of kratom-related publications had increased to over 300 since 2022 and identified 1,000 peer-reviewed papers catalogued by its KratomIndex, including 18 clinical studies. It also highlighted that public portfolio estimates indicate that National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-supported kratom and mitragynine research now exceeds $100 million.
“The science on natural kratom leaf is growing, specific, and federally active,” the coalition stated. “Policy should follow that evidence, targeting lab-made substances like concentrated synthetic 7-OH, mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15 and MGM-16—while preserving responsible access to natural kratom leaf.”
Writing to Ross, Wyden also addressed the potential side effects of kratom, stating that there are no FDA-approved drug product or over-the-counter drugs containing kratom that are legally on the U.S. market. The agency’s website states the FDA has “warned consumers not to use kratom because of the risk of serious adverse events, including liver toxicity, seizures, and substance use disorder” and that deaths have been associated with kratom use.
The letter also highlights that Botanic Tonics’ Feel Free beverages now include a warning that kratom “can become habit-forming and cause serious health effects” and includes a series of questions about the decision to include the warning label.
According to NIDA, kratom-related deaths are extremely rare, and fatalities connected to the substance are often associated with poly drug use. Despite this, kratom-related exposure reports have risen sharply in the last year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics.
In his letter, Wyden noted that “kratom has been found in the body of thousands of overdose victims, both alone and in combination with opioids.” He also said doctors are seeing more patients develop addiction to kratom drinks, citing a 2025 Wall Street Journal article.
Sources within the kratom industry have suggested that the sharp increase is connected to the rise of 7-OH product use in the last few years, and that because 7-OH and kratom products contain mitragynine, toxicological reports may not always clearly be able to indicate which product was consumed.
Others worry that, despite gains in scientific understanding, kratom could end up facing the same fate as 7-OH products as more states move to ban the substance amid growing negative public sentiment.
Business as usual?
Wyden asked a total of 17 questions of Ross, including whether he had spoken with Kennedy about kratom, both before and since he became secretary of HHS.
He also probed if Ross hired lobbyists to ask federal government officials to remove information about kratom from government webpages and what political contributions he has made in the last 10 years.
According to the Times reporting, Botanic Tonics donated $1 million to MAHA PAC, a group that supports the Make America Health Again agenda associated with Kennedy, during a lobbying push to ban synthetic kratom alternatives. This reportedly represented 44% of all the funds raised by the PAC between the beginning of 2025 through April this year.
Mac Haddow, senior fellow on public policy at the American Kratom Association, said the media attention received by Botanic Tonics may be fitting but that Ross’ financial relationships are not unusual.
“I’ve spent 50 years in Washington, and I have seen this replicated over and over again where industries or individual companies attempt to get access to a public official, and they use the resources and pathways that are available, which includes making campaign contributions so that they get a seat at the table,” Haddow said. “There’s nothing unusual about what [the Times] is describing.”
Haddow, who was chief of staff at Department of Health and Human Services from 1982 to 1986, said the 7-OH industry spent as much as, if not more, on political contributions as players within the kratom industry, meaning politicians and advocacy groups received funding from “both sides.”
“This is the political game that goes on every day in Washington, and no one is guaranteed that by making a contribution that you’re going to get any kind of response that’s consistent with what you want,” he added.
Wyden gave Ross and Kennedy until Aug. 31 to respond to his questions.
Jerry Ross and Botanic Tonics did not respond to requests for comment prior to publication.
