October 2026 Vendor Summit: Calling For All Hands On Deck!
A Message from Mac Haddow:
Kratom Industry Leaders:
I am writing to ask every responsible kratom manufacturer, distributor, and industry leader to participate in an Emergency Kratom Industry Leadership Summit on Monday, October 19, 2026, in Washington, D.C., hosted at the offices of Michael Best.
This is an all-hands-on-deck meeting. The challenges confronting the kratom consumer community and responsible industry require an immediate, unified, and substantive response.
The current crisis was triggered by initial reporting from Oxford City and the Lafayette County Drug Task Force following the tragic deaths of two Ole Miss students. The initial public characterization that a “packaged kratom product" had been found at the both death scenes helped trigger a national media frenzy even before toxicology and other evidence had established precisely what substances were involved.
Whatever the ultimate findings in those cases, the resulting media coverage has created what may be the most significant challenge facing kratom consumers and the responsible kratom industry since the 2016 effort to place natural kratom products into Schedule I.
The consequences will not end with the current news cycle.
We are likely facing one of the most difficult upcoming state legislative sessions of the past six years. We should expect proposals in multiple states and local governments to ban or severely restrict kratom. Some of those proposals will gain significant political traction unless the kratom community and the industry itself can present policymakers with a credible, science-based regulatory framework that protects consumers and clearly distinguishes responsible natural kratom products from the new generation of chemically manipulated and synthetically altered alkaloids and metabolites engineered to produce signature opioid effects.
Federal policy is increasingly drawing that distinction. The responsible kratom industry must do the same -- and it must demonstrate that commitment through enforceable standards rather than rhetoric.
There is also an issue within the natural kratom marketplace that we have to address candidly. An internal potency and serving-size arms race is developing among some products marketed as natural kratom. Responsible manufacturers must adhere to federal law to demonstrate a reasonable basis for the safety of their products under their labeled conditions of use. Increasing serving sizes or alkaloid exposure simply to compete with another manufacturer's product is not a sustainable standard for this industry, and that marketing strategy puts consumers at significant and unnecessary risk.
The October 19 Summit therefore needs to produce action.
We are asking every kratom industry firm to participate and provide input for a consensus framework defining a responsibly manufactured natural kratom product. Among the issues we intend to address are appropriate serving-size limitations and daily-use directions; accurate and standardized labeling; quantitative disclosure of relevant ingredients supported by independent Certificates of Analysis; manufacturing standards; internal quality controls on product production; and product-formulation principles designed to preserve the appropriate relationship among the naturally occurring alkaloids ratios rather than manipulating those ratios to create opioid effects not present in the natural plant.
Quality Controls, Label Accuracy, and Full Ingredient Transparency
A specific discussion at the Summit will focus on the quality-control standards that must support every representation made on a kratom product label. Consumers have a right to know what they are purchasing and consuming, and responsible manufacturers should be able to demonstrate that the actual contents of their products match what is represented on the label.
This discussion will address the need for accurate quantitative disclosure of all relevant kratom alkaloids and other active constituents; independent laboratory testing and Certificates of Analysis that substantiate label claims; appropriate batch and lot identification and traceability; and manufacturing controls that ensure reasonable consistency between what is formulated, what is tested, and what ultimately reaches the consumer.
Just as importantly, we will discuss a commitment to full and accurate disclosure of all ingredients contained in a finished product. Consumers should not have to guess whether a product contains botanical kratom leaf, an extract, added alkaloids, flavorings, stimulants, pharmaceutical substances, synthetic compounds, or other active or inactive ingredients. The label should provide sufficient and accurate information for a consumer to understand what is actually contained in the product and to make an informed decision about whether purchasing and consuming that product is appropriate.
This transparency is particularly important when a product contains ingredients other than natural kratom leaf or its traditional preparations. No product should be marketed in a manner that leads a consumer to believe he or she is purchasing a traditional natural kratom product when its pharmacological profile has been materially altered through added, concentrated, chemically manipulated, or synthetic compounds.
The objective should be straightforward: the contents of the package must match the label, the label must disclose what the consumer is actually ingesting, and those representations must be supported by reliable quality-control testing. That principle should become a fundamental commitment of every responsible company participating in the natural kratom marketplace.
The objective should be to leave Washington with the foundation for a consensus industry commitment for natural kratom leaf products that responsible companies can publicly affirm and that we can confidently present to federal and state policymakers.
The AKA needs that to present to policy makers on how the industry is willing to commit to protect the consumers we advocate for.
The Summit will also address two other areas that will be critical in 2027.
We will convene a panel of experienced federal and state lobbyists from across the country to assess the coming legislative environment. They will identify the current federal legislative landscape, and do a deep-dive on the states presenting the greatest risks, the arguments we should expect from proponents of kratom bans, and the policy and political challenges we will have to overcome.
Second, we will convene an industry panel specifically addressing packaging, marketing, and distribution practices. We need meaningful standards ensuring that natural kratom products are presented responsibly to the public. That discussion must include packaging that is not attractive to children; truthful representations of potency and intended use; responsible product names, graphics, and claims; appropriate distribution channels; and standards governing online, social-media, and traditional advertising.
This cannot be another industry meeting where everyone identifies the problems and then returns home without agreeing on solutions.
The events of the past several weeks demonstrate that the status quo is not sustainable. If responsible manufacturers do not establish credible standards for natural kratom products, others will define those standards for us, and some policymakers will simply choose prohibition.
We have an opportunity to demonstrate that the responsible kratom industry supports strong consumer protections, scientifically defensible product standards, responsible marketing, complete ingredient transparency, rigorous quality controls, and decisive action against chemically manipulated and synthetically engineered opioid products being sold under the kratom name.
Emergency Kratom Industry Leadership Summit
Monday, October 19, 2026
Washington, D.C.
Hosted at Michael Best
RSVP REQUIRED — DEADLINE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2026
Please confirm your company's participation no later than Monday, October 12, 2026, by registering here: https://secure.ngpvan.com/CF9gs31XPEijv6HtT-cmJQ2
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