Dr. C. Michael White — Chairman

Dr. C. Michael White is an internationally respected clinical pharmacologist and pharmacist, making him an ideal choice for the inaugural Chairman's role. He has published several comprehensive reviews on leaf kratom and has been interviewed by numerous national and international media outlets about this herbal product. His work on leaf kratom is part of his larger body of research on natural products, substances of abuse, and manufacturing quality. 

Dr. White has extensive experience promoting consensus. He directed an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-designated Evidence-based Practice Center for over a decade, conducting rigorous and unbiased reviews of biomedical literature. These projects included key informant stakeholders who provided insight into the research questions and methods used to answer them.

"I am excited to gather this council together and learn about their experiences and thoughts regarding kratom," said Dr. White. "By sharing and discussing the evidence, we can ensure that everyone has the same platform of knowledge. Together, we will look for ways to maximize kratom’s potential benefits and minimize the chances of harm for consumers."

KCAC Members

Taylor Norman

Taylor Norman is a natural kratom consumer and advocate. He supports sensible regulations on natural kratom leaf because he believes natural kratom needs regulation, not prohibition. He believes natural kratom can be life-changing for people, while isolated alkaloids, synthetics, and highly potent extracts have created serious problems and unfortunately dragged natural kratom's name along with them.

He began using natural kratom leaf in late 2019 while struggling with alcohol dependence. He drank heavily in his late teens, and once he turned 21 and had easy access to alcohol, his drinking spiraled out of control. He was getting blackout drunk almost every night, calling off work because he was hungover, and damaging friendships and relationships because alcohol had become his priority. There are still bridges he burned during those years that he has never been able to repair.

One day while buying alcohol, a store clerk suggested he try natural kratom leaf. She told him that people were using it to help with alcohol and that advocates had recently fought off an attempt to ban it. He bought a small bag of traditional ground-leaf kratom, went home, researched it, and tried it. He immediately noticed that his urge to drink was significantly reduced. Giving up alcohol was still a mental battle, but natural kratom became a tool he could turn to instead of drinking.

He has now been alcohol-free for nearly seven years. Today, he is a husband, father, and restaurant manager. His life is completely different from what it was when he was drinking. He has never used natural kratom leaf with the goal of becoming intoxicated and it has never been in anyway intoxicating for him; for him, it has been a tool that helped him stop drinking and build a stable life.

His positive experience with natural kratom does not mean he believes the industry should be unregulated. He strongly supports age restrictions, contamination and alkaloid testing, accurate labeling, manufacturing standards, and other meaningful consumer protections. He also believes natural kratom leaf products should be clearly distinguished from concentrated synthetic 7-OH and other isolated or highly concentrated alkaloids, which he believes carry substantially different risks for dependence and addiction.

His opposition to blanket prohibition is also personal. As a teenager, he took a pill that he did not know contained illicit fentanyl and suffered a life-threatening overdose. He was told that paramedics needed multiple doses of Narcan to revive him, and he later tested positive for fentanyl and carfentanil. That experience showed him firsthand how dangerous an unpredictable illicit drug supply can be.

He hopes to bring this consumer perspective to the KCAC: supporting responsible access to traditional kratom while also being willing to address legitimate problems within the broader kratom marketplace.

Dijon Evans

Dijon Evans, a 61-year-old Sacramento resident, is a survivor. Living with chronic pain from complex regional pain syndrome, neuralgia, multiple organ failure, and other conditions, Dijon's journey has been marked by surgeries, complications, and the loss of a limb. After traditional pain management options failed, Dijon found hope in leaf kratom, a plant used for centuries in Southeast Asia. Kratom provided pain relief and restored Dijon's sense of purpose, allowing for a life once thought impossible.

Now, Dijon is a strong advocate for Assembly Bill 2365, which would regulate leaf kratom in California, ensuring its safety and accessibility for those who rely on it.

Travis Ray

Travis Ray is from Willmington, NC.  He started using opioids to get high at a young age and given the tolerance he developed, kept moving to higher doses and to stronger opioids. Opioids have killed and addicted many people in his community, including some of his own family members. However, he still could not break free from his addiction. Eventually fentanyl was the only opioid potent enough to work for him, but he knew it was a life-threatening choice. He tried Suboxone and it was effective but kept him feeling like he was in a permanent fog. He couldn't always access the product and because it wasn't covered by his insurance, he couldn't afford to continue it and returned to using illicit fentanyl. When the illicit fentanyl supply started getting laced with hidden ingredients like the animal tranquilizer xylazine, he started looking for alternatives. Several months ago, he started using whole leaf kratom and realized that small doses could control his withdrawals from fentanyl. He felt more energy and that he had more control over his choices than he had in a long time and once fentanyl was completely out of his system and those withdrawals subsided, he was able to slowly get off of kratom as well. He joined the KCAC because he understands that not everyone has access to substance abuse support services and products and for people like him kratom brings the possibility of self-management. He worries that without kratom, others like him would lose the ability to regain control over their lives. He doesn't want a new generation of semi-synthetic or synthetic "gas station heroin" products hooking the next generation of people and wants to be sure that kratom products are used safely by consumers through sensible regulation.  

Brendan Johnson

Brendan Johnson is a 36-year-old from Rochester, NY. He has suffered from chronic pain for years in his back and knees, requiring a cane just to get around. His doctors prescribed opioids to manage his pain, but he had to escalate his dose again and again over time just to get the same level of pain relief. Eventually, he realized that he wasn’t only dependent on opioids for pain relief but was addicted to them as well. He would alternate between being in pain and then being overly sedated, which made it hard for him to engage in regular activities. His doctors did not have any other options available to him which left him feeling isolated and demoralized. He started using kratom and found that it controlled his pain but didn’t make him sleepy like opioids did. It didn’t cause any euphoric feelings like regular opioids, and he wasn’t worried about kratom stopping him from breathing. He believes that kratom was a turning point in his life, putting him on the path to a more active and normal life without the cravings and sedation seen with opioids. He has been able to step down his kratom dosage over time, something he never experienced while taking opioids. He joined the KCAC because he is concerned that citizens like him who are out of options for their pain or opioid addictions will be denied access to kratom. He believes there are bad actors coming in the marketplace selling semi-synthetic and synthetic “gas station heroin” products under the name of kratom pushing legislators to entertain bans. He advocates strongly for reasonable solutions to protect consumers while maintaining access to this natural remedy that has helped people for centuries in Southeast Asia and made a major difference in his life as well.

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Who We're Looking For:

  • Researchers & Scientists: Professionals actively studying leaf kratom.

  • Advocates & Critics: Individuals who are passionate about leaf kratom, whether to support its responsible use or concerned about its potential risks.