by Anjeanette Damon, ProPublica
This story was originally published by ProPublica.
University of Florida professor Christopher McCurdy has accepted travel reimbursements, donations to his university’s foundation and funding for symposiums from the American Kratom Association. None of this is mentioned in the papers he publishes.
The leading scientist urging policymakers not to criminalize kratom, a substance that has left a trail of death and addiction around the world, has routinely failed to disclose longstanding financial ties to the industry’s most powerful lobbying group, ProPublica has found.
McCurdy has accepted travel reimbursements, donations to his university’s foundation and funding for an annual symposium on research into the leaf’s medicinal potential from the American Kratom Association — none of which has been disclosed in his conflict of interest statements or on the papers he publishes.
The fight to keep kratom legal across the country has taken on increased urgency as more potent kratom derivatives have appeared on store shelves and evidence has mounted of the leaf’s risks to users’ health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5,200 people in the United States died from drug overdoses involving kratom between 2020 and 2024. And calls to poison control centers involving kratom have spiked 1,200% in the last decade.
The lobbying group, which says it advocates for kratom consumers, has waged a pitched battle in statehouses and in Washington, D.C., to keep kratom products widely available in America’s gas stations, smoke shops and convenience stores. Documents show it has relied repeatedly on McCurdy to help convince lawmakers kratom is safe enough to remain legal — deploying him to key states that are either considering full bans on the leaf or are on the verge of overturning an existing ban. His success fighting federal regulators earned him a place in the AKA’s Legacy Advocate Hall of Fame.
Kratom comes from a tree native to Southeast Asia and is sold as a powder or in capsules, tablets or shots like energy drinks. In small amounts, it acts as a stimulant. In larger amounts, it acts like an opioid. Although the Food and Drug Administration prohibits marketing it as a supplement or using it as a food ingredient, it’s advertised as a mood and energy enhancer, a painkiller and an alternative to opioids.
ProPublica’s review of McCurdy’s appearances in recent years shows he has emphasized kratom’s therapeutic potential while downplaying its risks — despite his own published research finding kratom use can lead to severe withdrawal symptoms in newborns exposed in utero, and to dependency and even death in those who take it.
Other scientists who consult with and do research for the kratom association disclose that relationship. But McCurdy, who does not disclose it, has built a reputation as a neutral arbiter in the emotional debate pitting those with life-altering kratom addiction against those who say they use it without ill effects to combat opioid use or relieve pain.
McCurdy told ProPublica that he has accepted invitations to speak to policymakers because “decisions about kratom should be informed by the best available science.” Reimbursed travel expenses don’t influence the “substance” of his presentations or his “scientific conclusions,” he said. “My views on kratom are based on more than two decades of scientific research,” he said. “They are my own and are not dictated by the American Kratom Association or any other outside organization.”
In 2023, at the AKA’s request, McCurdy briefed the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs. In 2025, he traveled to Vienna to brief delegates in person, with his hotel room paid for by the lobbying group. In 2024, McCurdy traveled several times for the association, including a planned $8,700 first-class trip to Indonesia that he canceled but kept the flight credit for future AKA-related travel.
Instead, the group has donated to the University of Florida’s foundation and has helped to underwrite McCurdy’s annual kratom symposium. The AKA, through its nonprofit arm, has donated more than $100,000 to the school. McCurdy estimated his research has been supported by $1 million from industry donations to the foundation.
Mac Haddow, the AKA’s lead lobbyist, said his organization relies on McCurdy and other scientists to provide accurate information but has “no control” over what they tell policymakers. Regarding McCurdy’s lack of disclosure, Haddow contends that beneficiaries aren’t typically required to reveal travel-related payments.
Such information is important to understanding the validity of research, said Ivan Oransky, executive director of the Center for Scientific Integrity. “These things are technically legitimate but not intellectually honest,” Oransky said of McCurdy’s funding sources. “It’s obscuring what’s really happening.”
McCurdy did not list any travel in his conflict of interest statements required by the University of Florida. A university spokesperson said a review of McCurdy’s university disclosures “found no indication of non-compliance.”
McCurdy told ProPublica he doesn’t contend kratom “is without risk” and that his findings on its dangers should “be taken seriously.” “At the same time, the existence of risk does not by itself answer the policy question of whether a substance should be prohibited,” he said.
Mollie Simon contributed research.
Filed under: Regulation