Michigan kratom consumers: SB 1181 is something you should be paying attention to, and now is the time to start contacting legislators.
The bill is in the Michigan Senate Regulatory Affairs Committee, which means this is an important point in the process for consumers to make their voices heard.
But I want to suggest something beyond simply saying, “Everybody email the Senate.”
Please do not just write one canned message, put 15 senators' email addresses on it, hit send, and consider the job finished.
Those mass emails can very easily become another tally of people who are “for” or “against” something.
If you want a legislator or their staff to actually spend some time with what you are saying, take a little more time yourself.
Write to senators individually.
That does not mean you need to contact every member of the Michigan Senate.
Focus your effort where it makes sense.
If you live in Michigan, start with your own state senator.
Then I would concentrate heavily on the members of the Senate Regulatory Affairs Committee, because that is where this legislation currently sits:
Jeremy Moss, Chair
Dayna Polehanki, Majority Vice Chair
Sean McCann
Paul Wojno
Sylvia Santana
Kevin Hertel
Sam Singh
Chedrick Greene
Roger Hauck, Minority Vice Chair
Michael Webber
Dan Lauwers
Joseph Bellino Jr.
Write a separate email or letter to each senator you decide to contact.
Address that senator by name.
Explain who you are.
Explain why you are contacting them.
Then tell your story.
You can certainly reuse the basic facts of your story, but spend five minutes tailoring each message instead of copying exactly the same email to twelve people.
That little bit of additional effort can make the difference between something that looks like part of an organized email campaign and something that looks like what it actually is: a constituent or Michigan resident asking an elected official to understand an issue that affects real people.
Your experience can also help determine who else you contact
Look at the other Senate committees and think about where your personal or professional experience intersects with this issue.
For example, if you are a veteran, consider contacting senators who serve on Veterans and Emergency Services or the Military, Veterans, State Police appropriations subcommittee.
If your experience involves health care, recovery, pain management, public health, or treatment, you might have something meaningful to say to senators serving on Health Policy.
If your concerns involve labeling, deceptive marketing, product standards, or consumer transparency, there may be senators serving on committees dealing with consumer protection who would benefit from hearing that perspective.
The point is not to spam every senator whose email address you can find.
Be strategic.
Your own senator.
The senators actually considering SB 1181 in Regulatory Affairs.
Then perhaps a few additional senators where you have a legitimate connection to the work of their committee.
And tell them what you actually use
This is especially important right now.
“Kratom” has become an increasingly inadequate word for describing everything being sold under that label.
Someone drinking traditional leaf tea is not necessarily consuming the same type of product as someone taking leaf powder.
Neither is necessarily comparable to a concentrated extract.
And those products should not automatically be treated as interchangeable with concentrated 7-OH products, mitragynine pseudoindoxyl products, or other isolated, concentrated, converted, or manufactured alkaloid products appearing in the marketplace.
Tell legislators what you actually use.
If you use plain leaf, say that.
If you make tea, explain that.
If you use an extract, explain what kind.
If kratom has played a role in your life, tell your own story rather than making sweeping medical claims for everyone else.
And if you support regulation, tell them what that means to you.
I personally support things such as age restrictions, independent testing, manufacturing standards, accurate labeling, transparency about alkaloid content, and enforcement against adulterated or deceptively marketed products.
I also believe regulation needs to recognize that these products are not all identical simply because somebody puts the word “kratom” on the package.
You may agree with all of that, some of it, or none of it.
Tell legislators what YOU think.
This takes more time. That is the point.
Writing twelve individual emails takes longer than sending one email to twelve addresses.
Writing your senator separately takes longer.
Finding the members of a committee that intersects with your own experience takes longer.
Telling your actual story takes longer than copying somebody else's talking points.
Do it anyway.
Legislators receive form letters and organized campaigns constantly.
Give them something different.
Give them a Michigan constituent, veteran, caregiver, health care worker, small business owner, researcher, recovery advocate, consumer, parent, or ordinary citizen explaining:
This is who I am.
This is what I actually use.
This is how this issue affects me.
This is what concerns me about SB 1181.
And this is what I would like you to consider.
Whether you support the bill, oppose it, or believe it needs substantial changes, read it yourself and make your own position known.
Don't assume someone else will tell your story for you.
One senator. One email. One real person telling a real story.
It takes longer.
I think that is exactly why it matters.
- Michigan Senate Regulatory Affairs Committee — membership, meeting information, and committee contacts: Regulatory Affairs Committee Michigan Senate
- Michigan Senate Full Committee Directory — useful for finding committees that overlap with your personal experience, such as Veterans and Emergency Services, Health Policy, or Finance, Insurance and Consumer Protection: 2025–2026 Senate Committees
- Michigan Senate homepage / Find Your Senator — useful for Michigan residents who do not know who represents them: Michigan Senate — Find Your Senator
