A new kratom ad launched Tuesday puts one line in front of President Trump: “Saturdays should be about football, not funerals.”
The Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS), a national drug policy nonprofit, released the TV spot, titled “Football, Not Funerals,” on Sept. 29. The campaign asks President Trump and Congress to ban kratom in every form, not just its most potent compound.
Dr. Kevin Sabet, the group’s president and CEO, announced the launch on X. “We’re calling on President Trump and Congress to enact a federal ban on all forms of the drug,” he wrote. “Saturdays should be about football, not funerals.”
What the Kratom Ad Asks For
The ad sends viewers to a campaign page where visitors can add their name to a call “for a nationwide ban on the entire kratom plant.” In addition, the page asks for donations to “keep this ad on the air.”
The page describes kratom as “an opioid-like drug sold at gas stations next to the candy.” It also argues that the body converts mitragynine, the main compound in the leaf, into 7-OH. As a result, banning only concentrated 7-OH, it says, “leaves the addictive drug on the shelf.”
Why the Timing Matters
The ad lands during college football season and days after packaged kratom turned up in the investigations into the deaths of two University of Mississippi students. However, investigators have not confirmed that kratom played a role, and toxicology results are pending.
Meanwhile, pressure for a ban has grown fast. Fox News host Laura Ingraham called for one last week. Eleven senators, the governors of Iowa and Massachusetts and Arizona’s attorney general have pushed in the same direction.
Federal data also show the scale. CDC data detected kratom in more than 5,200 overdose deaths from 2020 to 2024. In addition, kratom exposure reports to poison centers rose 1,231 percent since 2015.
A Kratom Ad Aimed at One Decision
Washington has acted on part of the problem. In July, the DEA moved to place concentrated 7-OH in Schedule I. However, the kratom leaf itself remains legal under federal law.
At the same time, the White House has sent mixed signals. In May, President Trump said his administration was “looking very seriously at natural 7-OH and getting that approved.”
The new kratom ad, by contrast, asks him to go the other way. Its whole argument fits in four words: football, not funerals.