Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown proposes citywide ban of Kratom and 7-OH

Kratom, an herbal supplement available at many gas stations nationwide even while public health experts warn of possible harms, could soon be banned within Spokane city limits.

The kratom ban was proposed by Mayor Lisa Brown. If approved by city council, products derived from the psychoactive plant could not be sold or distributed within Spokane. The city would be the first in Washington to ban the drug.

“I have taken seriously the input from both public health advocates and law enforcement, and they are seeing real harm in our community. This is common sense legislation that will protect people and keep our community safe,” Brown said in a statement.

In its original plant form, kratom has been used to relieve pain for centuries in parts of Asia. The product sold in America is dried and crushed into a powder, which can be taken as a tea or pill.

Though kratom is not an opioid, it affects opioid receptors in the brain and can create a similar euphoric effect. Unlike opioids kratom is not regulated by the state or federal government and is available over the counter.

MultiCare Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Resource Team Nurse Manager Sara Welty said kratom sold in the United States is under-researched and the effects of the drug are unclear.

“Kratom in its natural form fresh off a plant in Asia may have some calming or healing purposes. But that’s not what’s being sold currently,” she said. “All claims that there is pain relief or calming is unproven. We just don’t know.”

A synthetic version of kratom called 7-hydroxymitragynine is also sold, which Welty called “even more problematic.” Some government agencies including the Food and Drug Administration have called this drug an opioid.

“There’s no regulation either and no testing around it. It’s not necessarily straight from the plant that this is derived from. This is a lab -built chemical. Because there is no FDA testing, we don’t know exactly what that looks like, or how doses vary, or how it should be dosed,” Welty said.

This summer the federal government announced a plan to designate 7-hydroxymitragynine as a controlled substance. The move would prevent the drug from being sold over the counter and could ban it entirely.

Welty said kratom and 7-hydroxymitragynine, sometimes called 7-OH, can create withdrawals that “resemble” that of an opioid and there have been reports of fatal overdoses.

“I hope that that is not the case. We were behind the eight ball when it came to the opioid epidemic. We don’t want to be behind it again,” she said.

Both 7-OH and kratom could not be sold in Spokane under Brown’s proposal. In a Monday committee meeting of the Spokane City Council, Spokane police Officer Mike Thomas said the substance can currently be sold to minors and is often marketed toward high school students.

“Our youth is going into these shops and purchasing this stuff,” he said.

Sedated Smoke Shop owner Jerome Simmons told The Spokesman-Review that does not happen in his shop. Even though it is not a requirement, the Northwest Boulevard smoke shop does not sell kratom to anyone under 21.

Simmons said he would welcome regulation of kratom but not an outright ban.

“Why would this not be treated something like liquor or cannabis? If there is a ban, we will stop selling kratom. But that won’t stop anyone from using it. They’ll go outside the city or outside the county. There’s no point in banning it. It won’t fix anything,” Simmons said.

At the committee meeting Councilman Michael Cathcart also expressed skepticism over the proposal – supporting a ban for minors but not adults.

“If it were to ban it for under 18 or 21, I’d do it in a heartbeat,” Cathcart said. “But a ban is where I’m hung up.”

The prohibition also could prevent any medicinal use of the drug or use as an alternative for those addicted to opioids, he added.

“In many ways kratom is used as harm reduction. What frustrates me is sitting up here getting lectured that we need to hand out glass pipes to users on the street as harm reduction, but then we’re going to ban kratom,” Cathcart said.

Councilman Paul Dillon said he welcomed the proposal and that kratom in Spokane is “like the wild west.”

“I think that this really puts Spokane at the forefront and is consistent with a lot of our recent investments and support of public health and public safety,” he said.

According to city spokesperson Erin Hut, a more targeted ban of kratom is not currently possible because it is not regulated at all by the state or federal government.

“We don’t have staff to do spot check enforcement for an under 21 ban,” she said.

While a blanket ban is easier to enforce now, Hut said the city could readdress the issue once state or federal regulations are in place.