Spokane bans sale of kratom

The sale of the psychoactive plant kratom and its extracts is now banned in Spokane after the city council approved Mayor Lisa Brown’s proposal to prohibit the otherwise unregulated substance within city limits.

Brown, who has argued in interviews that the drug is causing “substantial harm,” proposed the citywide ban at the start of the year, pointing to advertisements outside of high schools, warnings from both local health officials and law enforcement, and a recent string of fatal overdoses connected to kratom extracts in Idaho jails.

“We think it’s clearly the right thing to do for public health and especially the protection of young people,” Brown said in a Friday interview.

The Council voted 6-1 to approve the ban. Councilman Michael Cathcart was the sole no vote, arguing that there was insufficient research into kratom.

Selling it in the city is now a civil infraction, and retailers found in violation can lose their business license.

Kratom is frequently sold at gas stations and smoke shops in both plant and concentrated extract form. Though kratom is not an opioid, it affects opioid receptors in the brain and can create a similar euphoric effect at high doses. Unlike opioids, kratom is not regulated by the state or federal government.

“There’s not enough data that has been provided to us to suggest an outright ban is the right move, as opposed to a regulatory environment,” Cathcart said, arguing that more research was needed into the drug’s purported harms or benefits. “I need to know what the impacts are and potentially the other side of that is with benefits.”

“For many, this is a harm reduction tool,” he added. “Folks can question whether or not that’s the right harm reduction tool; I will tell you it’s better than handing out glass pipes on the street, which is a harm reduction program that exists.”

The local ban initially was considered in January but deferred pending possible regulation by the state Legislature.

Three different bills addressing the sale or taxation of kratom were considered at the Legislature this year. None made it to their respective chambers’ floors.

Bills sought to impose a tax on the substance, ban its sale to those under 21 and regulate how the product is sold, though none proposed an all-out ban on the sale of the substance.

A bill imposing a distributor-level 95% tax on kratom failed to move out of the Senate’s budgetary committee. Monies generated by this tax would have been used exclusively for state programs to lessen kids’ access to “harmful substances” like kratom, cannabis and nicotine, for example. Manufacturers selling kratom products would have to label them as such and include ingredient lists, including the amount of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, also called 7-OH, in the product.

Another bill would have restricted kratom sales to those 21 and older, allowing flexibility for municipalities to further establish their own regulations. This proposed law didn’t go further than its budgetary committee.

A third bill from the House was a combination of the other proposals: preventing sale to those under 21 years old, adding an 11% excise tax and imposing warning and ingredient requirements. The bill would have banned kratom with more than 2% 7-hydroxymitragynine content. The bill never made it out of its original committee.

“I was skeptical they were going to get something done at the state level,” Brown said. “I’m happy that the council is taking it up again.”

Testimony on the ban Monday drew an unusual number of speakers from outside Spokane, and from across the country, including individuals from Illinois, Delaware and other states expressing support for kratom saying it helped relieve debilitating pain or aided them in staying off opiates. Some said that a kratom overdose had taken a family member from them.

Council members expressed some degree of discomfort with banning the sale of the product in lieu of regulations, but argued that the city’s tools were limited and the potential harm was significant.

“One of the hardest things about this is everyone who testified brought up really great points,” said Councilwoman Kitty Klitzke. “This is a blunt, and hopefully temporary, ban on the sale of these products, especially in convenience stores where they could appeal to children.”

She argued that the onus for more deliberate regulation should be on the state and federal government, but didn’t trust that either would move quickly. The ordinance includes a sunset clause ending the ban if it is preempted by state or federal regulation.

Councilman Paul Dillon noted that he had purchased two kratom products downtown, both of which were cheap and marketed as “natural” while also warning of intoxicating effects. One product said he needed to be over 21 to purchase it; he was not asked for his identification, he noted.

“This ordinance is not criminalizing kratom,” Dillon said. “You can still possess it, but just to be upfront, we are banning how easy it is to access it.”