The city of Blaine is considering a ban on the sale of kratom and kratom-derived products. An ordinance that would prohibit the sale of kratom products is likely to go before the city council at its meeting on Monday.
Blaine Police Chief Rodger Funk said he didn't know what kratom was until a few weeks ago, but once he learned he started working on an ordinance similar to Bellingham’s. Bellingham passed its ordinance on Sept. 28, joining Mount Vernon, Spokane, Cle Elum and others in regulating the sale of kratom products.
Kratom is a plant native to Southeast Asia that has long been used in traditional medicine. At low doses, kratom acts as a stimulant, and at high doses it acts as a sedative. It can be consumed as a powder or a tea, but kratom products are also sold as pills, gummies, drinks and vapes.
The kratom plant’s leaves contain small amounts of a compound called 7-Hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH. When this compound is concentrated and consumed on its own, it can be highly addictive and has high potential for abuse.
According to Whatcom County Health and Community Services, 7-OH is 10 times stronger than morphine and can lead to overdoses. The compound functions similarly to opiates such as morphine, heroin and fentanyl.
Kratom and kratom-derived products, such as 7-OH, are not regulated and can be bought at gas stations and convenience stores. Funk said kratom products are sold at six locations in Blaine.
Because kratom products are unregulated, doses can differ drastically from one product to another, Funk said.
The DEA has issued a notice of intent to classify 7-OH as a schedule 1 drug — the same classification as other drugs with high potential for abuse such as heroin, LSD and some synthetic compounds of fentanyl — but there is no timeline for when this classification will go into effect.
Funk and others in Blaine that are advocating for the ban of kratom products believe that these products are targeting children and teens by making the products colorful and appear like candy.
The city of Blaine mailed a notice to vendors in the city on Oct. 14, informing them of the upcoming ordinance. In the notice, the city requested that the vendors voluntarily discontinue their kratom products.
Funk said that once the ordinance goes into effect, the store owner, and potentially the clerk who sold the product, can be charged with a gross misdemeanor for selling kratom products.
Banning the sale of kratom products has drawn criticism in other cities. Some argue that banning the sale of a substance is an ineffective way of preventing its use. Others argue that kratom itself is naturally occurring, and banning the basic form of kratom is overregulation.
Funk said he believes that banning the sale of kratom and kratom products is the most effective way the city can prevent people from purchasing and using these products in Blaine. If the ban were to target 7-OH specifically, Funk worries it would only be a matter of time before another kratom-derived product would hit the shelves.
During the town hall period of the council’s Oct. 12 meeting, Blaine resident Diane Penn made a public comment in support of the ban. Penn said that her nephew died of a kratom overdose in August while living in California.
Penn’s nephew was 33 years old and healthy, she said. Earlier this year he began drinking energy drinks with kratom-derived compounds in them. He initially started drinking them for the energy boost, but before long he became addicted.
Penn, like Funk, knew little about kratom products before her nephew’s death. Since August, Penn has dedicated much of her time to learning and helping to educate the public about kratom.
She’s gotten involved with Birch Bay-Blaine Thrives, a coalition that works to prevent substance use and promote the success of youth.
Penn said she’ll continue to work with Thrives to help spread the word. She’s willing to do anything to let people know how dangerous kratom can be.
Whatcom County Health Officer Amy Harley said that until federal or state regulations are in place, educating the public is an effective way to prevent the use of kratom-derived products.
The responsibility to regulate kratom is currently on local governments, Harley said, but this “patchwork approach to this is not optimal.”
Harley said that there’s not a lot of data available because kratom-derived products such as 7-OH are relatively new, but what data does exist indicates a steep slope. The Washington Poison Center’s data on kratom is one of Harley’s main sources of data.
“The trajectory is concerning because it’s not a high number of reports, but the slope is very steep,” Harley said. “It’s become an increasing public health concern.”
