CALIFORNIA CITIES TAKE SIDES IN BACK-AND-FORTH OVER KRATOM

Amidst the ongoing back-and-forth in California, a trio of local municipalities is taking opposite sides in the pursuit of kratom regulations. 

Fresno County worked with advocates in the industry to create local restrictions, while the cities of Stanton and Westlake Village advanced in efforts to limit all kratom sales. Those decisions came as state agencies continue to get caught up in interference from bad actors in the industry and confusion on federal guidance. That leaves California consumers stuck in limbo as local authorities fill the blanks in the absence of policy at the state level. 

California’s issues are due to a combination of a proposed Kratom Consumer Protection Act (KCPA) stalling out in the legislature and overly aggressive health authorities in the state. According to Mac Haddow with the American Kratom Association, the primary mix-up comes from those in the industry that support products with artificially enhanced levels of 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH). 

“(California) is a huge market. It is one where some of the largest 7-OH manufacturers are located–there is a huge presence there,” Haddow said. “But for the confusion that was generated by the 7-OH community in California, we would today have a KCPA.” 

Haddow also expressed concern about the way the California Department of Public Health has treated kratom products based on how they apply guidance by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to existing state law. The limitations imposed by CDPH have led to a flurry of actions at the local level without guidance from the legislature. 

Reasonable Regulations

That’s what caused the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to take up the subject of local kratom rules. By working together with advocates for natural kratom leaf, Fresno enacted a set of kratom restrictions at its most recent meeting that are similar to what is typically included in a KCPA. 

The measure passed by Fresno County included a minimum age of purchase (21) and restrictions on products with artificially elevated levels of 7-OH and any type of synthetic additives. Information available on the county’s website includes a reminder that natural kratom leaf remains legal, and that any product available for sale needs to have a proper label and cannot be marketed in a way that is appealing to children. 

Geoffrey Laredo served as the AKA’s voice in discussions with county administrators, and ultimately thanked the board for listening to its constituents and said that this ordinance “heeded the well-considered warnings from the FDA and others regarding concentrated, synthetic 7-OH products.” 

“We all wanted to preserve public safety and to stop bad actors from harming our communities,” Laredo said. “We feel that the best way to do that is to target the actual problem: Concentrated, synthetic 7-OH products, not natural kratom…With this revamped ordinance, that’s exactly what you’ve done.” 

Outdated Information Leads to Skepticism

The same available information from the FDA has also led to other local authorities to take a stance against kratom. 

Haddow said that despite FDA Commissioner Marty Macary making a clear distinction between natural leaf kratom and 7-OH products, there was still a wide variety of agencies and lawmakers that were receiving conflicting information, despite Macary’s best efforts to separate the two. 

“There still was a lot of misinformation that was disseminated that essentially conflated both 7-OH and kratom together,” Haddow said, “despite the very clear distinction that the commissioner Macary had made that the FDA is not focused on natural kratom leaf products, but rather on these chemically synthesized, highly addictive products that are, from a chemical perspective, full-blown opioids.” 

Those fears showed up in the form of an ordinance in the city of Stanton, California, that bans selling or distributing any type of kratom product. In the text of the ordinance, lawmakers in the city cite outdated information from the FDA, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and a warning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), using data from 2017. 

Despite updated information from the FDA that counteracts the guidance cited in the city ordinance, and 76 online comments submitted on the matter, the Stanton City Council voted without any discussion or in-person testimony on the proposed ordinance. It was enacted into law by a 5-0 roll-call vote. 

In Westake Village, a similar proposal was submitted to the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, which took the first steps in considering a potential kratom ban in the city. This time, however, a variety of online testimonies provided both personal accounts of customers who had benefited from natural leaf kratom and a point of clarity from an unlikely source. 

Included in the materials considered by the committee was a letter from the California Narcotics Officers Association (CNOA) that provided detailed information about both the FDA’s standpoint and local actions taken against 7-OH. The CNOA said it does not currently have a stance on natural leaf kratom, but said it was “following the lead of the FDA” to point out the dangers associated with synthetic 7-OH products. 

That same letter included recent FDA actions against 7-OH products and manufacturers and a comprehensive list of cities in California that have recognized the risk of these artificially enhanced products. It also included information about attempts in the state legislature to regulate kratom. 

As of the current moment, there is no public hearing scheduled on a proposed ordinance in Westlake, nor has the matter been placed on the agenda for the whole Council to consider.