Clinton Township may be the first community in the county and perhaps the state to regulate the sale of kratom, a supplement that is used for pain relief, mood alteration and opioid withdrawal but also believed by many experts to be harmful and addictive.
Township Trustee Shannon King has proposed an ordinance that will be considered Monday evening by the Board of Trustees at a regular meeting.
Kratom is sold in many smoke shops, party and vitamin stores and gas stations, and is unregulated. King’s proposal would restrict the sale of kratom to those 21 and over, which is the state law for alcohol and marijuana use. A violation would be a civil infraction that carries a $500 fine.
“Kratom in some of its forms is known as ‘gas station heroin’ and can be bought by anyone,” King said. “There are no age restrictions or limitations, and there are no dietary suggestions.
“We’ve got to protect our community now. We’ve got to do what we can to protect our youth.”
While use of the plant’s chemical agents has supporters and users, it has many detractors for its potential negative effects.
King is especially concerned because Kratom is marketed to youth with its colorful, creative packaging.
“Just like they were doing cigarettes once upon a time, it is being marketed to a younger generation with cartoon-type of things, things that appeal to youth,” King said in reference to cigarette advertising that was unrestricted until 1971.
CARE of Southeast Michigan representatives are slated to speak at the meeting in support of the restrictions.
They also spoke about it last spring at an informational board meeting. In addition, Lauren Letzmann of CARE and Elizabeth Lucas, a nursing professor at Macomb Community College, registered their concerns over Kratom last May in an episode of “Common Grounds” on Clinton Township Community TV, hosted by King.
Lucas said Kratom is addictive and is similar to an opioid such as the highly-potent fentanyl.
“You can very easily become addicted,” she told King on the TV show. “You can go through withdrawal and can overdose because it hits those same receptors as fentanyl does. It’s very hard to tell when someone overdoses because unless you test for it specifically, it’s very difficult to tell if it’s fentanyl or Kratom.”
Kara Hartman, director of specialty courts at 41B District Court in the township, said she supports the ordinance and prefers an outright ban because she has seen it used by and effect many of the participants in the various specialty courts.
“Kratom is a nightmare,” Hartman said. “I don’t have anything positive to say about Kratom. It has a huge potential for abuse. It’s used a lot more than you think.”
The 41B specialty courts don’t regularly test for Kratom because at $40 per person per inquiry, it costs more than double the $26 it pays for testing for other substances. But when it is tested for, 10% to 20% of participants test positive, she said. Those who test positive are given a sanction as part of their effort at recovery.
There are nearly 100 participants in Drug, Mental Health, Sobriety and Veterans treatment courts. She said one specialty court participant overdosed on it and spent two weeks in a hospital.
Hartman countered claims for use of Kratom as for opioid withdrawal, such as methadone or suboxone.
“I don’t believe it’s conducive to recovery,” she said. “It’s not something a doctor will prescribe.”
Kratom is an herbal extract that comes from the leaves of an evergreen tree called Mitragyna speciosa that grows in Southeast Asia, where it has a long history of use, according to the Mayo Clinic. Kratom users can chew the tree’s leaves, swallow or brew dry kratom, or add the extract to a liquid. It also comes in capsule form.
But the Mayo Clinic calls it “unsafe and ineffective,” adding: “Users swear by kratom for lifting mood and boosting energy, but there are many safety issues and questions about whether kratom works.”
The leaves contain two major psychoactive ingredients: mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, aka 7-OH, which is an opioid-like chemical because it binds to the same brain receptors that an opioid does but is often concentrated into dangerous, semi-synthetic products, according to reports.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last July recommended a “scheduling action” to control 7-OH in its concentrated as a byproduct of the Kratom plant, not the natural kratom leaf products.
“Vape stores are popping up in every neighborhood in America, and many are selling addictive products like concentrated 7-OH. After the last wave of the opioid epidemic, we cannot get caught flat-footed again,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary.
“This recommendation follows a thorough medical and scientific analysis by the FDA and is one of several efforts to address the agency’s concerns around the growing availability and use of 7-OH opioid products,” the FDA said.
Side effects of kratom reported in a study included high blood pressure, confusion and seizures, according to the Mayo Clinic. There have been a small number of deaths reported, including overdoses but those typically also involve another substance, reports say.
Other potential sides effects are weight loss, dry mouth, nausea and vomiting, constipation, liver damage, muscle pain, dizziness, drowsiness, delusions, hallucinations, depression, and trouble breathing, the Mayo Clinic reports. Users also have experienced itching, sweating, increased urination, irregular heart rhythms, insomnia, and loss of appetite and sedative effects, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have already passed regulations, some of which include a ban, according to reports.
In Michigan, House Bill 4969, introduced last year by state Rep. Cam Cavitt (R-Cheboyga), would create the Kratom Consumer Protection and Regulatory Act to restrict sales to those 21 and older, require a license to sell, mandate testing of raw materials sold or distributed here, establish labeling requirements, including certain health and safety warnings on labels and ban the sale or distribution of kratom products that contain certain substances.
The law would allow Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to assess an administrative fine of up to $500 for a first offense and up to $1,000 for a second or subsequent offense.
LARA would be able to levy a $200 license application fee and a $125 renewal fee every three years.
The bill has passed the the House Regulatory Reform Committee and could go to a floor vote next. But King said while he hopes the state passes a bill, he is skeptical because it is an election year.
Locally, co-sponsors include GOP state reps. Joe Aragona of Macomb Township and Alicia St. Germaine of Harrison Township, and Democratic state Rep. Denise Mentzer of Mount Clemens.
Also in Macomb County, the Warren City Council directed its attorney, Jeff Schroeder, to draft an ordinance last June after police Cpt. Craig Bankowski appeared before officials to express concerns about the substance. That ordinance has been put on hold due to potential state or federal action.
Among kratom’s supporters is the American Kratom Association, which calls the FDA’s actions “their war on kratom” that “includes distributing disinformation on kratom that materially misleads consumers and policy makers.”
The AKA says it seeks to educate the public that kratom is “a natural plant that helps consumers improve their health and well being for centuries.”
“Naturally occurring Kratom is a safe herbal supplement that behaves as a partial mu-opioid receptor agonist and is used for pain management, energy, even depression and anxiety that are common among Americans,” it says. “Kratom contains no opiates, but it does bind to the same receptor sites in the brain. Chocolate, coffee, exercise and even human breast milk hit these receptor sites in a similar fashion.”
The association also is lobbying other countries on its benefits.
“We hope to demonstrate responsible use and the health benefits of kratom will convince other countries to responsibly regulate kratom, not ban it,” it says in promotional materials.
The Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust, which was created in 2023, says efforts to ban 7-OH “are largely driven by a kratom organization that views 7-OH as a threat to its market share.”
John Cleveland, representing HART, said at a Michigan state Legislature committee hearing: “It’s the age-old sacrificial lamb maneuver, and it’s why you’re suddenly hearing so much about this novel, largely harmless alkaloid,” 7-OH, according to a report in Bridge magazine.
“Isolated or concentrated 7-OH products should be clearly distinguished from natural kratom products and labeled accordingly,” according to HART. “Although 7-OH is a kratom metabolite, pure 7-OH products should not be confused with natural kratom products or other kratom derivatives. 7-OH can be an invaluable harm reduction tool that should remain an option for the hundreds of thousands of consumers that rely on it.”
