By L.A. Williams
Christian Action League
August 2, 2023
It’s been seven years since North Carolina lawmakers considered banning kratom, a psychoactive substance that the Drug Enforcement Administration has labeled “a drug and chemical of concern.” Now on the table is legislation that would prohibit the sale of kratom to anyone under 18 and require manufacturers, distributors and retailers of the substance to be licensed by the state’s Department of Revenue.
“We still believe an outright ban is a much better approach to this dangerous drug, which, according to the Food and Drug Administration, has no therapeutic value,” says the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League. “In fact, it’s becoming painfully obvious that kratom is not only harmful, but potentially deadly, especially in large doses. Still, a law to control who can buy it is better than no regulation at all.”
NPR reported last month on the growing number of wrongful death lawsuits that have been filed over kratom and how it is marketed. The report came just days after a jury in Washington state awarded a $2.5 million verdict in a kratom wrongful death trial. In a separate case, the family of Krystal Talavera, a Florida mother of four, was awarded more than $4.6 million after her 2021 death from acute kratom intoxication.
Kratom is made from the leaves of a tropical tree (mitragyna speciosa) native to Southeast Asia. It can be smoked, brewed in tea, or taken in a powder form, liquid shots or gel capsules. It’s widely available and often used as a study aid or pain reliever since it produces stimulant effects in low doses and sedative effects in higher doses. It can also cause nausea, itching, sweating, dry mouth, constipation, increased urination, tachycardia, vomiting, drowsiness, loss of appetite, anorexia, weight loss, insomnia, hepatotoxicity and seizures.
In 2014, the FDA banned the import and export of kratom, defined as “any consumer commodity containing either mitragynine or 7-hydroxymytragynine,” as a dietary substance. And in 2016, the DEA attempted to add it to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, which would have effectively outlawed it. The DEA backpedaled in the face of public opposition, but the FDA continues to warn against the use of kratom, which is banned in at least six states (Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Tennessee, Vermont and Wisconsin).
Despite bans and warnings, an estimated 1.7 million Americans ages 12 and up used kratom in 2021, according to a survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
North Carolina’s House Bill 563, filed in April by primary sponsors Jeff McNeely (R-Iredell), Wayne Sasser (R-Stanly), Tricia Cotham (R-Mecklenburg) and Ken Fontenot (R-Nash), would require those involved in kratom sales to obtain licenses from the Department of Revenue, with initial fees ranging from $5,000 for manufacturers down to $100 for retail sales outlets. The bill includes significantly smaller ongoing annual fees.
It would require processors and distributors to register all kratom products offered for sale in the state and to submit copies of any adverse event reports to the Department of Revenue. It would also ban distribution of kratom samples in public areas such as streets, sidewalks and parks. Violators of the bill would face fines beginning at $500, with subsequent violations leading to higher penalties and potential suspension or revocation of licenses. The Alcohol Law Enforcement agency would be tasked with enforcing the law, which would also regulate the sale and distribution of hemp-derived consumables and ban them from school grounds.
“The proposed law would at least put guardrails around these substances, helping to keep them out of the hands of minors and making them more traceable to manufacturers so that they can be held accountable when their product causes harm,” said the Rev. Creech. “As it is now, people have no way of knowing how strong the drug is or what is really even in the packets that they buy at convenience stores or smoke shops.”
Atlanta attorney Matt Wetherington’s firm is working on dozens wrongful death lawsuits that accuse vendors of selling a dangerous product without proper warnings and instructions, he told NPR.
“When you’re selling a drug next to Skittles or energy drinks, you have no means of knowing that you’re dealing with something that is exponentially more dangerous than anything else on the shelf,” Wetherington says.
That lack of transparency is one reason the FDA continues to issue warnings about kratom. In 2018, the agency ordered a nationwide recall for all products containing powdered kratom that were manufactured, processed, packed or held by Triangle Pharmanaturals after many of them were found to contain salmonella. And this spring, U.S. Marshals seized more than 250,000 units of dietary supplements and bulk dietary ingredients manufactured by Botanic Tonics in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and valued at about $3 million.
The kratom-filled supplements, sold in liquid and capsule form, are marketed as “Feel Free Plant Based Herbal Supplement.” They were seized after the U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the FDA, filed a complaint in U.S. District Court alleging that kratom is a “new dietary ingredient for which there is inadequate information to provide reasonable assurance that it does not present a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury; therefore, dietary supplements and bulk dietary ingredients that are or contain kratom are adulterated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.”
H 563 got a favorable recommendation from the House Judiciary 2 committee in June and as of mid-July was assigned to the Committee on Finance.
“I don’t see much chance of it moving at this stage in this year’s session, but I think it should and the leadership could make it happen if they would,” said Rev. Creech. “This poses a threat to public health.”
