Supervisors Adopt Ordinance Regulating Sale, Distribution Of Kratom

The Riverside County Supervisors last month adopted an ordinance regulating the sale and distribution of products containing kratom and its synthetic version, known as 7-Hydroxymitragynine or 7-OH. The ordinance is set to go into effect November 27.

“High doses of concentrated synthetic 7-OH are frequently co-used with alcohol and other sedatives, which can cause severe respiratory depression and death,” Ryan Sherman, legislative advocate for the California Narcotic Officers’ Association, said at the October 21 meeting when the ordinance was introduced. “As they are unregulated, many contain unknown concentrations of synthetic 7-OH, increasing the risk of an unintentional overdose.”

The ordinance, as adopted at the October 28 meeting, prohibits the sale, distribution and possession of kratom or 7-OH products exceeding 2% 7-OH concentration, the sale of kratom or 7-OH products to anyone under the age of 21, requires age verification at the point of sale, bans the use of packaging and marketing that’s “attractive to children” and prohibits the sale of products containing synthetic or semi-synthetic kratom alkaloids. Those who violate the ordinance will face misdemeanor prosecution, fines of up to $1,000 and the revocation of their business license.

Daniel Arusa, ahead of the board’s final adoption, asked the supervisors to reconsider the 2% concentration limit, saying that it would effectively ban the product, leading to adverse impacts on people who use it responsibly.

“Overdose deaths have fallen over the past year by about 30%, and I believe that has a lot to do with 7-OH being available to responsible adults,” he said at the October 28 meeting. “I do agree that it needs to be regulated, like alcohol [and] not sold to kids, but to be taken away is just irresponsible, and it’s going to cause more harm than good.”

The ordinance, written by county staff in consultation with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney’s Office, Riverside University Health System (RUHS) Behavioral Health and Public Health, was mirrored after a similar ordinance Orange County supervisors adopted in August.

“I had never heard of kratom before this item started coming to us, but what we learned as we were digging into it, in partnership with those departments, is that kratom was becoming more widely used,” County Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen said at the October 21 meeting. “And what we heard often from experts was…‘Is there an opportunity to act now and to nip it in the bud before it becomes more widely abused and more widely used?’”

Van Wagenen said the county had been tracking potential legislation at the state level in hopes that legislators would take action, but when that didn’t happen, worked on a local ordinance to mitigate the potential harm of kratom and 7-OH products in concentrated forms.

“We found from our public health department, which tracks overdoses in Riverside County, that they were seeing more kratom overdoses,” he said. “We heard from our behavioral health team, specifically those involved in substance abuse, that kratom, particularly 7-OH, is more of a gateway drug. They’re finding people start to use this and lead into other drug areas.”

Kratom, at low doses, produces stimulant effects such as increased alertness, physical energy and talkativeness, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). At high doses, however, the substance produces sedative effects, according to the agency. Consumption can lead to addiction, the DEA said.

Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued warning letters to health care professionals and consumers about the risks associated with 7-OH products. The letters came a month after the FDA issued warning letters to seven companies that the agency said were illegally distributing tablets, gummies, drink mixes and shots containing 7-OH.