SPRINGFIELD — At a meeting on Sept. 3, Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris answered questions from the City Council’s Health and Human Services and Public Safety committees about the state’s one-year ban on the sale of products derived from kratom.
Kratom is an evergreen plant that grows in Southeast Asia. The plant contains the naturally occurring substances mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, however, some products use synthetic compounds. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has reported, “At low doses, kratom produces stimulant effects with users reporting increased alertness, physical energy and talkativeness. At high doses, users experience sedative effects.” The DEA states that kratom is highly addictive and can produce hallucinations, delusions and confusion.
Synthetic kratom products and high dosage extracts are commonly known by the nickname “drug station heroin.” Unregulated by the Controlled Substances Act, there is no minimum age to purchase them in most places.
On Aug. 28, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, acting on Gov. Maura Healey’s behest, placed all forms of kratom into Schedule I under Massachusetts law. Schedule I is reserved for drugs that have a high potency for abuse and have no accepted medical uses in the United States, and as such, are illegal to possess, distribute or manufacture. With this move, the state has essentially banned the products for one year. The situation will then be reviewed.
In a press release announcing the step, Healey stated, “We’re taking action to protect Massachusetts residents from kratom products that are being sold without basic safety standards or clear information about what is in them.” She continued, “Parents and residents have raised serious concerns about these products being sold in smoke shops, convenience stores and gas stations, often in forms that are easy for young people to access. No one should have to guess whether something on a store shelf could be addictive, dangerous or even deadly.”
Caulton-Harris said, “The goal is to keep these products away from our youth.” She noted that the products are sometimes packaged in bright packaging or in a way to look like candy.
The commissioner said her department has recorded deaths in Springfield that can be directly attributed to Kratom-derived products since 2020, which included 15 people in that year. The following year, Kratom-related deaths dipped to 10 people, before bouncing back up to 16 in 2022. In each of the past three years, between 18 and 21 people died due to the use of a Kratom derived product. So far this year, there have been eight deaths.
Asked about enforcement of the ban, Caulton-Harris explained that Health and Human Services Department sent out 500 cease-and-desist letters, instructing businesses to stop selling kratom products. However, health departments across the state received instructions from Healey’s administration not to confiscate the products.
“I don’t get it. I just don’t follow this,” said City Councilor At Large Brian Santaniello, who chairs the Health and Human Services Committee. He objected to the state’s instruction, pointing out that fentanyl is a Schedule II drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act, a lower class than Kratom’s classification. “That’s unbelievable,” he said.
Caulton-Harris said law enforcement may have been given other instructions. Springfield Police Department Public Information Officer Ryan Walsh said via email, “In Springfield, the Department of Public Health would handle any enforcement locally. Sometimes, the Attorney General’s office does their own investigations, as well. The Springfield police would only be involved at the request of assistance by the AG’s office or Department of Public Health.”
Ward 7 City Councilor Gerry Martin, chair of the Public Safety Committee, commented, “I think it’d be great if law enforcement can go in and confiscate these things.” Caulton-Harris said Police Superintendent Lawrence “Larry” Akers shared that he was willing to partner with the Health and Human Services Department in whatever way is needed. The department can authorize an agent to enforce ordinances and laws. Usually, those agents are either the police or code enforcement.
When asked, Caulton-Harris said up to the City Council whether the city would rescind the business licenses of any business found to be selling the banned products. Her department could rescind permits from the Board of Health.
Santaniello wanted to know how the city could test products for the presence of mitragynine or 7-hydroxymitragynine.
Caulton-Harris reiterated a comment she previously made to the City Council, that the city did not have the ability to test products in that manner. Because Kratom is banned at the state level, it removes the onus from the city to determine which products can be sold.
Asked by Santaniello how to keep the sale of kratom products from “going underground,” Caulton-Harris said, “I don’t know. I don’t have the answer to that … That is a police matter.”
Martin asked Caulton-Harris about whether the city could create a “trigger” ordinance that could go into effect when the state’s ban expires. The commissioner said her staff has been drafting an ordinance to ban the synthetic forms of Kratom, but that it could be changed to include all forms of Kratom. She noted that Connecticut has also banned all forms of the plant.
