Little is know about kratom, its effects, its dangers and that has the St. Joseph City Council taking a steady approach to the relatively new drug.
The St. Joseph City Council this evening will consider on first reading a bill which would ban possession of kratom to anyone under the age of 21.
According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, leaves from the tropical tree Kratom in Asia cause stimulant or sedative effects in different doses. Kratom can be taken as a pill, crushed and smoked, or brewed as a tea. According to the FDA, there is still a lot of research being done on the effects of kratom and the FDA has warned consumers not to use it as they conduct more research.
As previously reported, at the June 3rd city council meeting, the council voted against banning kratom in St. Joseph. After the vote, however, a bill was proposed that would prohibit the possession of kratom by or sale of kratom to anyone under the age of 21.
The city council has heard mixed reports about kratom.
A KFEQ listener told KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr that he has been taking kratom for almost two years by drinking it as a tea. The listener claimed it has helped him lower his blood pressure, get relief from restless legs syndrome, and get rid of withdrawal symptoms.
“There’s no buzz, there’s no feeling other than the relief from the withdrawal symptoms. When I was going through the heaviest part of my withdrawals, almost two years ago, my blood pressure was really high,” the listener, who declined to identify himself, said. “Within 30-40 minutes of taking my first dose ever of this kratom, my blood pressure went to normal and I was feeling no symptoms of withdrawal.”
That has not been the experience of St. Kolbe-Puckett Center for Healing in St. Joseph co-founder Mark Puckett, a member of the opioid task force.
“We have patients at the clinic right now who are actually addicted to kratom. They tried to use kratom to get off of opioids and discovered that it’s just as addictive as opioids is,” Puckett said. “The biggest fear that we have right now with kratom is that a lot of younger kids, high school age kids are utilizing kratom… when it’s used in a small amount, it actually acts as a stimulant, used in large amounts, it acts as an opioid. So, that’s the scariest part about what’s going on with the kratom right now.”
Puckett said he would prefer a citywide ban, but can accept the council possibly putting age restrictions on kratom. He adds that he wishes the age limit, however, would be at 25 instead of 21.
“It’s proven that the brain doesn’t stop growing in a young adult until they’re 25 years ago, so the damages are still being caused all the way up to the age of 25,” Puckett said. “My hope is that the city council will raise the age limit to 25 and ban it in all facilities that sell alcohol, because, combined with alcohol, it’s not a good substance and I think that it should be third party tested before it’s sold so people know exactly what they’re getting.”
Puckett said one of the problems when kratom comes into the states, is that there are chemicals added and the kratom sold in convenience stores is oftentimes not pure kratom. Puckett encourages people to research kratom and its effects and mentioned the Mayo Clinic has conducted several studies.
The St. Joseph City Council’s meeting begins at 7 p.m.