Salem City Attorney Matt Wilzbach has been asked to draw up an ordinance to ban the sale of Kratom at city convenience and tobacco stores.
Mayor Nic Farley made the request at Monday night’s city council meeting after seeing a growing problem with the substance.
“It’s something that I’ve seen multiple people have a lot of issues with,” Farley said. “I’ve been getting calls on this since January. We’ve been working internally on this since probably that long, having internal discussions. I’ve reached out to area legislators on it. This is not something that’s unknown to us, we’re just trying to figure out the best way to combat it.”
Police Chief Tyler Rose agrees something needs to be done.
“It’s been becoming more prevalent over the last six months to a year,” Rose said. “It seems like it’s starting to catch on. A lot of our local shops that sell marijuana products are starting to pick up and sell over-the-counter Kratom products. It’s been legal for years and years, but it’s more of the popularity now because of the packaged products being sold over the counter, they’re becoming more prevalent in use. We’re running into instances where people are using it and are overdosing, and we’re getting called because similar to a heroin overdose, we’re getting called due to them being completely incapacitated, and having to call medical out.”
Wilzbach says several other cities have acted on their own as legislation to ban the substance in Springfield and the federal level have stalled. He expects eventually Kratom will be treated as a controlled substance.
The Drug Enforcement Administration says kratom is a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia. Its leaves contain active compounds that interact with opioid receptors in the brain, producing both stimulant-like energy in low doses and sedative, pain-relieving effects in high doses.
