Utah lawmakers will consider a proposal next year that would ban kratom, a controversial herbal supplement currently legal in the state.
The bill is sponsored by Republican Sen. Mike McKell of Spanish Fork, who voted in favor of the Kratom Consumer Protection Act in 2019, but has now raised concerns about the substance’s safety and potential for abuse. The new bill will go before the Utah legislature in the upcoming general session beginning in January.
“When I was in the house, we passed the Kratom Protection Act, and I regret that vote," McKell said during a November presentation to the Health and Human Services Interim Committee. "I think it was a mistake at the time, and I'm not afraid to say that I think, as a legislative body — I think we made a mistake.”
Kratom comes from the leaves of a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia and has been used there for hundreds of years. Traditionally, the leaves were often chewed or brewed into a tea to boost energy, manage pain, or ease fatigue during long days of labor. Utah currently allows kratom under a consumer protection law that requires labeling and limits certain additives.
During the committee hearing, Brandon Forsyth, director of the State Lab and Specialized Products Division, said the forms of kratom being sold in the state now, are different from the ones sold in 2019 and earlier for opioid addiction recovery and pain management.
“The products we currently see coming into our laboratory are extracted kratom products," Forsyth explained. "They're taking the leaf, pulling out the mitragynine, the seven-hydroxy and whatever alkaloids are in there, and concentrating those down into tablets that are much more potent than the kratom leaf tea that was originally sold.”
Seven-hydroxymitragynine is a naturally occurring alkaloid in kratom leaves associated with pain relief and mild sedation in lower doses. But Michael Moss, Director of the Utah Poison Control Center, said concentrated doses of the alkaloid have led to kratom-related cases at the center doubling in the past two years.
“[Seven-hydroxy] is only present in the natural product at something of less than one percent," Moss said. "Now people are getting that in a purified and synthesized way, and that's leading to people just stopping breathing.”
Meanwhile, advocates like the American Kratom Association have pushed back on increased efforts to ban Kratom across the U.S. On its website the association accused the FDA of “distributing disinformation on kratom,” as well as “misleading consumers and policy makers.” The association stressed that its goal was to promote responsible use of a plant that has been used to improve health and well-being for centuries.
If the legislature votes to approve the bill, Utah will become the 10th state in the country to ban kratom altogether.