This is your daily news rundown for Wednesday, April 8. In this edition:
- A kratom company is suing Utah for its new anti-kratom law
- A skier triggered an avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Tuesday
- Duchesne County issued fire restrictions this week
This company is suing Utah for its new kratom restrictions
An Oklahoma kratom company is suing Utah state leaders over new limits on how the substance can be sold.
Kratom is an herbal substance that can produce opioid or stimulant-like effects. Kratom and kratom-based products are used for issues like drug withdrawal symptoms, pain, and mental health, but critics have branded it “gas station heroin” for its possibly addictive nature.
Under a law passed in the latest legislative session, only pure leaf kratom can be sold in Utah starting next month.
A dietary supplement made of kratom and noble kava root called “feel free,” which Botanic Tonics LLC makes, is one of the products that will be banned.
The company claims that will cost them over ten million dollars and that clinical trials have concluded kratom leaf doesn’t present a significant risk of illness or injury when used appropriately.
The lawsuit seeks to declare Utah’s law unconstitutional and block it with a preliminary injunction.
The Salt Lake area has moderate avalanche danger after a skier-triggered avalanche
A skier triggered a soft slab avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Tuesday.
Soft slab avalanches come from soft, powdery debris, and tend to break at a recreator’s feet instead of above them.
On Tuesday, the avalanche was triggered in Wolverine Cirque on a steep northeast-facing slope. It broke 6 to 8 inches deep and 40 feet wide, briefly catching the skier before they escaped.
Avalanche danger in the Salt Lake area mountains is currently moderate, according to the Utah Avalanche Center. With five days since the area’s last storm, wet avalanches are possible, which usually start small and predictable but can become destructive.
Fireworks and open burning are temporarily banned in Duchesne County
Duchesne County issued a fire restriction order this week that bans open burning in unincorporated areas until June 1.
Those restrictions also apply within the city of Roosevelt, but don’t apply to campfires in established facilities or permanent fire pits at private dwellings.
In addition, all fireworks and portable wood or charcoal fire pits are prohibited, and smoking is only allowed within a developed recreation site, an enclosed vehicle, or a building.
The Duchesne County Fire and Emergency issued the restrictions because of extreme fire danger throughout the country caused by unseasonably dry weather.
