Banning substances does not work, but kratom needs far tighter regulation
Although much is being said in Florida about whether recreational marijuana should be made lawful, more needs to be heard about another psychoactive plant that is lethal as well as legal.
It's kratom, a Southeast Asian tree whose leaves can be chewed, ground or crushed and consumed in tea, or as capsules and liquid. It's widely sold in Florida — except in Sarasota County, which banned it — mainly at gas stations, smoke shops and kava bars.
In a groundbreaking three-part investigative series, the Tampa Bay Times reported this month that medical examiners had identified kratom in more than 500 drug overdose deaths in Florida over the past 10 years. Most were in combination with other drugs, but 46 of the deaths were from kratom alone.
People buy it to get high, to relieve pain and depression, or to help wean themselves from other drugs. The FDA has approved no uses and attempts to block imports as dangerous to public health. It is a stimulant at low doses and a sedative at higher ones. The Drug Enforcement Administration considers it addicting and a cause of psychosis.
The kratom lobby has thwarted efforts to regulate it at the federal level. Six states ban it, but efforts are underway in three of them to legalize it.
Kratom's overdose toll in Florida is far less than deaths from fentanyl, which killed 6,150 people in 2020 alone, but the Legislature has passed several meaningful laws to address those deaths. It has done nothing on kratom until banning its sale to those under 21 this year, and it can no longer plead ignorance.
At least two of those deaths have already prompted litigation. Last July, a U.S. District Court jury at West Palm Beach awarded $11 million to the family members of Krystal Talavera, 39, a mother of four, who died in 2021 at her home in Boynton Beach. Last month, the family of Patrick George, 41, of West Palm Beach, filed suit against a chain of smoke shops that had allegedly sold kratom to him as a dietary supplement. He was a cybersecurity expert with an undergraduate degree in chemistry.
“Kratom is killing educated people who understand how things work inside the body,” his younger brother Christian told the Palm Beach Post. “What is it doing to people who don't understand that?”
Under-21 ban not enough
The Legislature considered regulating kratom this year before settling on the under-21 ban, which was a victory for kratom's well-organized and effective lobby. Those lobbyists will be back in Tallahassee to loosen regulations during the session that begins Jan. 9. They should be met with tighter regulations instead.
Among problems the Times found:
■ Without any labeling regulations, sellers are free to tout their products as “most powerful,” “most potent,” or “long lasting.” There are no warning messages like those required on tobacco packaging.
■ Potency varies widely, but nothing limits the strength or requires labels to disclose it or advise on safe dosages.
■ There is no requirement that kratom products be tested for contamination or adulteration with other substances.
As in other states, the kratom industry employed some heavyweight Florida lobbyists to ward off effective regulation.
From its inception, a 2023 bill by state Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, dealt only with prohibiting sales to persons under 21.
In the Senate, Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, amended it to require safe usage directions, forbid adulterated products, prohibit health-related label claims and limit the percentage of the potent ingredient 7-hydroxymitragynine. Those provisions addressed most of the faults the Times found in its subsequent reports.
“I just wanted to make sure the product they were buying was the one they intended to buy,” he said in a telephone interview with the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board.
Gruters was proposing what the kratom lobby didn't want and had successfully blocked elsewhere. But he said he didn't encounter much opposition on the way to unanimous Senate approval of his version.
“Maybe they focused all their attention on the House,” he said. “I anticipate coming back and finishing the job.”
But with the Legislature about to adjourn, the House rejected the Senate amendment on a voice vote and the Senate receded from it, accepting the lower chamber's much weaker bill. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law.
Restrictions on the way
Andrade has filed a more restrictive bill, HB 861, for the 2024 session. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, has a similar bill, SB 842, in the Senate.
There was enough in the Legislature's staff reports, even without Florida data spelled out, to have generated concern for users of all ages. Quoting the Food and Drug Administration, the report said that kratom “can lead to a number of health impacts, including, among others, respiratory depression, vomiting, nervousness and constipation. Kratom has been reported to have both narcotic and stimulant-like effects, and withdrawal symptoms may include hostility, aggression, excessive tearing, aching of muscles and bones and jerky limb movements.”
Thankfully, nobody in Tallahassee seems to be interested in banning the sale of kratom entirely, which is not a practical prospect, as 50 years of a failed war on drugs should have taught us by now. The barn door is wide open already and, as we've seen with marijuana, people who want something badly enough will find a way, regardless of what the government does.
Kratom should be regulated, however, to a far greater extent than simply prohibiting its sale to persons under 21. Everyone, regardless of age, needs at least fair warning about something that could kill them.
The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writer Martin Dyckman and Anderson. Send letters to insight@orlandosentinel.com.