CINCINNATI — Ohio is now looking to take kratom completely off the market. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy is moving forward with a new proposal to ban natural kratom.
This comes after the board, along with Gov. Mike DeWine, put in place a 180-day ban on all kratom products that were not 100% natural back in December. The Board of Pharmacy says they are still working to make that ban permanent as well.
“It’s certainly not as profound as some of the other substances that we see within the community, but there is an impact of kratom within our community,” said Dr. Nancy Pook, an emergency physician with Kettering Health.
WATCH: Why Ohio wants to ban natural kratom, and what those for and against have to say
Pook said she and her team have seen a number of kratom withdrawals and addictions in their emergency department. She said that while the effects of synthetic kratom are often more intense, natural kratom can be just as bad.
“The symptoms are similar to those of an opioid withdrawal. Tremulous, getting goosebumps, sometimes diarrhea, nausea and vomiting,” said Pook. “It’s a real problem, and there have been deaths just from the old-fashioned kratom leaves, just ground up and used in that way.”
In its most natural form, kratom is a tropical tree in the coffee family whose leaves can be ground into a powder used in teas, pills and more.
Those in support of natural kratom say the powder can help people in several ways.
“It’s helped people stop drinking alcohol, you know, it helps them get off opioids, a lot of people use it for anxiety,” said Kenny Bruce, co-owner of First Choice Kratom, a store that sells only natural kratom.
But those against any use of kratom, including DeWine, say synthetic and natural forms of the plant are dangerous.
“This is nasty, nasty stuff,” DeWine said back in December when we interviewed him about the synthetic kratom ban. “There’s so-called natural kratom, which I think is also a huge problem as well.”
Last week, after reviewing the data and a proposal to ban natural kratom, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy voted to move the proposed ban forward.
“Natural kratom is a partial opioid agonist, so it does hit those same receptors in your brain,” said Cameron McNamee, Director of Communications & Policy with the Ohio Board of Pharmacy. “None of this is tested or regulated, so heavy metals, you know what the product labeling actually includes, there’s no authority or oversight over that.”
Businesses like First Choice Kratom say the ban would hurt not only their business but their customers, too.
“I mean, it would definitely hurt; we wouldn’t have a business anymore,” said Bruce. “A lot of people would turn back to street drugs.”
Bruce said he believes natural kratom is safe, and even uses it daily himself. But those in favor of the ban disagree.
An online support group for kratom users called “There’s a Way Out” sent WCPO 9 a statement on the ban and how they’ve seen kratom impact the lives of many.
“The ban of natural Kratom is a great thing here in Ohio. Even natural Kratom has adverse effects, such as the synthetic versions of Kratom. Natural kratom can be full of toxins, harsh chemicals, and heavy metals due to where it was produced and how it was produced. Natural Kratom is addictive as well, and we have seen a push in the narrative that natural Kratom is safe or that it is just a coffee plant family. These are completely false narratives by Kratom users, especially…I have seen people from all over the country suffer from natural and synthetic versions of kratom while in use, detoxing, and even in recovery. People have had serious medical issues, lost their jobs, spent all of their money, filed for bankruptcy, had relationship issues and divorce, and so many other problems with this substance. Putting a ban to this will help keep Ohio safe.”
The possible natural kratom ban is still in the early stages. It still needs to go through several rounds of public comment, a joint legislative committee and be put to a final vote.
The Ohio Board of Pharmacy says that if the proposed ban passes through all the necessary steps, the earliest Ohioans could see a complete kratom ban would be early summer.
