SALT LAKE CITY — A new bill in the Utah State Legislature could ban kratom in the state if it becomes law.
Some lawmakers and experts weighed in about the potential dangers of the substance in a committee meeting Monday. But it faced pushback from some people who would lose the means to a treatment that they wouldn’t get access to otherwise.
Senate Bill 45 passed in committee 7-1 and now heads to the Senate floor. Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, voted against it.
The bill would classify kratom as a Schedule 1 drug, making it illegal statewide. Kratom is a plant that some people use as a stimulant or even as a painkiller. But bill sponsor Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, said he is worried about the addictive and dangerous nature of kratom.
"I went to 15 different gas stations and what I learned is kratom is easy to buy. There were some places where they checked my ID, some places they did not,” he said.
In 2019, Utah passed the Kratom Consumer Protection Act, which made it legal for adults, with some restrictions.
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"The two issues we're seeing with kratom is overdose, as well as withdrawal from kratom,” said Ryan Stolworthy, an emergency medicine doctor in Logan.
The Office of the State Medical Examiner shared that in the past five years, there have been 158 fatal overdoses in Utah involving kratom — although most of them also had another substances used. During public comment, some parents shared the dangers of kratom.
"He didn’t know what kratom was,” one mom said about her son. "It was labeled 'herbal' and sold next to energy drinks, and it seemed like no big deal... That single purchase turned into dependence, which turned into addiction.”
But most people in the room spoke against banning kratom.
"I have a severe facial nerve disease,” explained Lora Romney. “I went through a myriad of things to try and solve this and just get my life back, and I finally found that in kratom."
Romney said she is worried about what would happen if the ban becomes law.
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Matt Salmon, chair of the American Kratom Association, said he thinks people are conflating kratom with dangerous products that are created when certain chemicals are added to it. He also cited FDA studies that found that a person can't overdose on pure, naturally occurring kratom.
"As they even upped the dosage up to about 10 times what the recommended dosage would be, that the worst thing that happened was two people got nauseated,” Salmon said. “With an opiate, if you overdose, you die."
Lawmakers moved the bill forward but want to look at ways to maybe regulate kratom, instead of outright banning it. It now heads to the Senate floor.
