Utah Senate Passes Legislation To Restrict Kratom Sales
The new bill creates several restrictions including what and where it can be sold
One debate that has carried through Utah’s Legislature this year is how to handle kratom, a drug that has been nicknamed “gas station heroin.”
Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, has been working to completely ban the drug in the state through SB45. But on Wednesday, he introduced a substitute that would change it from a complete ban to tightly restricting where kratom can be sold and what types of kratom can be sold in Utah.
After the substitute was introduced, the bill passed through the Senate unanimously, and it will now be sent to the House.
The new bill would only allow pure kratom leaves to be sold, and the drug would no longer be available at gas stations.
“There are some members in the House that are really, really clear that they want pure kratom leaves sold somewhere. We’ve been trying to find a model where that could happen; to me, my preference has been from day one to have a full, complete ban,” McKell said.
Kratom comes from a tropical tree, Mitragyna speciosa, in Southeast Asia. Based on dosage, it can have both sedative and stimulating effects and is used by some people for pain management. Kratom leaf contains two main psychoactive ingredients: 7-hydroxymitragynine, better known as 7-OH, and mitragynine.
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