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Date: 9/20/2023
BELCHERTOWN — At the Belchertown Board of Health meeting on Sept. 13, Kristen Hoag, program director and project coordinator of the Belchertown Public Schools Drug-Free Communities program and member of Belchertown Overcoming Adversity Together, and Quabbin Health District Director of Public Health Andrea Crete informed the board on an herbal substance called kratom and the dangers of it being sold in some local establishments.
Kratom is a tropical evergreen tree in the coffee family native to Southeast Asia. Its products come in the form of powder, capsules, tablets and tinctures. Crete visited all their licensed tobacco retailers in Belchertown prior to the meeting and out of 10 establishments only one is selling kratom products.
According to the FDA, kratom has not been approved for any medical use and there are no FDA-approved uses for kratom. Additionally, the DEA has listed kratom as a “drug and chemical of concern.”
Hoag said, “Presently 18 countries and six states have banned kratom, specifically two New England states — Rhode Island and Vermont.”
She continued, “Furthermore, the legal age to buy kratom in the USA is not agreed on, specifically in Massachusetts there is no purchasing age limit. Each region in the United States has its own age regulations to ensure youth safety.”
Hoag also said, “According to Medical News Today, a person can overdose on the drug, which may cause a fast heart rate, nausea, physical dependence, and unpleasant side effects, and in some rare cases death.” Because of this, Hoag is concerned about the safety of it in their community.
“Each town has the right to make a decision about regulating the age for sales or banning it from the town altogether,” she said. “Additionally, the DEA has reported that there have been several cases of psychosis, as a result from using kratom, where individuals addicted to kratom exhibited psychotic symptoms, including hallucinations, delusions and confusion.”
The Board of Health has the authority to place restrictions on selling kratom. The Massachusetts Municipal Association has a sample draft regulation for local boards of health to adopt in regards to kratom. The next step is to have another Board of Health meeting in October.
Crete said, “Two of our board members were not in attendance during the discussion and education on kratom, and I would like all members to be present, so in October we will continue to discussion on kratom and the adoption of regulations prohibiting the manufacturing, sale and distribution of synthetically derived cannabinoids and kratom.”
Crete will invite a representative from the Massachusetts Municipal Association to be present in order to answer any legal questions her board may have regarding the draft regulation. They will go over the draft regulation as well and the Board of Health will discuss any particulars in the wording. A public hearing will then need to be scheduled for November if the Board of Health wants to move forward and pursue adopting the regulation.