North Dakota State Capitol (Madison Quinn, KFGO)
By: Jeff Beach
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – Witnesses on Monday characterized the kratom plant as both as a dangerous and sometimes fatal drug and as a safe way to manage chronic pain and help people wean themselves off more dangerous opioids.
The testimony on kratom came during a North Dakota House Judiciary Committee hearing on House Bill 1101, which would add mitragynine, derived from kratom, to a list of controlled substances.
Supporters of the bill included the North Dakota Board of Pharmacy and a registered nurse in Watford City who sees kratom use at the addiction recovery center where she works as a problem.
McKenzie McCoy is a nurse at Providence House, a treatment center in Arnegard where she said kratom withdrawal “is worse than just a fentanyl or heroin withdrawal.”
The committee was not able to listen to all the people who wanted to testify on the bill and did not act on the bill, needing more time to review written testimony.
Olivia Martin of Minot was among those who submitted written testimony against the bill. She has watched her mother struggle with the pain that comes from living with lupus.
“Opiates usually are what is slapped on the prescription pad,” she wrote.
But she said her mother found kratom in 2016, and after researching it, began using it with little to no side-effects.
“She has been able to manage her pain with a plant compared to the alternative,” she wrote.
Martin said she now faces the same struggle.
“Doctors have already prescribed me opioids. I’m 26 years old and cannot be a part of society with that in my system. I cannot get a job, I cannot drive a car, and I cannot leave my bed,” she wrote. “With kratom I can.”
The Congressional Research Service describes kratom as a tree native to Southeast Asia that is related to the coffee plant. The leaves have been eaten for medicinal and other purposes, with users reporting both stimulant and sedative effects.
A handful of states have banned kratom, while more, including Minnesota and South Dakota, have passed regulations such as age restrictions, Congressional Research Service reported.
Mark Hardy, executive director of the North Dakota Board of Pharmacy, said kratom is most commonly sold online and in smoke shops. He described its effects like that of morphine and oxycodone. He told lawmakers he is in favor of adding mitragynine as a schedule 1 drug, which are drugs with no medical use and a high potential for abuse.
Mac Haddow, a public policy official with the American Kratom Association, advocated for regulation of kratom but said people using it to treat chronic pain should not be turned into felons.
He said kratom used to be more widely available, being sold in places such as health food stores, but a push by the Food and Drug Administration turned retailers off the products.
There are no federal regulations banning or approving kratom, though the FDA has warned that it may not be safe.
Haddow said the FDA’s own study found no adverse effects.
“The FDA now is conducting a human abuse potential study. Great. We welcome it,” he said.
“We don’t ban substances because of what we don’t know or we fear. We ban them when we have conclusive scientific data.”
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