PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A ban on the sale of most products made from the psychoactive plant kratom took effect in Philadelphia Thursday.
The plant, which acts as a stimulant in low doses and a sedative at higher ones, is sometimes nicknamed “gas station heroin” due to its frequent availability at convenience store.
But City Council was determined to restrict it.
“There’s other nefarious activity happening in and around locations that sell these products,” said Council member Katherine Gilmore Richardson, who sponsored the bill regulating kratom sales. “We have people getting addicted to these products. We cannot wait for federal intervention on this issue. We are taking action now.”
Gilmore Richardson’s bill defined kratom as an “intoxicating substance” with regulations so strict, it effectively bans sales of kratom and some hemp products almost anywhere in the city.
That was a dramatic change for a product that binds to opioid receptors in the brain but is easily obtainable at dispensaries and 7/11 stores.
“We’ve seen a proliferation of these stores across every community, across every commercial corridor,” Gilmore Richardson said.
But the bill is not without opponents, including regular users who find kratom therapeutic.
“I’ve got hemiplegic cerebral palsy and taking this gives me some control over my right foot and toes, which I don’t usually have,” one user said. Others echoed their positive results, including one who said the stimulant effects are helpful for dealing with ADHD and another who said they use it as a sleep aid.
Retailer CBD Kratom argued the law treats licensed dispensaries the same as unregulated storefronts and opposed the bill as overly broad. They argued for rules that protected customers without eliminating access.
“Maybe they need some reform or different regulations, but to take it away altogether? No,” agreed another customer leaving a CBD Kratom location.
The law targets retailers’ landlords with daily $2,000 fines for violating the ban.
