Kratom Products Pulled From Pittsfield, Statewide Shelves
PITTSFIELD, Mass.— The state has put an emergency yearlong order on kratom products, and Pittsfield is working with retailers to remove the product from shelves.
Last week, Director of Public Health Andy Cambi delivered an update on the emergency order that went into effect on August 28. Also known by its chemical name and marketed with the term "7-OH," Massachusetts temporarily designated kratom as a Schedule I drug, greatly restricting sales.
The formerly unregulated product has resulted in emergency room visits, poison control calls, and deaths.
"Dependency and the opioid-like withdrawal symptoms are the major key health concerns," Cambi explained. "Liver toxicity, seizures, just a greater overdose risk when combined with other substances, and then the main thing is that this is not regulated."
He said that throughout the years, retail shops have reached out to the Health Department looking for guidance on kratom products and were notified that it is unregulated.
"And for the most part, when they hear that, they don't sell the product," he added.
Kratom is a leafy plant native to Southeast Asia containing naturally occurring substances, including mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH). It is marketed to relieve pain and can produce stimulating or sedating effects, depending on the amount taken and potency. Newer products contain highly concentrated or laboratory-modified compounds that can have significantly stronger opioid-like effects.
Kratom products have been widely sold in smoke shops, convenience stores, and gas stations as powders, tablets, capsules, gummies, dissolvable strips, and in other forms.
The state order restricts the sale of kratom products across the state. It gives local boards of health and other municipal officials additional authority to take enforcement action against retailers selling kratom products.
A mass communication was sent to Pittsfield retailers to educate them on the changing regulations. If needed, inspectors will escalate to cease and desist orders if kratom products are not taken off shelves.
The Department of Public Health took action due to health complications associated with kratom: Over the last six months, there were 314 emergency department visits, 127 poison center calls, and eight reported deaths in the state.
"I think that's what really escalated this to a statewide ban. I know New York is also jumping on board as well," Cambi said.
He doesn’t foresee pushback in conversations with retailers and said most stores seem to have gotten the product without a background on it. They can also return it to distributors due to the new restriction.
Because the products are only on a yearlong emergency order, he said kratom is not completely out of the picture yet.
"I had heard rumblings of concerns with this product, and when it's a unified approach like this, meaning statewide, it does assist with it rather than just being a local restriction," Cambi said.
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