News

May 06, 2023

Livingston Parish considers kratom ban

Kratom, in powder form, can be taken in capsules or brewed into a tea. After two

Kratom, in powder form, can be taken in capsules or brewed into a tea.

After two Louisiana parishes banned kratom, Livingston leaders are now also considering whether to prohibit the unregulated herbal extract.

Officials are mulling whether they want to ban or regulate the product that some fear could fuel addiction or worsen the effects of other drugs if they are combined. It is part of a larger discourse gripping Louisiana, where kratom has already been outlawed in two parishes. One state lawmaker plans to file a measure to ban the extract in the upcoming Legislative session.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration calls kratom a "drug and chemical of concern" that has been found to provide an energy boost at low doses but sedative, opioid-like effects at higher ones. While the product is not regulated under the Controlled Substances Act, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved kratom for any medical use.

Kratom is a tropical tree that is part of the broad family that includes the coffee tree and has a long history of use in Southeast Asia, where it was chewed, smoked or used in brewed tea to fight fatigue and for some religious ceremonies, federal agencies say.

Six states have banned the product, including Arkansas.

Advocates of kratom argue it can help relieve pain and serve as a safer alternative to drugs like opioids. But law enforcement officials, such as Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard, say kratom is being used to dangerously enhance other drugs.

"We’re concerned about overdoses and deaths here in our Parish," Ard said in a statement. "We will continue working with our local leaders to be proactive and to do what's in the best interest of our citizens and the families who call Livingston Parish home."

The kratom debate has arrived in Livingston Parish as overdose deaths from the opioid epidemic surge across the state.

Opioid-involved deaths in Louisiana increased by 135% between 2019 and 2021, from 588 in 2019 to 1384 in 2021, according to a state Department of Health fact sheet from August 2022.

Tracy Girlinghouse, a member of the Livingston Parish Council and ordinance committee, said the sheriff's department approached the council to propose an ordinance prohibiting kratom because deputies have seen an uptick in drug-related calls. Some of those cases involve kratom, Girlinghouse said.

"I’m not 100% for banning it right now," Girlinghouse said. "I’m going to hear out what they’ve got to say and make my decision then."

Kratom has already been banned in Ascension and Rapides parishes. A north shore senator has asked the St. Tammany Parish Council to consider their own prohibition.

In an ordinance committee meeting on Thursday night, Girlinghouse, along with council members Jeff Ard and Shane Mack, weighed positive testimony from several people, ranging from a pro-kratom organization's executive director to a smokeshop owner, against federal agency warnings.

After hearing several people's stories, Ard suggested the council was open to alternatives beyond the strict prohibition of the extract.

"I don't really think we were in here to straight-up ban it," he said. "We want to gain knowledge on it, understand it and see if we need to do some type of regulation on it until the federal government or state comes down and does something."

But Mack, in particular, voiced concerns over the amount of kratom someone can ingest — and that there are currently no limits dictating safe quantities of the extract. He also worried about the lack of age restrictions to access the product.

"I feel like this is a problem," Mack said. "To me, it needs to be regulated, and maybe it should be banned until it is."

Council member Garry "Frog" Talbert, who does not sit on the ordinance committee but was in the audience Thursday, suggested that if there was some benefit to people, the council should look at "providing a product that's safe."

"Everything can be abused," Talbert said. "You can't protect people from being stupid."

The committee adjourned without making a final decision, instead choosing to wait on more information, especially from law enforcement and users who laud the product's positive aspects.

"There's a fine line between protecting the public and stepping on civil liberties," Girlinghouse said. "And it's very thin."

When he returned from serving two tours in Afghanistan, Paul Schexnaydre said he lost about ten years of his life to alcoholism and drug use as he sought to cope with PTSD from his military career.

But Schexnaydre, a Denham Springs business owner, managed to get his life back on track and now has two young sons. He owes a large part of that to kratom, he said, which he takes to alleviate symptoms of his trauma.

"I try to be the best father I can be to them, and kratom absolutely allows that," he said. "It helps with my PTSD so much that I no longer take the prescription medicines from the VA that I used to."

Schexnaydre said he has been taking kratom for three years, and that he felt it was so effective in treating his PTSD that he now sells it as an online vendor.

"I don't think a ban is what we need, because it truly helps a lot of people," he said.

Ryan Burroughs, the executive director of the American Kratom Association, urged officials in Thursday's meeting to do more research on the product. The association, which claims thousands of members in Louisiana, advocates for "good regulations" on kratom products instead of banning them outright.

"I’m here tonight to respectfully ask that you let science drive your decision on kratom in your parish," Burroughs said.

Officials should focus on ensuring the "life-saving plant" is not adulterated, he added.

C.M. "Mac" Haddow, a senior public policy fellow for the association, explained there are three general categories of kratom users: Those who use the product like a cup of coffee for an energy and focus boost; those who consume higher levels of the extract to relieve anxiety and help with mood disorders; and those who consume even higher doses and use kratom as a safer but less effective replacement for the chronic pain treatment of opioids.

Organization leaders contend the reason federal agencies haven't been able to regulate or ban kratom is that the science does not support the dire warnings about the pure product. They dispute the claim that kratom is akin to an opioid; they argue the danger comes when it is mixed with other, less safe substances, like opioids.

A ban, Haddow argued, is the wrong way to keep consumers safe.

"You don't protect them by criminalizing it, you don't protect them by banning them, because that lets the black market flourish," he said. "You regulate it."

Email Jacqueline DeRobertis at [email protected]