North Dakota bans kratom for ages under 21

On September 4th, North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong signed off on legislation that banned the use of synthetic kratom products in North Dakota and restricts natural kratom for those under age 21. Armstrong declared it a “victory for public health and safety”.

Traill District Health’s Brenda Stallman shares to the public what kratom is and the effects some were seeing with usage.

On August 3rd Armstrong signed an executive order to gather lawmakers to discuss legislation related to kratom and temporarily banned it starting August 5th to allow discussion to take place. Two bills were proposed, one entirely banning kratom and the prevailing bill that banned synthetic kratom products and restricted natural kratom usage to age 21 and older along with proper labeling of the substances in products. Stallman educates us on the issues created due to lack of labeling.

Stallman called it “uncharted territory” taking action on a substance that wasn’t widely known to the majority of the public but that taking harmful substances out of the hands of the public is always a win.