SPRINGFIELD — Despite praising a proposed ordinance last week that would regulate what some call “gas station heroin,” the Springfield City Council in a close vote sent the measure back to committee this week over concerns it would be unenforceable.
Kratom, which is largely unregulated, can be found in many smoke shops and convenience stores. City councilors considered a measure that would ban synthetic versions of the substance over concerns it was fueling a fourth wave of the opioid epidemic.
But the city’s Health and Human Services commissioner, Helen Caulton Harris, told the council Monday the proposal, as written, required a third-party laboratory to test kratom sold in the city, but no such laboratory is available.
A handful of states across the nation and several municipalities in the state have regulated kratom. Caulton Harris said state lawmakers are considering bills to address kratom, and the Food and Drug Administration is considering action, too.
“I would recommend we would consider working with the commonwealth and the FDA to strengthen regulations rather than put regulations on the book that we cannot enforce,” Caulton-Harris said.
She also said she heard from a veterans group that cited the value of natural kratom leaf for pain management.
The move, taken at the council’s last meeting of the year, means the proposal to ban the sale of synthetic kratom will fade.
City Councilor Sean Curran, who proposed the ordinance in response to an investigation by The Republican, is leaving the council at the end of the year, as his reelection bid was unsuccessful. He told the council it would take the body until this time next year to draft a potential kratom ban – if it takes up the matter again at all.
“In that time, we don’t know how many kids are going to be targeted by this gas station heroin,” Curran said.
Curran said passage of the ordinance would have sent a message to lawmakers in Boston and convenience store owners across the city.
Other councilors said more time was needed to study the proposal.
City Councilor Tracey Whitfield, who is backed by a majority of the council to become the next City Council president, pointed to statistics showing kratom was found among the substances that contributed to the deaths of about six dozen people in the state since 2018. She said it appears the use of kratom is not widespread.
“It’s just a little bit irresponsible for us not to get more information,” Whitfield said. “I think it’s also irresponsible for us to put a lot of pressure on the Department of Health and Human Services. … I just think it’s irresponsible for us to move fast because someone is leaving the council.”
Last week, a handful of councilors praised Curran’s work on the issue and all 12 in attendance voted in favor to advance ordinance. City Councilor Victor Davila described it as among the most important pieces of legislation taken up by the body.
But in the end, the council voted Monday 7-6 to refer the matter to the General Government Subcommittee.