Albuquerque cracks down on kratom sales, confiscating thousands of products

Albuquerque is enforcing a ban on the herbal supplement kratom following a directive from the Food and Drug Administration, city officials announced Friday.

Officials with the city’s Environmental Health Department said in a news release they received a notice in July that the FDA no longer considered kratom, made from a tropical tree whose leaves produce opioid-like effects, safe for human consumption.

Albuquerque retailers received warnings to stop selling the drug in July and August, and since Sept. 1, health department workers visited more than 50 stores and confiscated more than 5,400 products containing kratom, city officials said.

Violation of the ban will result in an initial $250 fine and subsequent fines of up to $1,000 per offense, according to the city.

Kratom is commonly found in gas stations and smoke shops in solid, liquid and powder forms and is often used to treat pain, anxiety and opioid withdrawal symptoms because of its relaxing effects.

The drug is not considered a controlled substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration. But various federal agencies, including the National Institute on Drug Abuse, have long noted its addictive potential and harmful side effects, which include psychiatric, heart, stomach and breathing problems, liver toxicity, seizures, and in rare cases, death.

In July, federal Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a nationwide crackdown on 7-hydroxymitragynine, also known as 7-OH, a concentrated derivative of the kratom plant, which binds to opioid receptors and has a potential for abuse.

An FDA news release from July said the agency is specifically targeting 7-OH and not natural kratom leaf products, though at least seven states have implemented laws banning or restricting kratom products this year.

“Our focus here is the health and safety of our residents, especially young people who have readily been able to access these products,” Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said in a statement. “The removal of kratom from the shelves of retailers in our city is another step in that goal.”