Irvine leaders are joining a growing number of Orange County cities banning synthetic kratom products as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration looks to make the drug a Schedule I substance.
During a meeting last week, Irvine City Council members gave their final approval to create heightened restrictions surrounding the distribution and sale of synthetic kratom.
Specifically, the city’s ordinance creates an age restriction for natural kratom productions, only allowing the substance to be sold to people ages 21 or older. The ordinance also creates a potency limit, prohibiting the sale and distribution of kratom that contains more than 2% of a substance known as 7-OH.
Kratom, a Southeast Asian plant, can be dried and used for either stimulant or sedative effects, depending on its dosage.
The lower dose, found in its natural dried form, is used similarly to caffeine.
However, when a minor component of the leaf, 7-hydroxymitragynine or 7-OH, is synthetically amplified, it can create opioid-like effects in the user.
Advocates say the natural leaf is a good alternative to addictive prescription pain medication. In response, many local city officials have rolled out bans on just the synthetic form while other cities move to ban the substance entirely.
Irvine’s new rules also require age verification for all kratom sales and prohibits synthetic kratom products within city limits.
Councilmember Melinda Liu tried to roll out a similar ban last year, but that effort failed due to lacking support from her colleagues.
This time around, council members approved the ban during a 5-2 vote on Oct. 13. Councilmembers Mike Carroll and James Mai voted no at that meeting.
Officials gave their final approval in a unanimous vote during another meeting on Oct. 27.
“We have received many emails thanking the city for looking into adopting an ordinance to regulate and ban synthetic kratom,” Liu said at the Oct. 13 meeting.
“We probably should not be waiting for something bad to happen before we act on it.”
Councilmember Mai emphasized that synthetic kratom is already set to be a Schedule I drug at the federal level, adding that a local prohibition is redundant.
“How many shops actually sell this in Irvine? I don’t think any of them do,” he said at the meeting.
“We could put an ordinance to ban cocaine and fentanyl as well under the same premise here,” Mai added. “I just hope in the future we can be more thoughtful about our actions up here.”
Irvine’s new ordinance also includes penalties for violators. People who break the rules could be subject to a misdemeanor, up to a $1,000 fine and/or up to six months in jail.
Businesses who violate the ordinance could also see their license revoked.
Irvine is joining about a dozen Orange County cities who have approved local bans or restrictions on kratom and 7-OH.
Fountain Valley banned synthetic kratom earlier this year, joining other cities like Dana Point and Garden Grove that also all eyed their own bans.
Los Alamitos, Anaheim, Buena Park, Huntington Beach and Laguna Niguel have restricted the sales of kratom with more than 2% 7-OH while cities such as Newport Beach, Dana Point, Tustin and Stanton have all completely banned kratom from being sold and distributed throughout each city.
