Colorado legislators tightened regulation of the herbal remedy kratom. But will Gov. Jared Polis veto the bill?

As Gov Jared Polis ponders a bill to increase Colorado s regulation of the herbal remedy kratom Dave Bregger commented he feels like he s on pins and needles The bill on Polis s desk bears the name of Bregger s son Daniel Bregger a -year-old Denver resident who died in after ingesting kratom and diphenhydramine a common ingredient in Benadryl and sleep aids But whether Polis will sign the bill into law or not remains a mystery Supporters of Senate Bill pushed the act through on the last day of the session after using a rare parliamentary maneuver They say the new law would help rein in the greater part dangerous forms of kratom while leaving consumer choice intact Industry opponents including one company employing unconventional methods are pushing for a veto arguing the law would sow confusion in a growing sector and ultimately harm consumers looking for a safe effective product Kratom a traditional herbal remedy from Southeast Asia has exploded in popularity and availability in the United States over the past decade Proponents point to the plant s foreseen for a variety of uses including as a stimulant or pain reliever or as remedy for depression anxiety and opioid withdrawal The U S Food and Drug Administration has warned against the use of kratom because of the herb s prospective for addiction liver toxicity and seizures The Harvard Anatomical School warns of considerable uncertainty of kratom s fitness risks including a lack of regulation But a general lack of independent research means there s not enough information for a definitive conclusion about the plant either Supporters of kratom argue that the herb by itself has proven safe for tens of millions of consumers though tragedy has struck specific including Daniel Bregger A Washington Post analysis revealed kratom implicated in deaths across states and Washington D C in though the vast majority involved other substances as well Daniel Bregger s father Dave announced his son was a healthy young man enjoying the best of Colorado with his brother hiking mountain biking skiing and purely looking for a natural recovery for anxiety Kratom and diphenhydramine however had a severe interaction that led to his death Knowing kratom has shown promise for specific people s pain management Dave Bregger doesn t want a ban he announced He just wants stronger warnings and regulations to stop other parents from feeling their world shatter Bill s supporters deploy super motion Colorado lawmakers passed SB to build on existing regulations for the emerging product If the bill becomes law sellers would need to bar kratom from being sold as candy or in a way that appeals to children increase labeling requirements and limit how much kratom s more potent operational compound -hydroxymitragynine commonly marketed as -OH can be determined in the product The state already bars the sale of kratom to people younger than under a law Polis signed in The new law s labeling requirements would include a warning that kratom can have unforeseen interactions with certain medications in the hopes of preventing future deaths The bill was pared back from Sen Kyle Mullica s original vision of a new license to sell kratom because of Colorado s budget crunch He didn t want to sit idly by waiting for the state s fiscal outlook to improve while in his view a prospective residents medical predicament emerged around an underregulated drug They re selling it at every smoke shop announced Mullica a Thornton Democrat and urgency room nurse They want to make it seem like it s this healthy thing and it s causing real harm It has very addictive properties The bipartisan bill faced a wave of pushback and an rare path to passage After the bill passed the Senate with of members voting yes supporters in the House used a so-called super motion to clear a key committee in the waning days of the legislative session A super motion in effect bypasses a committee hearing and the chair who controls the agenda to force a bill to the floor for consideration by the whole chamber Rep Matt Soper a Delta Republican and sponsor of the bill stated it was the first time in more than years the parliamentary maneuver had been used The tactic paid off The House voted - to pass the bill Now the measure sits on Polis desk with no clear indication if the governor will sign it into law He has until June to veto the measure Governor Polis is reviewing the final form of the bill inclusive of the changes that were made at the end of the process spokesperson Shelby Wieman explained in a declaration The bill went through several amendments in its final week before passing on the last day of the legislative session Pushing for veto with gift cards The industry meanwhile has been jockeying for a veto Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust or HART an advocacy group for plant-based treatments including kratom disclosed in a announcement that the bill fails to create any meaningful regulation for the industry and called the measure hastily written and ill-considered In an interview members of the group stated they want more regulation for the industry but they want clear regulation and clear enforcement The crux of the complaint fell on how the state defines concentration limits for -OH the key compound in various kratom products effects The bill creates artificial limits on the compound while leaving loopholes for bad actors looking to meeting the percentage-based limit explained Kyle Ray a board member for the trust and president of kratom manufacturer Colorado Chromatography Because the bill limits the percentage of the -OH compound manufacturers could bump up the total amount of other ingredients and create an overall less safe product There is no regulator there is no licensing process where they have to come inspect your facility Ray commented That is beyond frustrating It s dangerous for the consumer He also advocated for the compound as a powerful harm reduction tool against opioid addiction and overdose because of how it interacts with the body s chemical receptors Specific healthcare professionals have questioned how effective kratom is in treating opioid addiction While the bill wouldn t ban the -OH compound something Ray is grateful for other members of the trust have still made it a rallying cry CBD American Shaman a national distributor based in Kansas City Missouri and a member of HART urged customers to Protect -OH Stop Colorado SB and offered people worth of product if they sent their state representatives a prewritten email about it CBD American Shaman did not return a request for comment Jeff Smith national strategy director for HART announced in a comment that specific small businesses are turning to creative strategies to engage and mobilize their customers in the face of what they see as existential threats to their companies Our focus at HART remains on promoting responsible evidence-based regulation of kratom and -OH and ensuring that the voices of consumers patients and small businesses are part of that conversation Smith added Giving people information that works Soper and Mullica the bill sponsors each declared they d never seen advocates on any side of a bill try to essentially pay customers to lobby an issue It s not promptly clear if the practice is explicitly barred The Colorado Secretary of State s Office declined to comment because a complaint could be filed about the practice though none had been as of midweek Related Articles Opinion Kratom helped kill my son It s time to regulate this drug in Colorado Castle Rock bans underage sales of kratom the controversial herbal extract FDA warns of injury death with herbal supplement kratom They both see the bill as a win if Polis signs it particularly for addressing access by people younger than and limits on synthetic products They both announced the push is about informing the society about what they re consuming not a ban I would be lobbying to have it vetoed myself if it were an outright ban Soper explained Prohibitions don t work Outright bans don t work But giving people information that works Meanwhile Dave Bregger whose son died from the mix of kratom and diphenhydramine is also waiting for Polis s decision He s urged for a signing ceremony and an invitation if Polis makes it law We ve got to start somewhere Watered down as it is we ve got to be able to build on it in future years Dave Bregger reported Doing nothing at this point would just be exasperating to me Something has got to be done It s a plague in Colorado Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter The Spot