After hearing stories from grieving parents, the Boston City Council indicated that it plans to move forward with drafting an ordinance that would ban the sale of kratom, a substance that can mimic the effects of stimulants or opioids.
“I do want to see if we can work together on developing an ordinance on this,” Councilor Ed Flynn said Monday at a City Council hearing. “It’s a priority for all of us to get this harmful drug off the shelves of Boston.”
Flynn co-sponsored an order put forward by Councilor John FitzGerald to “discuss the regulation of kratom in the City of Boston.”
The Council hearing order states that kratom is a plant-derived substance that contains psychoactive compounds mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, and when consumed, can produce stimulant-like effects at low doses and opioid-like effects at higher doses.
FitzGerald, who chaired the hearing, said at its conclusion that there seemed to be “a general sentiment about the direction that we want this to go and the urgency that we want it to go in.”
He said he plans to work with the Boston Public Health Commission on language for an ordinance that would ban the sale of kratom in the city, where it is readily available in a variety of forms in smoke shops, gas stations, herbal shops, and convenience stores.
“We understand that there are some regulatory barriers, perhaps overall, but if other towns have done it, we can help nudge that along and send a message to the state to do a blanket regulatory process as well,” FitzGerald said, referring to a pending bill in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
According to Councilor Erin Murphy, 20 other Massachusetts cities and towns have already banned local sales of kratom, and others are considering doing so as well.
The day’s panelists of health and addiction experts pointed out it’s still readily available online, however, as it hasn’t been regulated statewide or on the federal level, despite the adverse risks they highlighted.
“It is a drug in my opinion,” said Peter Barbuto, CEO of the Gavin Foundation, a Boston-based nonprofit that focuses on addiction prevention and treatment. “It is marketed as a wellness solution. It can give you energy, help you lose weight. It’s a harmful substance and it’s highly addictive.”
That type of marketing is known all too well by Holly Trouville, who said she lost her only child, her 25-year-old son, Tyrell, on Feb. 6, 2024 due to kratom toxicity. His death certificate lists no secondary causes or other opioids in his system, she said.
“Tyrell drank a kratom seltzer drink marketed as sugar-free, alcohol-free, caffeine-free, and had less than the 2% 7-OH in the drink that advocates claim is safe,” Trouville said. “I have nothing to gain by being here today.
“My son is already gone, so my only goal is to prevent another parent from feeling the complete and utter devastation I feel on a daily basis,” Trouville added. “The fact that users say it helps them stay off opioids does not diminish the addictive properties of it. Regulation does not work.”
Tyrell was born in Lowell, graduated from Dracut High School and served in the U.S. Army Reserve in Massachusetts, his mother said. She called for a complete ban on the substance that killed him.
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