Governor stresses urgency of kratom bills
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BISMARCK - Gov. Kelly Armstrong urged legislators meeting in special session Wednesday, Sept. 2, to act decisively in regulating a substance that acts as an opioid.
Armstrong called the special session to pass laws addressing kratom.
"We are here to address a public safety and public health issue that simply cannot wait for the regular legislative calendar to run its course. People were overdosing and dying from a product that they could buy off the shelf without any regulations or any age restrictions," Armstrong said in delivering his State of the State address to the joint House and Senate.
The governor had declared a public health emergency that temporarily banned kratom sales, beginning Aug. 5.
Armstrong said the federal Drug Enforcement Agency notified the state July 1 of its intent to classify synthetic kratom products as Schedule I narcotics as early as Aug. 5, putting them in the same class as opioids such as heroin. His emergency order brought the state in line with the DEA classification, but Armstrong noted enforcement needs to come through the legislative process.
"Getting the criminal policy correct on this is especially important. I don't want to make someone a felon in September for something they could buy legally over the counter in July," he said.
"It would have been irresponsible of me to sign a pharmaceutical order and then not give law enforcement, retailers and communities the ability to enforce that order," he added. "The synthetics are now regulated by the DEA, but that doesn’t mean that natural kratom is OK, because the fact is, it's still completely unregulated."
The Food and Drug Administration warns consumers against using kratom because of serious risks of adverse effects, such as liver toxicity, seizures and substance abuse disorder. Armstrong said addiction resources are available in the state, highlighting a state directory to help residents find treatment.
The governor also urged legislators not to use the special session as an opportunity for "political grandstanding" during an election year. If legislators' comments aren't directed at preventing overdose, they are on the wrong side of the issue, he said.
In addition to kratom, legislators will consider additional funding for a military museum, which started construction with previous legislative support but ran out of money to continue. Another issue before the Legislature is a moratorium on nondisclosure agreements between industrial project developers, including data centers, and government officials.
Democratic-NPL legislators held a news conference Wednesday to object to decisions by Republican lawmakers to not take up child care assistance funding and a moratorium on data center development.
"If all this special session accomplishes is additional controlled substance regulation and cleaning up another instance of the GOP's mismanagement of state government, it will have been a wasted opportunity to address the issues most important to North Dakotans right now," the party stated in a release. "North Dakotans are raising real concerns about child care costs and availability and about the pace and long-term impacts of data center development, and Republican lawmakers are not even allowing the Legislature to have the debate."