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North Dakota bill to ban kratom fails, but regulation bill being drafted

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North Dakota bill to ban kratom fails, but regulation bill being drafted

By Jeff Beach
North Dakota bill to ban kratom fails, but regulation bill being drafted
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Fresh green kratom leaf (Mitragyna speciosa) with kratom powder capsule. (Getty Images)

North Dakota lawmakers chose not to ban the plant-based substance kratom, but one lawmaker indicated a bill to regulate the substance is in the works.

House Bill 1101 would have added mitragynine, derived from kratom, to a list of Schedule I controlled substances. Lawmakers heard testimony that the substance is sometimes used in pain management and opioid withdrawal.

House members voted 77-15 on Wednesday to defeat the bill. 

Rep. Eric Murphy, R-Grand Forks, who has a doctorate degree in biochemistry and neurochemistry from Ohio State University, said he thought listing kratom as a Schedule I drug goes too far. 

Several people submitted testimony that kratom, which comes from a tree that grows in southeast Asia, has helped with chronic pain. 

“There is a lot of excitement around this,” he said. 

Rep. Daniel Johnston, R-Kathryn, said during  committee discussion that he would bring a bill draft for state regulation of kratom. 

Johnston and other committee members noted the federal Drug Enforcement Administration had not listed kratom or mitragynine as a banned drug as the North Dakota bill had called for.