KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne reports on stories in Overland Park, Johnson County and topics about government accountability. This story is an update to the ongoing KSHB 41 News I-Team series, Strong High Weak Laws, that looks at the impact of synthetic 7-OH in the KC Metro. Share your story idea with Isabella.
—
Blue Springs, Missouri is the latest community in the Kansas City metro to ban a substance local leaders have called 'gas station heroin'.
Medical experts have reported synthetic 7-OH can be up to 14 times stronger than morphine and is highly addictive. KSHB 41 News has reported on synthetic 7-OH extensively in the I-Team series, Strong High Weak Laws.
Blue Springs City Council approved on ordinance on Monday night that makes synthetic 7-OH and similar products with a high, concentrated dose of the alkaloid illegal. It doesn't ban natural kratom, instead regulating and restricting sales to consumers 21 and over.
The legislation mimics what was passed in Kansas City, Missouri last month.
Kratom and 7-OH are currently legal and unregulated at the federal and state level in Missouri and Kansas. As state legislators push bills forward on kratom and 7-OH, local cities are taking steps to pass their own rules on the products.
Blue Springs initially proposed an outright ban on unregulated products like synthetic 7-OH, kratom and cannabanoids. Several kratom users and business owners spoke out at public meetings, calling on city council to revise the ordinance to not ban natural kratom.
"I'm just happy they distinguished the difference between seven hydroxy [7-OH] and regular kratom, and they're protecting traditional kratom products," Todd Underwood said.
Underwood owns MitWellness in Blue Springs, a business that manufactures and sells natural kratom.
"I think regulation on products like this raises the barrier of entry, it matures the market and it safeguards consumer safety," Underwood said.
The Mayor of Blue Springs explained Monday's unanimously passed resolution addresses both council and community concerns.
"The council was able to find some compromise to address those items," Mayor Chris Lievsay said.
Missouri's Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee passed a bill that ban synthetic 7-OH and regulate kratom. The Kansas Senate passed a similar bill, which is now on its way to the Kansas House.
"We think there is a need for broader regulation from the state level," Mayor Lievsay said. "It's difficult when we do piecemeal for city by city."
Missouri's Attorney General is investigating several state businesses for deceptively marking 7-OH as a safe product, including Kansas City based company American Shaman.
"Things are heating up, shall we say," Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said.
Attorney General Hanaway told KSHB 41 News reporter Isabella Ledonne that her office is preparing to file civil suits and possibly criminal charges against some companies selling synthetic 7-OH.
"Kratom in its natural form, we still have a lot of questions about," Attorney General Hanaway said. "We don't have any questions about 7-OH. It's intoxicating, it's addictive, it's killing people."
According to records obtained by the KSHB 41 News I-Team, the active ingredient in 7-OH and kratom, mitragynine, was a factor in at least nine metro deaths.
The ban in Blue Springs goes into effect immediately, though city council is still working through what consequences look like for violations.
—
