By Eliot Kleinberg
Palm Beach County Commissioners opted Tuesday to hold off on mandating warning signs at shops that sell kratom after hearing proposed wording was incorrect and also hearing pleas to wait for more research on the substance.
The herbal drug is sold in kava bars, smoke shops and convenience stores.
Under the proposal, the signs, which would be at least 8½ inches by 11 inches, would say: “Warning: The DEA has placed KRATOM on its list of Drugs and Chemicals of Concern. KRATOM is considered highly addictive and has effects on the body including: psychosis, nausea, respiratory depression, delusions, anorexia, tremors, insomnia.”
But a DEA spokeswoman told the Palm Beach Post last week the drug isn’t on the “concern” list; only that the agency lists it among drugs the agency is studying to determine if they should be controlled or banned.
Commissioners stopped short of regulating kratom in November and after bills to regulate and even criminalize the possession and sale of the drug appear to have died during this year’s session of the Florida Legislature.
At Tuesday’s Palm Beach County Commission meeting, an attorney for a West Palm Beach kratom shop, and one from a group that advocates for kratom, urged commissioners to hold off, citing the DEA’s waffling and suggesting the county review long-term studies being done by the University of Mississippi.
