GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — With election season behind them, lawmakers in Lansing are shifting their focus to getting legislation passed before the end of the year — and one lawmaker is renewing his push to get the controversial substance known as kratom banned across the state.
WATCH: Michigan lawmakers continue push to ban kratom, synthetic variants
HB 5537 seeks to prohibit the growing, synthesizing, selling, distributing, or importing of kratom and synthetic variants like 7-OH.
The CDC says kratom use increased 1,200% nationally last year, and state lawmakers want to rein in its use in Michigan. Nearly half of the states in the U.S. already regulate kratom in some fashion.
Legislators point to data from the state showing that of the nearly 2,000 overdose deaths in 2024, nearly half had kratom in their system.
"These are the kinds of issues that are not political, and we need to look at them for the health, safety, and welfare of the state of Michigan," DeBoyer said.
Kratom is a plant that is native to Southeast Asia and it's leaves contain chemical compounds that can either help calm or stimulate the mind and body. The drug is used by people experiencing chronic pain or withdrawals.
Jamie Alan, a professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology within the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University said the extract from the leaf known as 7-OH can be addictive and even deadly when mixed with other drugs.
"Kratom by itself is a natural product; it's a leaf. Now, 7-OH is an opioid agonist, so this is going to work like something like oxycodone or hydrocodone or hydromorphone, so this can lead to addiction," Alan explained. "On its own it may not be as troubling, but when you combine it with these things that can lead to respiratory depression that can lead to death."
The legislation to ban kratom in Michigan passed the state House in March. DeBoyer said he's hoping it passes the Senate and is signed into law before the end of the year.
"It's not a blue or red issue. I would love to believe that if it were passed out of the Senate, that Governor Whitmer would sign it, and and then we can start to get our arms around what is this product is, and try to differentiate between what is safe and what is not safe. But right now, we don't have any of those things," DeBoyer said.
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