Radnor Health Board Rejects Kratom Regulation

RADNOR TOWNSHIP, PA — Earlier this week, Radnor Township's Board of Health shot down a plan to regulate kratom after a business selling the herbal extract and CBD opened without township permission.

The decision comes after residents decried the opening of CBD Kratom in the former Starbucks location, 218 E. Lancaster Ave. in Wayne, at a board of commissioners meeting in February.

CBD Kratom sells Kratom, cannabis, vitamins and more, which residents expressed fear of their children having easy access to via the store.

The store opened without proper approval from the township, which led to its closure.

After the closure, the township's board of health was tasked with investigating kratom.

Members of the Board of Health gave presentations and residents shared input via public comment at Monday's meeting.

Ultimately, the board decided the township should not regular kratom.

Because the Board of Health is only an advisory group, Radnor Commissioners will make a final decision on kratom regulation.

According to presentations by Board of Health members, kratom is a tree from which leaves are harvested and ingested in various ways.

Effects of kratom can include talkativeness and increased energy when taking low doses, and sedation when high doses are ingested, board member Dr. Robert Diecidue said in his presentation.

Board member Angelika Kiki Karayannis, a registered nurse at the Radnor Township School District and co-founder of addiction support non-profit Waves to Wellness, said kratom targets opioid receptors and ingesting too much kratom can lead to slow and ineffective breathing.

Sarah Laurel, founder of recovery non profit Savage Sisters, told the board she has seen kratom adversely affect those who are in recovery.

"In my circle of the people who I serve, it has been hugely detrimental to the recovery world," she said.

Laurel echoed Karayannis statement, saying the "high" from kratom is similar to opiates and that kratom is very addictive.

"My concern is very high just considering the way it mirrors the opiate high and detox, and the lack of resources for stepping in and assisting someone who could become potentially addicted to it," she said.

Board of Health Chairman Dr. David Simmons said it seemed as everyone who participated in the meeting agreed on kratom's potential for abuse, overdose, death, and addition.

A representative from CBD Kratom attended the meeting via Zoom with plans to read a statement, however the statement was cut short after it was pointed out he is not a Radnor Township resident.

Simmons suggested the representative submit his statement directly to the board of commissioners.

The consensus among the board was the store in question and its products seem to appear to young people. The store is less than a mile from three schools, including Radnor Middle School and a preschool.

"Taking on the labeling and regulating of drugs is something that I am going to recommend against the Township of Radnor taking on," Simmons said. “That does not undermine in any way the fact that I believe that everything that’s been said here is true. I believe that there is a huge risk, and I believe that we in the township need to take action, and I think the encouraging thing is the amount of community involvement because my strong belief is that the better educated our parents are, the better educated our students and our children are, the more that we can provide information to our township the better equipped we will be, but I don’t think this is easy and I don’t think it’s going to go away."

Simmons said the board will write a recommendation for the commissioners based on Monday's meeting.

Despite the store being closed for now, the store's website says the Wayne location is coming soon.

Watch the Board of Health meeting below: