Radnor Seeking To Add Kratom, Delta-8 THC To Scheduled Drugs List

RADNOR TOWNSHIP, PA — Officials in Radnor Township are taking a stronger stance against kratom and Delta-8 THC after a store selling the uncontrolled substances caused a stir in the township.

Radnor Township launched a petition that asks Keara Klinepeter, Acting Secretary of Health of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to add kratom and Delta-8 THC to the list of scheduled drugs in Pennsylvania.

With both drugs unscheduled in Pennsylvania, they can be sold without restriction as to labeling, age, or location, according to the petition.

The petition "requests that the Acting Secretary request the advice of the Pennsylvania Drug, Device and Cosmetic Board with respect to the advisability of adding kratom and Delta-8 THC as controlled substances."

Residents can sign the petition online here.

In early March, the 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.

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.