Anchorage Assembly members draft an ordinance to restrict concentrated kratom products

Anchorage Assembly member Janice Park of Midtown outlined a draft ordinance restricting concentrated kratom products Wednesday at a Public Safety Committee-of-the-Whole meeting. Nothing has been introduced, and no vote is set.

Park began the work with Assembly member Kameron Perez-Verdia of West Anchorage and Assembly Vice Chair Daniel Volland of North Anchorage around June.

The draft would leave unaltered kratom, such as tea, alone. It would exempt medical use by state-licensed providers or as provided by the Board of Pharmacy. Concentrated products are "like 100 times stronger in the amount of 7-OH or mitragynine," Park said.

Katie Stodgill, the Anchorage Health Department's public health division manager, said manufacturers convert the leaf's main compound into 7-OH, sold as tablets, gummies and shots. It acts on opioid receptors, and the FDA says it can be more potent than morphine. Federal regulators have proposed Schedule I status for 7-OH only above a set threshold and have not decided after nearly 36,000 public comments, she said. Three related synthetic compounds are temporarily in Schedule I through August 2028.

"Anchorage-specific data is not currently available, and AHD does not have a way to test kratom products or track kratom use," Stodgill said.

Park said people with opioid use disorder buy the products at a convenience store on 36th Avenue to stay out of withdrawal, and that she has been told people line up early in the morning waiting for it to open. A ban would help in "preventing minors from having access," she said. She said the Spenard Community Council had just sent her a resolution requesting a ban on the sale of kratom and associated drugs.

Health Department Director Kimberly Rash said talks began in December 2024 on broader legislation that included kratom. All five people who testified on it April 22, 2025, opposed it. One said kratom helped relatives quit heroin and opioids. The Assembly postponed it indefinitely, 12-0, on Perez-Verdia's motion.

Assembly member Donald Handeland of Chugiak-Eagle River said a city ordinance would reach only Anchorage, since people could buy the products elsewhere and bring them in, and suggested seeking state action too. Park said the products can be bought by mail.

Thea Agnew-Benben, a special assistant to the mayor, said Anchorage has health powers the Mat-Su Borough lacks, and that the city's smoke-free workplace law built momentum for state action. A local law "creates that sort of precedent for state-level action," she said.