Springfield City Council members and health officials are discussing how to rein in kratom, an herbal supplement with similar effects to an opioid.
Last month, Massachusetts officials issued an emergency order to re-schedule the supplement as a Class 1 Substance, the same category as drugs like heroin. That order is scheduled to last up to one year.
Springfield Health Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris said local officials need to figure out how to enforce the state order.
"The governor's office has told us not confiscate — we cannot take the products off the shelf," Caulton-Harris said. "Because they're advising against that, then the question [becomes] 'what does the city do to say that we're serious?'"
One enforcement proposal is to pull the license of any store found selling kratom said Springfield City Councilor Brian Santaniello, chair of the city council's Health and Human Services Committee, a measure like that would need to be passed by the entire council.
The city had previously been considering a municipal ban on the main chemical compound found in kratom before the state order — that's now on the back-burner as state law takes precedence. Councilors are considering a sort-of 'trigger' ordinance that would institute a city-wide ban when the state emergency order is lifted.
"Right now, the governor's action supersedes all of the local action we were going to take." Caulton-Harris said.
More than 500 notices have been sent to Springfield businesses, letting them know selling the substance is now illegal, Caulton-Harris said.
At least 12 businesses in the city were under scrutiny last year when Springfield banned synthetic cannabis, or so-called 'gas station weed', Caulton-Harris said, adding that those stores are also likely selling kratom.